If you or someone you know was recently involved in a crash with a large truck, you should contact an attorney immediately. Our legal team can help you sue for damages so you get fair financial compensation.
Truck accidents are known for being large-scale events, and they can be a bit confusing to piece together. Numerous parties might share blame for the collision, including truck drivers and the companies that employ them. Damage might be sky-high and include substantial medical costs, extensive property damage, and deeply rooted mental distress. To support your case, we need proof and evidence to show the defendant’s negligence. Witnesses, security cameras, and evidence taken directly from the truck might all play a role. Our team can assist you while you focus on recovering by communicating with witnesses and navigating complex legal procedures.
Speak to our truck accident attorneys at Howe Law by calling (844) 876-4357 to get a free initial case review.
People Our Attorneys Can Help You Sue in Your Lagrange, GA Truck Accident Case
Injury lawsuits are full of major decisions that you should talk about with an attorney before finalizing. Among these decisions is the decision of who to name in your lawsuit. While this is a clear choice for some, others might have a harder time identifying all the parties that should be held responsible. This is where your attorney comes in.
Truck Drivers
Arguably, the driver of the truck is the primary defendant in most truck accident cases. Trucker negligence is a major concern on the road, as trucks are enormous vehicles capable of serious damage and destruction in a crash. If we believe the trucker in your case did something to directly cause the crash, we should include them in your lawsuit.
A common example of trucker negligence is failing to take adequate breaks or rests. Truckers are often on the road for very long periods of time. Trips sometimes take days, and truckers are driving for hours on end. If they are not resting enough, they might become too tired and doze off at the wheel.
Other common examples of trucker negligence include driving at a dangerous rate of speed, consuming alcohol before or while driving, and failing to check blind spots when turning or merging. Our truck accident lawyers can talk to witnesses and analyze other evidence to determine how your crash happened.
Truck Companies
If we sue the truck driver, we should also include the trucking company they worked for. Under the legal theory of respondeat superior, employers may be held vicariously liable for injuries caused by negligent employees. The employee’s negligence must have been within the scope of their usual job duties. Unauthorized or illegal behavior might not work under this rule.
It is often smart to include the trucking company in these kinds of lawsuits because they usually have greater insurance and other financial resources to cover your damages.
Other Parties
Sometimes, other parties are somehow involved in truck accidents. For example, another negligent driver on the road might have swerved in front of the trucker, and the trucker had to slam their brakes because they were speeding, thus causing the crash. In that scenario, both drivers might be responsible.
Alternatively, the truck accident might have occurred because of defective vehicle gear or equipment. If the truck’s brakes gave out because they were defective, we can file a case against the manufacturer.
Possible Damages in Your Lagrange, GA Truck Accident Case
Damages and injuries in truck accident cases are famously high. Victims are often so badly hurt that they require extensive medical care. Many accident survivors experience serious medical complications or permanent disabilities.
Much of your damages may come from the money you spent because of the truck accident. To start, you might be in significant medical debt. As mentioned, injuries in truck accidents tend to be serious, and people often require extensive treatment. Your hospital bills may pile up faster than you can keep up with. If you encounter long-term or permanent complications, you can claim future medical expenses from treatment yet to come.
We should also account for the cost of replacing destroyed property. Not only should we claim the cost of your car, but we can also claim the value of your personal belongings from inside the car or on your person if they are destroyed.
Truck accidents not only leave physical injuries but psychological ones, too. Many survivors have a hard time moving on from the accident because it was so frightening. Depression, anxiety, panic disorders, and PTSD are not uncommon. Even though these experiences are subjective and unrelated to money, we can still work to get you fair compensation for having endured them.
What We Need to Prove Your Truck Accident Claims in Lagrange, GA
To win your case and get fair compensation for your injuries, we must prove to a jury how the defendant or defendants were negligent. Negligence is a legal concept made up of four distinct elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages.
Duty is the defendant’s obligation of care they owed you as a matter of law. In auto accidents, this is often described as the duty to drive with reasonable safety under the circumstances and follow traffic laws. The breach is whatever the defendant did to violate their duty. Running a red light or speeding are common examples of breaches in truck accidents. Causation refers to the link between the breach and the accident. The breach must be the direct cause of the truck crash. Finally, we need evidence that your damages are real, not hypothetical or imagined.
We need as much evidence as possible to prove each element. This might look like a few big pieces of evidence or multiple smaller pieces that come together to form a bigger picture.
First, we can talk to witnesses from the crash to see if anyone saw anything that might shed light on the truck driver’s negligence. Maybe another driver saw the trucker asleep at the wheel right before the crash. Our team can work with the authorities after their investigation to track down witnesses.
There might be video footage of the accident. Nearby security cameras, traffic cameras, or even dashcams in other vehicles might have recorded crucial details about the accident.
We can even demand to see records and logs from the trucking company. For example, logs are often kept tracking how often drivers take breaks. If the logs show that the trucker was not taking breaks and may have been overly tired, we can use this as evidence to show negligence.
Call Our Lagrange, GA Truck Accident Lawyers Right Away
Speak to our truck accident attorneys of Howe Law by calling (844) 876-4357 to get a free initial case review.
