Dekalb County Truck Accident Lawyer

Large trucks carry more than 70 percent of freight in the US, representing about 5 percent of motor vehicles. Because trucks are large, heavy machines that pose a relatively high risk to occupants of smaller vehicles, truck drivers receive extensive training, and most are dedicated to driving safely.

But if a truck driver is negligent, or another party’s negligence causes a truck to crash, smaller vehicles nearby may be decimated by the truck’s weight and limited ability to stop. Unfortunately, collisions with large trucks cause some of the most severe injuries in traffic accidents, including, in some cases, fatal injuries.

Why Do You Need a Dekalb County Truck Accident Attorney?

Insurance adjusters are always on the lookout for reasons to deny or undervalue a claim, but when it comes to truck accidents, they will scrutinize your claim even harder. There are several reasons why truck accident cases are more difficult to pursue than a typical accident claim involving two cars:

• The truck driver is likely to insist they weren’t at fault. After all, they drive for a living.
• The trucking company will probably back up the driver’s story and work to avoid liability. The bigger the trucking company, the more resources it will have to put toward this goal. Many trucking companies dispatch legal teams to handle significant accidents, and they will immediately go to work investigating the crash while you’re in the hospital with injuries. The next thing you know, the insurance company could blame you for the accident.
• Most truck drivers must carry at least $750,000 in liability insurance; some may have as much as $1,000,000 in coverage. You might think this higher policy limit is beneficial because it can potentially cover more damages than the minimum insurance required for smaller vehicles ($25,000 per person for bodily injury liability and $25,000 for property damage). However, because truck accident claims often involve large amounts of money, the insurance adjuster will be even more invested in finding a reason to reject your claim or to pay far less than your claim is worth.
• Determining liability in a truck accident can be very challenging. In some cases, the truck driver really isn’t at fault—but that doesn’t mean you are, either. Sometimes, the trucking company or a third party is liable.
• If your case is unusually clear-cut and the insurance adjuster realizes the truck driver was at fault, they may undervalue your claim, offering you far less than it’s worth. It’s extremely difficult for the average person to know exactly how much compensation they should receive after a truck accident, so this method is often effective when the injured person doesn’t have a lawyer. The injured party might accept the offer, only to realize months later that it wasn’t enough—but when they accepted, they released the insurance company from any further obligation in the matter.

A truck accident attorney can help you with all of these difficulties. We’ll review the police report, visit the accident scene, interview witnesses, search for photo or video evidence, and consider other electronic evidence.

After learning the facts and determining all liable parties, we’ll create a strategy to win your case. We’ll also negotiate with the insurance company to achieve a fair settlement covering all your damages.

What Damages Are Available in a Truck Accident?

We’ll discuss all potential damages with you to be sure everything is included in your claim. Here are some of the categories we’ll go over:

• Medical bills. These are frequently high in truck accident cases because people in passenger vehicles often suffer severe injuries in a truck collision. Broken bones, soft tissue injuries, head or traumatic brain injuries, and back or spine injuries are all common—many people have more than one of these serious injuries. Your health insurance will likely pay for some—but not all—of the costs, leaving you with many bills. Other out-of-pocket expenses include mobility aids, equipment needed for physical therapy exercises at home, travel expenses to see a specialist, and more.
• Lost income. While dealing with all those injuries, you may be unable to work for weeks or months, and few people have unlimited paid time off. Instead, you will probably have to take some unpaid time off after using all those paid days you saved for a vacation. You have a right to recover compensation for paid and unpaid time off due to your accident.
• Reduced earning potential. It’s not unusual for the severe injuries associated with truck collisions to result in one or more permanent disabilities. Some people are able to continue working, but others cannot. Still, others may have to work fewer hours or take a less strenuous job with lower pay. In all of these situations, your earning potential has been reduced because of the collision, and you can seek compensation for that loss.
• Permanent disability or disfigurement. Any significant disability or disfigurement can reduce your quality of life, whether or not it affects your work.
• Pain and suffering. Because truck accident injuries are often severe, you may have extensive physical pain as well as emotional or mental distress. Some people develop chronic physical pain, anxiety, depression, or PTSD as a result of their injuries and trauma. While pain and suffering don’t come with a specific dollar amount attached, we will help you arrive at a fair sum for compensation.
• Property damage. A smaller vehicle that goes up against a semi-truck is often totaled or requires a number of expensive repairs. You may also have damage to other valuables in the car, such as phones or laptops.
• Wrongful death. Due to more severe injuries, people in passenger vehicles have a higher risk of death when hit by a large truck. If your family member has passed in a truck accident, you may be forced to confront financial concerns while still grieving a terrible loss. We want you to be able to focus on your family during this difficult time, and we can pursue a claim for funeral and burial expenses, lost financial support, loss of consortium, and other damages.

How Do Truck Accidents Happen?

Every truck accident is different, and there are many different potential causes. It’s also possible for more than one party to contribute to an accident. Your attorney and investigative team will work to reconstruct the accident and identify any parties that may have been negligent.

Here are some common causes of truck accidents:

• Truck driver error. Although many protocols are in place to prevent driver errors—such as an 11-hour driving limit and rules about how long a driver’s rest periods must be—driver errors sometimes cause truck accidents. However, this can be difficult to prove if the driver has a different claim about what happened. To complicate the situation, the car driver and passengers may be so severely injured that they’re unable to answer questions at the accident scene. Or, they may not even clearly recall the accident later due to head injuries, surgery, medication, etc. If this happens, your lawyer will use other methods to reconstruct the accident and uncover evidence to support your case.
• Trucking company policies or decisions. Not all trucking company policies are “official.” In fact, if you look at most trucking company’s websites, you’ll find paragraph after paragraph about the company’s unwavering dedication to safety. However, sometimes, a company has unofficial policies or behaviors that compromise safety. These may overlap with driver error—for instance, a company supervisor who pushes drivers to deliver cargo in an unrealistically short time frame may encourage them to cheat the electronic logs that count their hours. As a result, the trucker continues driving past the limit and may be more likely to make a mistake. Or, the company may ignore a driver’s reports about a mechanical problem with the truck that later leads to an accident.
• Poorly loaded cargo. Have you ever seen a semi-trailer that seemed to be swaying in the wind? If so, you might know how easy it is to flip a trailer, and how cargo is loaded inside the trailer can worsen the problem. Loading too much weight on the top or failing to secure items increases the risk of the trailer overturning, which can be devastating for nearby vehicles. This is another situation where determining liability is complex because multiple parties might be responsible for loading the truck—the trucking company or a third party like a warehouse or store.
• Mechanical issues. Sometimes, a repair is done incorrectly, and the truck malfunctions, causing an accident. But as we discussed earlier, the problem could also be a lack of repairs because the trucking company didn’t stay on top of maintenance. The driver is also responsible for regularly checking the truck and reporting any problems to a supervisor.
• Defective products. Occasionally, we see situations where the truck was properly maintained and repairs were performed correctly, but a defective part or component caused the truck to crash.
• Other driver error. Motorists in passenger vehicles should take care when passing trucks—pass as quickly as possible and spend as little time as possible in the driver’s blind spot. Remember, if you can’t see the driver or their mirrors, they can’t see you! There is also a blind spot in front of the vehicle if you are very close because the driver is looking down over the hood of the cab. You should never cut close in front of a semi, but wait until you are several car lengths ahead to move over in front of them.

How Does Modified Comparative Negligence Affect Your Claim?

It’s also important to understand that Georgia’s modified comparative negligence laws allow for shared responsibility in accidents. Even if you made an error you believe contributed to the accident, that doesn’t mean you can’t seek compensation.

If your percentage of fault is below 50 percent, we can still recover damages from the more liable party, but your percentage of responsibility will be deducted from your final award.

Many people mistakenly think that their error makes them mainly or solely at fault in a truck accident, so we recommend keeping your thoughts about the distribution of fault to yourself until you speak with a lawyer. In some cases, the person made a minor misstep that had little or no bearing on the accident, and we can still recover all or most of their damages.

You should answer the responding officer’s questions honestly, but there is no need to voice an opinion about fault when you don’t have all the facts yet.

Even if you know you were not at fault, the truck driver’s insurance carrier may have different ideas. Remember, they will save money if they prove you were partly to blame for the collision.

For instance, if they convince your car insurance company’s adjuster that you were 10 percent at fault, they could save tens of thousands of dollars or more (depending on your damages). For this reason, we will fight to show that you had little or nothing to do with the accident so you can recover the best settlement for your needs.

What Should You Do if the Insurance Company Has Already Made You an Offer?

If you receive an offer from the truck driver’s insurance company shortly after an accident, that usually indicates that you were clearly not at fault, and the insurance adjuster is afraid of a large payout. Initial offers frequently undervalue the injured party’s claim, ignoring some damages completely or failing to account for future medical bills.

We urge you to review your offer with a lawyer before signing anything—especially if the insurance adjuster pressures you to accept the settlement. In fact, it’s best if you don’t talk to the insurance company representative until you’ve sought legal advice.

How Can You Get Help From a Dekalb County Truck Accident Law Firm?

Please contact the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm for a free consultation with a personal injury attorney. We’ll review the police report on your accident, answer your questions, and describe your options for seeking compensation.

We can also review any offers you’ve already received, and if they aren’t sufficient, we’ll negotiate with the insurance carrier for a better deal. If we take your case, you won’t owe us anything until we win or settle it.

The CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm was founded by attorney Ali Awad and soon became one of the fastest-growing law firms in the country. Mr. Awad and his team have since recovered millions of dollars in compensation for injured people and their families.

When he’s not fighting for clients in the courtroom or the boardroom, he posts entertaining yet educational videos about legal topics on social media. Work with The CEO Lawyer today by calling 833-254-2923.