When it comes to truck accidents, there is almost no such thing as a fender bender. Those riding in passenger cars usually suffer severe injuries, and car damage is often beyond repair.
Many truck accident victims seek the aid of a skilled attorney to help repair damage and quell the emotional and financial burden that follows.
Those involved in trucking accidents often ask how much their potential case is worth. Here we explain a few factors that can impact how much compensation you could receive if you've suffered from a trucking accident.
How Can a Truck Accident Attorney Help Me?
Truck accident cases can involve multi-car pileups with big rigs or tanker trucks spilling dangerous cargo. Because of this, these complex collisions require the extensive expertise of a truck accident attorney.
How Do I Handle the Trucker’s Insurance Company?
Dealing with insurance companies can be overwhelming, especially after the trauma of a trucking accident.
Often, insurance companies will try to shift the blame from their driver to the other party. A truck accident attorney can provide a team of experts to analyze the scene of the crash as well as the vehicles involved to determine the events exactly as they occurred.
A law firm can request for any physical evidence to be retained, such as black box data that can reveal the trucker’s actions during the collision.
It can be difficult to determine the long-term effects of a victim’s injuries following a wreck, as some symptoms do not appear right away. The need for surgery is not always immediately obvious, and assigning the right treatment can take time. Psychological or lifestyle changes may also not be apparent until after completing treatment.
An experienced truck accident attorney will handle all aspects of working with the other party’s insurance company so that you can focus on your recovery.
How Is My Settlement Calculated?
Several factors are used to determine your truck accident settlement amount. There are two types of damages you can claim: economic (monetary) damages and non-economic damages, which includes pain and suffering. Combined, these are known as compensatory damages.
Economic damages include:
- Medical expenses, including all costs related to treatment of injuries, such as ambulance rides, emergency room care, doctor’s bills, hospital stays, medication costs, surgeries, procedures, rehabilitation, and therapy
- Lost income, including potential bonuses, vacation or sick time, past or future lost wages
- Property damage, including damage and loss to a motor vehicle
- Non-economic damages include:
- Pain and suffering, including physical pain, disfigurement, anxiety, fear, grief, insomnia, and loss of quality of life
- Emotional pain, including emotional distress, PTSD and other mental disorders brought on by the incident and living with fear daily
- Loss of consortium, including loss of companionship with a spouse or other relationship
- Punitive damages can be obtained if a trucker acted in a way that was likely to cause harm to other drivers, such as by reckless driving
- Other factors that may impact your semi-truck accident settlement include:
Insurance Coverage: The FMCSA requires trucks to have $750,000-$5,000,000 policies. An experienced trucking attorney will obtain the exact coverage limits for the truck involved in the accident. These expenses help determine the damages of the accident.
Proving Negligence: In truck accidents, both the truck driver and trucking company, among others, can be found negligent. Negligence can include using an improperly maintained vehicle, driver error, etc. Proving negligence ca
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