Serious accidents that involve large trucks, tractor-trailers, big rigs, and other large commercial vehicles can lead to equally serious injuries and other damages. This is especially true when a big truck collides with a much smaller passenger vehicle. The force of the collision could throw the passenger vehicle’s occupants back and forth and from side to side, causing extremely serious injuries.
When truck accidents happen because of negligence on the part of a truck driver or trucking company, you might be in a position to pursue a claim against the at-fault driver or trucking company’s insurer. It is always important to keep in mind that insurance companies are not in the business of compensating truck accident victims for their injuries. In fact, when the insurance company pays out a large truck accident settlement, it loses considerable money.
The reality is that insurance companies will do everything they can to offer you as little money as possible to settle your truck accident claim. Consequently, initial settlement offers from insurance companies in truck accident cases are usually very low, and, in almost all circumstances, you should reject them.
If you or someone you love has recently suffered injuries in a truck accident, you must experienced legal counsel by your side representing you throughout your claim. If you do not have legal representation in your truck accident case, the at-fault driver’s insurance company may try to take advantage of you and offer you significantly less than what your case is actually worth.
An experienced truck accident lawyer could negotiate a favorable settlement offer on your behalf and work to convince the insurance company to substantially raise its offer. If the insurance company ultimately refuses to offer you the compensation that you deserve, your attorney could file a lawsuit against the truck driver who caused your accident—and in some instances against the employer trucking company—seeking the compensation and damages that you deserve for your injuries.
Injuries That Result From Truck Accidents
The extremely painful injuries that occur in truck accidents can lead to medical procedures, medical treatment, and physical therapy. When a large truck collides with a smaller vehicle, the force of the impact could cause the accident victim’s body to twist, turn, and move around inside the vehicle. The impact could also cause the accident victim’s body to strike something in the vehicle, such as the console, steering wheel, headrest, or window, potentially leading to serious injuries.
Truck accident victims may suffer visible injuries, including cuts, scrapes, abrasions, and bruises (often from seatbelts or airbag deployment at the point of impact). Other injuries are not visible. However, the accident victim may nonetheless suffer the consequences of these invisible injuries for days or even weeks to come.
Some of the most common injuries that truck accident victims suffer include:
- Fractures
- Soft tissue injuries (including muscular sprains, strains, and contusions)
- Traumatic head and brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries, including the various forms of full and partial paralysis
- Internal organ damage
If you or a person you love has suffered one or more of these injuries in an accident that a negligent truck driver caused, a knowledgeable truck accident attorney in your jurisdiction might assist. After you have finished treatment, your lawyer could prepare a demand package to submit to the insurance company that includes all of your medical records and bills.
Your attorney could then field offers from the insurance company and negotiate on your behalf, helping you to pursue fair and full monetary compensation for your injuries.
Common Causes of Truck Accidents
There are several common causes of truck accidents that occur throughout the United States. However, one of the most common causes is truck driver negligence. Truck drivers—just like all other motor vehicle drivers—owe a duty of care while they are behind the wheel. Specifically, they have an obligation to operate their vehicles in a prudent, careful, and safe manner at all times while they are driving.
This means following the posted speed limits, driving safely, and following the state and federal major carrier regulations when operating their vehicles. When truck drivers violate these duties of care, they can bring about serious accidents, which in turn can lead to debilitating injuries.
One way that truck drivers violate the standard of care is by breaching the rules of the road. They might drive faster than the posted speed limit, fail to use turn signals, or weave in and out of traffic recklessly, causing an accident. They might also engage in distracted driving, such as when a truck driver uses a cell phone or other electronic device to make phone calls, send text messages, or respond to emails while driving.
Finally, a truck driver might choose to operate his or her vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. When that happens, the driver’s reaction time can be affected, resulting in a collision with another motor vehicle.
In addition to truck drivers, the trucking companies that employ them could also be fully or partially at fault for accidents that occur. For example, depending upon the laws of the jurisdiction where your accident occurred, the employer trucking company could be deemed vicariously liable for accidents that are caused by a truck driver when he or she is acting within the scope of employment and while on the job.
In addition, a trucking company could be negligent in supervising, hiring, or retaining a truck driver who is known to have a prior history of moving violations or problems with drugs or alcohol.
If you or a person you love suffered injuries in a truck accident that another person’s negligence caused, an experienced truck accident attorney near you could help you file a claim or lawsuit against all potentially responsible individuals or entities. Your lawyer could then assist you with pursuing the monetary compensation that you deserve for all of the injuries that you endured following your trucking accident.
What Does It Mean to File a Claim With the Negligent Truck Driver or Trucking Company’s Insurer?
If you have suffered injuries in a truck accident that a truck driver’s negligence caused, your lawyer could assist you with filing a claim against the insurance company for the negligent driver or trucking company. When filing a claim, the first step in the process is typically to submit a settlement demand package to the adjuster who is handling the claim.
A demand package usually includes a letter that states a monetary demand for settlement. If you suffered serious injuries in the truck accident, your opening settlement demand might be the limits of the truck driver or trucking company’s insurance policy. In many instances, truck drivers and trucking companies carry very large policies to cover serious accidents.
In addition to the demand letter, a settlement demand package will usually contain various important pieces of documentation. First, the demand package will likely include copies of all of your medical treatment records, medical procedure records (such as from a related surgical procedure or injection), and physical therapy records. In addition to these records, the demand package should include copies of all medical bills that are related to your treatment.
If you have had to miss time from work from the injuries you suffered in your truck accident, your lawyer can include a lost wage statement prepared by your employer as part of the settlement demand package.
The lost wage statement should contain the number of hours or days you missed from work, the amount that you made per hour or per week, and the total amount of your lost wage claim. You may also need to include doctor slips authorizing you to be off work for a certain time following your truck accident.
In addition, the demand package should include any photographs that you have of your injuries, as well as the property damage to your vehicle. Generally speaking, insurance company adjusters value truck accident claims with significant property damage as more compensable than claims where there was little or no property damage to the vehicles involved.
If a police officer wrote a report following the truck accident, you should include a copy of that report as part of the demand package. These reports typically contain a description of how the accident happened, the location of the vehicles, who was at fault for the collision, and whether or not the police officer issued the at-fault truck driver a citation for causing the accident. Police reports can also become extremely important if the truck driver or trucking company disputes liability in your case.
Why Are Initial Offers From Insurance Companies Almost Always Low?
Once the adjuster for the insurance company receives and reviews your settlement demand package, and assuming that the insurance company has accepted fault for the accident, the adjuster will probably make an initial offer to settle the truck accident claim. In almost all instances, these introductory settlement offers are extremely low, and you should not accept them. It is not unusual for opening settlement offers by insurance companies to be less than the medical bills that the accident victim incurred because of his or her injuries.
Initial settlement offers are low for one reason: the insurance company is trying to save itself as much money as possible and wants to see if you will settle for a low amount of money. If the insurance company believes that you are in a hurry to settle your truck accident claim, it will take full advantage of that.
Insurance companies make their money by collecting premiums from their policyholders each month and keeping this money in-house. However, they do not make or keep money by paying out settlements or jury verdicts in truck accident claims. Therefore, the insurance company is not going to do you any favors. In fact, it will do everything that it possibly can to save itself as much money as it can. Insurance companies are never in your corner and will try to limit their payouts and exposure to the greatest extent possible in every claim they handle.
In any case, once the insurance company makes an initial settlement offer, your attorney can begin negotiating on your behalf to try and facilitate a better offer. In many instances, after negotiating back-and-forth a few times, the insurance company will increase its offer to an acceptable level.
When that occurs, you may choose to accept the settlement offer, and your truck accident case will be over. However, if you do not agree to accept a settlement offer because it is far below the actual value of your case, your attorney could file a lawsuit on your behalf. Most often, your lawyer would file your claim in the state court system against the negligent truck driver, the trucking company, or both.
Even after your attorney files a truck accident lawsuit in your case, it does not necessarily mean that your case will proceed all the way to trial, mediation, or arbitration. In fact, many truck accident cases settle out of court before the case ever gets to trial or alternative dispute resolution.
An experienced truck accident attorney in your area could help you decide whether you should accept a particular settlement offer or file a lawsuit against the appropriate at-fault parties. If you decide to file a lawsuit, your lawyer will guide you through the litigation process, assist you throughout discovery, and, if necessary, represent you at a civil jury trial or alternative dispute resolution proceeding.
Contact a lawyer who will do everything possible to help you obtain full and fair monetary compensation and damages for the injuries that you suffered as a result of your accident.
