Semi Truck Accident Law
A severe injury sustained in collision with a semi-truck can leave a person in medical expenses. It can also lead to permanent disabilities that require expensive equipment and long-term therapy.
It is vital to have a professional New York truck accident lawyer to assist you after a crash. A qualified attorney can help prove your case by using evidence such as police reports and surveillance camera footage and much more.
Poorly maintained vehicles
Owner-operators and companies that operate trucks often fail to take the necessary steps to ensure that their vehicles are in good working order. This causes many avoidable accidents every year.
In comparison to passenger cars, tractor-trailers and semis need more frequent maintenance work due to their size and weight. load. However, the pressure to meet deadlines and maximize profits often takes precedence over maintaining the fleet. Trucks are susceptible to mechanical problems that can lead to disastrous accidents.
The brakes of a truck are particularly important since they have to stop the vehicle and slow it down at an instant's notice. When the brake pads on a truck lines, lines, or return springs wear out they could result in serious collisions and fatal injuries. These parts must be regularly checked and repaired as necessary to maintain their good working condition.
Tires that are not maintained properly can be a major contributor to truck accidents. Tires that are worn out could lose traction, causing the truck to rollover or slide. Tires that aren't working because of inadequate tread design or air pressure, can fail catastrophically.
In addition to regular maintenance, trucks require routine inspections to detect mechanical issues prior to causing an accident. However, if an inspection is not done correctly or the repair shop does not adhere to the manufacturer's guidelines the result could be an accident. In these instances, the firm that hired the repair or maintenance shop or was the one who supervised it could be held liable.
Faulty lights, signals and reflectors are a common reason for truck accidents. These devices must be correctly working to enable drivers to see the truck and anticipate its movements, especially in rural areas or after dark. Drivers or trucking companies may not be able to maintain and inspect these components, or they may not be able to conduct daily safety checks.
A Houston truck accident attorney will investigate your case and determine who could be responsible for your injuries in the event that you were injured from a poorly maintained commercial truck. These investigations can reveal evidence of the defendant's negligence and assist you in obtaining the compensation you're due.
Distracted Drivers
The consequences of collisions with commercial trucks can be devastating. These massive vehicles can weigh as much as 25 times the weight of your car and cause much worse injuries in a crash. While a variety of factors can cause accidents and injuries, distracted driving is one of the most prevalent and dangerous. A distracted truck driver can lose control of the vehicle or miss a road danger, which can lead to serious and life-changing injuries.
Truck drivers must follow strict rules and regulations that have been formulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. This includes a ban on texting or using mobile phones while driving. Even if truckers abide by the rules, they can be distracted and result in an accident. This can be the result of manual distractions like dropping a hand off of the wheel or mental distractions like thinking about something else other than driving.
Although most people know that it is risky to text and drive, many realize that other activities such as eating, changing the radio station or conversing with a passenger could also be considered to be distracting. When a truck driver gets distracted, they might wander off into another lane, or fail to see an obstruction in front of them. When a truck driver's attention is diverted, it takes only just a few seconds for a huge vehicle to hit a motorist car.
It is important to gather details about witnesses and take photos of the accident scene when the driver is distracted and causes an accident with a truck. It is crucial to know the name of the driver, the business for which they work and who owns the vehicle, if it's an independent contractor. This could have an influence on who is responsible for the incident, since it is the responsibility of the trucking firm to find competent and skilled truck drivers. If the trucking company is found to be at least partially responsible for the accident, they could be responsible for your economic and non-economic injuries.
Rear-End Collisions
Rear-end truck collisions are quite common and can result in serious injuries. They can happen in a variety of settings like at a red light or stop signal, where the trucker is unable to check their surroundings for any traffic that is coming up. They can also occur when a car crashes into front of the truck, which forces the driver to use their brakes without warning. The trucker may then slam the car from behind.
It is often difficult to prove the cause of rear-end crashes, as it is not always obvious which vehicle caused the crash. However, an experienced attorney can gather evidence that shows the driver behind caused the crash through following too closely or driving while distracted. This can be evidence in the form of photos, police reports and eyewitness testimony as well being skid marks on the road.
Sometimes, the driver in the front could be liable for the accident in addition. This could happen if they cut someone off or fail to obey their turn signal in the way that a reasonable person would, or slam on the brakes at the very last minute and causing the driver in the back to crash into the car directly in the front of them. This kind of situation is where modified comparative negligence laws be in play, where the jury assigns a percentage of fault to each party and damages are reduced accordingly.
Lacerations & Bruises
The rear-end of the car has the greatest impact in a rear-end collision meaning that occupants can sustain serious injuries after hitting their head against the dashboard or the back window. They also may break bones from being thrown around the interior of the car by the force of the crash. Spinal injuries can be serious. The spinal cord houses a number of nerves that control the body, so any damage to the spinal column may cause long-lasting and serious issues for those affected.
In addition to these kinds of injuries, the victim might also suffer from psychological and emotional traumas as a result of having been involved in a terrible crash. They may experience difficulty getting enough sleep or concentrating, which can result in anxiety and depression. If they are unable work due to the extent of their injury, this could cause anxiety and financial hardship. An attorney can examine the potential sources of liability to help a victim receive fair compensation for their loss.
Troublesome trailer hitches
All vehicles, regardless of whether they are a car or a truck, van flatbed, van, or should be securely connected to their trailers. Unintentionally pulling lexington semi truck accident lawyer off can result in catastrophic accidents that lead to serious injuries or death. If you have been injured in a car accident caused by a truck that has run away, contact an experienced attorney who is skilled in cases involving the failure of a hitch to discuss your legal options.
The cause of a faulty trailer hitch can be a variety of things such as inadequate secured or defective design. It can also be due to a defect in the manufacturing process, in which case laws governing product liability could apply. The company or the person who is at responsible for the malfunction of a trailer could be held accountable for the cost of medical bills, auto repair costs, as well as other losses that result from the incident.
For instance in a fatal crash that occurred in January 2014 along an Ohio road known locally as "Devil's Backbone," a trailer came out of the truck and slid directly into two cars in front of it. Initial investigations attributed the accident to the truck driver’s negligence for not inspecting and secure the hitch. In June 2015 however, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started investigating the possibility that a defect in the hitch the Ultra LT manufactured Fontaine Fifth Wheel in Trussville, Alabama, was the cause of the crash.
As a result of the malfunctioning hitch caused by the defective hitch, the trailer smashed into the sides of the vehicles before crashing into them head-on. The result was numerous deaths and serious injuries to the drivers.
The driver of the truck involved in the accident was convicted of vehicular murder, however experts believe that he could have avoided the collision if he'd performed an exhaustive inspection of his trailer to make sure all connections were in good order. The failure of trailer hitches could cause major problems. These kinds of incidents are usually high-speed, and they can easily cause a collision with motorcycles or smaller cars. In these instances, the trailer may distort the car's frame and create sharp metal fragments to impale any passengers.