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Accidents with commercial vehicles can have life-changing consequences for those involved. These large trucks far outweigh passenger vehicles and can cause tremendous damage.
If you were hurt in a crash, you have the right to seek justice with help from a dedicated personal injury attorney. A fair financial settlement could provide you with the resources you need to cover your medical bills, address your physical pain, and pay for the cost of replacing your vehicle. Let a Little Rock truck accident lawyer assist you with every stage of your personal injury case. Contact Mays, Byrd & O’Guinn, PLLC to schedule your consultation with a seasoned personal injury attorney.
When a person is injured in a truck crash, it is natural to wonder about the average settlement in a similar personal injury case. These details might provide them with a frame of reference for what they can expect if their case ultimately settles. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to identify the average value of these claims, as most settlement negotiations are made in private or have not been collected in a central location.
Finding the average value of a truck accident injury case may not be possible, but a legal professional could provide insight into what a specific claim might be worth. This is done by identifying the types of damages that might be recovered, such as:
A truck accident attorney in Little Rock could help pursue these losses to obtain fair compensation.
The facts surrounding a truck accident are unique. There are countless ways these vehicles can collide with other drivers, but certain types of collisions are especially common, including:
If you have been injured in an accident with a large truck, a seasoned attorney in Little Rock could fight to get what you deserve. Our attorneys will prepare a strong offense so that your pain and suffering do not have to go in vain.
The driver has the ultimate responsibility in any accident, but courts and state legislators realize that commercial truck accidents are seldom the sole responsibility of the person behind the wheel. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has established a list of requirements and regulations to ensure that drivers are not driving their massive vehicles while too tired or impaired to handle them.
Driver hours of service (HOS) are limited to 14 hours per day for short-haul vehicles, and 11 hours per day for long-haul drivers. Long-haul drivers must take one 30-minute break after eight consecutive hours of driving.
The driver is not the only one responsible for taking these breaks and rest stops. Often, companies order or encourage their drivers to skip breaks, or may set schedules that are too tight for drivers to meet if they stop according to the regulations in place. Drivers may feel pressured to keep driving, even when they are fatigued. Drivers or companies may put “ghost” drivers on the log as a pretense to show regulators that a driver did not exceed their HOS.
The company is also responsible for keeping its vehicles safe and roadworthy. Such companies must ensure the following before a vehicle hits the road:
The company is ultimately responsible for ensuring that these things are done according to federal and state law. However, some companies do not handle their own maintenance. If a company outsources its vehicle maintenance, then that company is also liable for any failure on the part of its mechanics to oversee the upkeep of the vehicle.
Whoever handles the maintenance is liable for providing working parts. Manufacturers are strictly liable for manufacturing and design defects. This means that if a part comes from the manufacturer that is unfit for use due to a flaw in its production, the manufacturer must notify anyone who purchased the product and issue a recall. If the truck accident is due to a part that was faulty or damaged when it was installed, the manufacturer could share liability for your accident.
Proving who is responsible in a truck accident case may require extensive evidence and a Little Rock attorney who can demonstrate how they all link together. Not all of this information is readily available.
Your case begins with requesting the driver’s information. You need their name and driver’s license number, but also their commercial driver’s license (CDL) and the company information. If the driver does not have it or will not give you that information, the company registration is usually on the vehicle door.
You may need an attorney to obtain the company’s insurance information. The trucking company is liable for the driver’s conduct under the legal theory of respondeat superior, meaning that the “master is responsible for the servant.” The company is responsible for ensuring that the driver is qualified and has a current CDL.
They are also responsible for keeping the truck maintained and in good condition. If the vehicle missed any scheduled maintenance or was sent on the road with bad brakes or inadequate equipment, the company can be found liable.
All commercial vehicles must have an electronic logging device (ELD). This functions like an airplane’s flight data recorder and monitors the truck’s speed, fuel consumption, direction, and other key information. It also tracks the driver’s hours of service and when the driver was on and off-duty. ELDs track when the vehicle was last serviced and when it entered a weigh station.
The data in an ELD is essential for proving what happened in a truck accident. However, trucking companies are only required to maintain the data for six months. After that, they can delete or erase the data to make space for new information. If you are involved in any kind of commercial truck accident, you must contact an attorney, even if you are not sure if you have a cause of action. Your legal team can issue a letter to the company, preserving the data if you need it later.
Sometimes forgotten in the aftermath of a truck accident, the company that put the truck on the road may not be the same as the one that owns the truck. Shipping companies often contract with trucking companies to haul freight. Essentially, they own the trailers and hire others to do the pulling. In these cases, the shipping company may bear some liability for your truck accident.
If the trailer was faulty or had poor brakes or bad tires, the trucking company may be less at fault than the company that owned the trailer. In these cases, your attorney needs information about the company that owns the trailer and loaded the cargo.
It is easy enough to look at truck accidents and blame the driver. Why the driver is responsible is another story. For example, a driver may be liable for reasons that implicate other parties, which is essential if your attorney is building a case against the trucking company or the maintenance yard.
Distraction behind the wheel can be caused by anything from texting while driving to simple fatigue. The FMCSA laws about driver rest periods were intended to make drivers stop and get out of their vehicles now and then, thus reducing the risk of truck accidents. If drivers do not take their mandated breaks or companies do not enforce them, accidents happen.
Federal law sets the acceptable blood-alcohol content (BAC) for commercial truck drivers at .04%, half of that for other drivers. Drivers cannot consume alcohol for four hours before driving, and if they have a BAC of .02%, they cannot perform “safety-sensitive” tasks for 24 hours.
The FMCSA does not have any “safe” or “permissible” level for any other narcotic or intoxicant. Even in states where recreational marijuana is legal, commercial truck drivers cannot use it before driving.
The effects of weather on truck accidents cannot be overstated. Both truck drivers and drivers of automobiles need to take extra care in inclement weather. Although truck drivers have the responsibility to handle their vehicles responsibly, car drivers should be aware that the time and distance needed to stop an 80,000-pound tractor-trailer on ice is the length of several football fields. If you see a truck driver driving unsafely, give them plenty of room, and contact their company and the state troopers.
Being passed by a huge tractor-trailer is an unnerving experience. At highway speeds, even the slightest error can cause a truck accident. Truck drivers may push limits in their vehicles because of fatigue, delays, and pressure from the home office to get deliveries done on schedule, even when road conditions do not allow it to be done safely.
Truck accidents caused by high speed never end well for other drivers. When you see a truck driver speeding down a highway, you should contact law enforcement for everyone’s safety.
After a serious truck accident, your first focus should be on recovering from your injuries. Truck accident injuries can range from closed head trauma to major spinal cord damage and broken bones. Depending on the exact mechanism of the truck accident, you could face weeks or months of recovery time.
Under Arkansas Code § 16-56-105, truck accident victims have three years from the date of the injury to file a personal injury claim. Although this may seem like enough time, other factors come into play.
This is a fancy legal term for destroying or erasing data that may be needed for litigation. All commercial vehicles must have an ELD recording important data on the truck and the driver. However, like any other electronic device, the data can be erased, deleted, or overwritten. Federal law only requires companies to keep the information for six months. Unless you or your attorney acts quickly, vital data could be lost.
After a truck accident, you may need surgery and physical therapy. In these cases, your doctor or therapist will follow your progress until you have fully recovered, or until no more progress is possible. This is the maximum medical recovery, or MMR. At this point, your doctors will know if you will need any medical care in the future or if you will have any permanent impairment requiring job retraining.
You should not accept any settlement before you reach MMR. Insurance companies that try to “lowball” you or offer you an early settlement do so because they know you may need more care later. Once you accept a settlement, you cannot reopen your claim later.
Related to your maximum medical recovery is your potential loss of earning capacity. This figure is typically determined by a financial or vocational expert. If you may have a loss of earning capacity or need job retraining, it cannot be determined until you are released from therapy with a final determination of your condition. Any settlement must include your future job potential and possible need for a new job.
If the insurance company or companies make a settlement offer that does not reflect your financial and medical needs, you may need to begin litigation. The litigation must be filed within three years of the date of your accident. However, there is no limit on the time you have to proceed after the case is filed.
Unlike a criminal case, which must proceed immediately once the prosecutor files the case, a civil claim can be filed and then proceed more slowly as long as both parties agree to the process. If you are unsure about filing a truck accident claim immediately, your Little Rock attorney can begin the process of gathering evidence while you begin your recovery, and have the documents ready before the statute of limitations runs out.
Nearly every truck accident victim asks whether they need a Little Rock attorney at some point in the settlement and litigation process. An attorney can help you collect evidence and give you essential advice throughout the negotiations and litigation. You should always consult a lawyer at these points following any truck accident claim:
You should always have legal counsel if your case goes to trial. Even if your claim is for only a few thousand dollars, if the other side takes you to court, have someone at your side who understands the legal process and can make the right statements to the judge and jury.
If you were hurt in a truck crash through no fault of your own, you might have a viable case for financial compensation. A Little Rock truck accident lawyer could review the facts, identify who was at fault, and aggressively pursue the fair outcome you deserve. Call today to schedule a private consultation.