If a commercial truck hits your car, that can upend your life. Maybe they give you a little nudge, but even what seems like incidental contact can cause thousands of dollars in damage. If a commercial truck hits your vehicle more forcefully, that can total it, not to mention cause serious injuries or even death.
Car wrecks happen all the time, involving non-commercial and commercial vehicles alike. Big cities see more of these fatal wrecks because of the higher concentration of residents and vehicles. For instance, Houston sees about 12 car accident deaths per week, and you can expect similar numbers if you look at other major cities.
Commercial truck accidents have their peculiarities, since you might sue the trucker who caused the wreck, but you might also bring legal action against the company that employs them. You may even go after the garage that does maintenance on the trucks in that fleet if a mechanical failure caused the wreck.
In this article, we’ll talk about some things a commercial truck attorney might do for you after a devastating accident. You might try to get along without one, but usually, you’ll want a lawyer on your side who knows all about these kinds of cases.
They Can Tell You Who to Sue
Let’s say you’re in a commercial truck accident. You feel sure that the truck driver caused the wreck. Once you’ve figured out the extent of the damage to the vehicle and had a doctor look you over, you might feel at a loss about what you should do next.
In almost all instances, you should talk to an experienced truck accident lawyer at this point. These cases can quickly turn into legal quagmires if you don’t know anything about this legal niche.
Once you contact a commercial truck accident lawyer and tell them all about what happened, they can tell you whether they think you have a case or not. If they’ve handled many lawsuits like this in the past, then they can quickly spot the aspects of such an accident that reveal whether you can successfully sue someone.
You might not know who you should sue, though, and that’s one piece of advice a lawyer can give you. As we mentioned, it might seem that you should sue the truck driver if they did something unsafe while on the road that damaged your car or injured you.
However, maybe the trucker’s boss told them they should continue driving to make a delivery early, even if they knew the driver hadn’t slept for many hours. Laws protect truckers and the general public, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the trucking company follows those laws if they think they can get away with breaking them.
You might sue the trucking company, or in rare instances, you might bring legal action against the mechanic who maintains the fleet of trucks if one of the parts failed through negligence. However, you will probably find proving that difficult.
They Can Investigate the Accident
Your commercial truck accident attorney can also look into every detail of the accident if they decide to take your case. They will probably have an investigator on the payroll. If you employ a larger firm, they may have a whole team they can put at your disposal.
The investigator or team will look for any eyewitnesses who saw the wreck. They will try to unearth any traffic or store camera footage that captured it. They may look for social media footage as well if anyone caught the moment of impact on their smartphone.
They will get the police report and any medical reports that detail your injuries, if applicable. The more proof they can come up with that the crash happened like you said, the likelier you will win your case.
They Can Talk to Your Insurance Company or the Truck Driver’s Insurance Company
Your commercial truck accident attorney can also talk to your insurance company or the truck driver’s insurance company. Often, the insurance company representing the truck driver will view you with suspicion. Insurance companies operate using a for-profit model. They’d prefer it if they could pay you as little money as possible or nothing at all.
Your lawyer can tell you to let them handle the insurance companies. They can deliver your statement, so you don’t have to. It’s better that way. If you have a phone call with the trucker’s insurance company representative, they might trick you into saying something that will invalid your claim or cause doubt that the crash happened like you said it did.
They Can Negotiate Your Settlement
Your lawyer can also negotiate your settlement if it seems like the trucker’s insurance company finds your claim credible. They might decide they should give you a lowball offer to see if you will take it.
Your attorney can advise you in this situation. They might say you should hold out for more cash. Ultimately, you can decide whether the amount of money makes sense, but if the insurance company offers you an insufficient amount, your attorney might tell you to give them a counteroffer or go to trial.
They Can Stand Up for You in Court if Necessary
Most times, these cases will not go to trial. The insurance company that represents the trucking company or driver will settle. They don’t want the negative publicity if they have to go to court, and they may also realize you have a preponderance of evidence that proves their client’s guilt.
However, in the rare instances when the trucking company and their insurance won’t settle, you must appear in court, and that’s when your lawyer really makes their money. They can argue on your behalf in front of the judge and jury. If they’re good at their job, they can make you look sympathetic. You might get a much larger payout if the jury decides in your favor because of your lawyer’s efforts.
Lynn Martelli is an editor at Readability. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University and has worked as an editor for over 10 years. Lynn has edited a wide variety of books, including fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, and more. In her free time, Lynn enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with her family and friends.
