Commercial Truck Accident Lawyer
A collision with a commercial truck can leave you with serious, life-threatening injuries. The medical bills and other losses from a commercial truck accident can quickly overwhelm you and your family. This is why you need to learn about your legal rights as soon as possible.
You may be entitled to compensation for your losses through a personal injury claim. The skilled commercial truck accident attorneys at The Law Offices of Hilda Sibrian™ are here to help. Contact us today for a free case review. We can answer all your questions and help you get on the road to recovery.
How Commercial Truck Accidents Are Different
Commercial truck accidents are much more complicated than other types of auto accidents for a variety of reasons, including:
- More potentially liable parties: Commercial trucks are complex machines that require teams of specially trained workers to keep the vehicles at peak performance. The trucker could have made a mistake that led to your accident. However, accidents can also be caused by sloppy maintenance, equipment failure, improperly balanced loads, and other factors that are not the driver’s fault. A truck driver’s employer can also be held liable in many crashes.
- More severe injuries: Commercial trucks are some of the largest, heaviest vehicles on the road. Even in low-speed crashes, the additional force does much more damage to other vehicles and the passengers inside. You are much more likely to sustain major, potentially permanent injuries in a commercial truck accident than in a collision with a passenger car.
- More complex investigations: Commercial truck accidents require much more work to fully determine who may be liable for your injuries. There are more parties to investigate and extensive company records to examine (navigation data, company policies, training manuals, driver histories, etc.) An accident reconstruction team may be needed. Expert witnesses may need to be called. Plus, there are detailed federal and state regulations involved. You need an attorney who has the experience and the resources to handle this type of claim.
- More money on the line: More severe injuries and greater property damage mean your losses are greater after a truck accident than other types of collisions. You may be out of work for weeks or months after your accident. You may need expensive medical care for a long time as you heal. Insurance companies will fight these claims fiercely because they understand how much money is on the line. A knowledgeable commercial truck accident lawyer will help you demand the full compensation you need to make sure you’re taken care of both now and in the future.
Compensation After a Commercial Truck Accident
You can claim compensation for multiple categories of losses, also known as damages, after a commercial truck accident. Damages in an accident break down into two primary categories:
- Economic damages: These are losses that you can measure in specific dollar amounts. Economic damages include medical bills, future anticipated medical care, money to renovate your house in the event you have injuries that impact your mobility, lost wages due to missing work, lost income in the future, etc.
- Non-economic damages: These losses, while certainly real to you, are harder to measure in specific dollar amounts. This includes physical pain and suffering, emotional and mental anguish, etc.
There’s a final category of damages that can be awarded in rare cases: punitive damages. Punitive damages are awarded when a court wants to punish the at-fault party for particularly egregious instances of bad behavior.
Time Limit for Filing a Truck Accident Lawsuit
If the at-fault party’s insurance company fails to offer a fair settlement, you may decide to file a lawsuit to seek damages in court. It’s important to know that you have a limited time to do this. In Texas, the statute of limitations for personal injury lawsuits, including claims related to commercial truck accidents, is two years from the date of injury. If you try to file a lawsuit after that point, you will be unable to claim any compensation for your losses.
Causes of Commercial Truck Accidents
Some of the most common causes of commercial truck accidents include:
- Speeding
- Aggressive driving (unsafe lane changes, not looking in blind spots before changing lanes, following too closely behind other vehicles, etc.)
- Distracted driving (talking on the phone while driving, texting while driving, adjusting the music, looking at an accident in another lane, etc.)
- Driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol
- Driver fatigue
- Inexperienced or untrained drivers
- Unbalanced loads
- Equipment failure
Common Commercial Truck Accident Injuries
It’s important to seek medical care immediately after a commercial truck accident. Truck accident injuries can be life-threatening, and they don’t always manifest immediately. Some common injuries that occur in commercial truck accidents include:
- Bruises and lacerations
- Broken bones
- Burns
- Neck, back, and spinal cord injuries
- Severed or crushed limbs
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Full or partial paralysis
Talk to a Commercial Truck Accident Lawyer Now
At The Law Offices of Hilda Sibrian™, our team is committed to vigorously representing the victims of commercial truck accidents. We’re available 24/7, and we offer free initial consultations. Contact us now for a free review of your case.
