Truck Rollovers and Personal Injury Settlements | Patterson Bray Law

Truck Rollovers and Personal Injury Settlements

When a truck rolls over, the results can be catastrophic or fatal. A tractor-trailer can weigh 20 times more than a passenger car. There’s also the cargo spillage factor that can create a dangerous high speed obstacle course for other drivers on the highway.

Common Causes of Truck Rollover Accidents

As per the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), about 327,000 large trucks are involved in accidents every year and an estimated 3,500 people lose their lives in them. About 15,000 of those accidents involve rollovers. The FMCSA has concluded that nearly half of all large truck rollover crashes involve the failure of drivers to adjust their speed to road curves. Other causes involve:

• Drowsy or fatigued driving
• Distracted driving like using a mobile phone or navigational device
• Over-steering or over-correcting
• Load shifts or improper loading

The Right to Compensation

Every trucker on the road has a duty to operate their rig in a safe and careful manner so as not to endanger the safety of others around them. Some truck drivers breach that duty and cause rollover accidents resulting in severe injuries or deaths. Injured victims and the families of those who died at the hands of careless and negligent truck drivers are entitled to seek compensation for their damages and losses. Those damages might consist of:

• Previous medical bills and any medical bills that they may incur in the future
• Previous lost earnings and any earnings that they may incur in the future
• Any permanent disfigurement
• Any permanent disability
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of a normal life
• Loss of consortium, companionship, and guidance from a loved one
• Funeral and burial costs when a wrongful death results

The Stakes Are High

When a large truck like a tractor-trailer is responsible for a crash involving one or more other vehicles, the insurer risks high financial exposure. Insurance companies are well aware of that fact, so it’s not unusual for them to dispatch an investigative team to the accident scene before the mess and debris are even cleaned up. Don’t expect their investigative report to mention any evidence that’s favorable to you. The purpose of that insurer’s investigation is to attribute blame, or shift a percentage of the blame, for the crash over onto you. For the insurer, it’s all about saving money.

Preserve the Evidence

Evidence can disappear, get lost or destroyed, and witnesses can vanish. Victims or their families will want to contact us right away. If needed, we can visit the accident scene and start our own investigation immediately. We might even obtain a court order to compel the trucker and his employer to preserve all evidence in connection with the crash. Evidence might include GPS data, onboard computer data, logbooks, maintenance records, physical objects, and the like.

Settlement

While all of the evidence regarding liability is secured and examined, witnesses are interviewed too. We’re also documenting our client’s damages up to the time that the client reaches his or her highest level of medical improvement. Even in a wrongful death case, the economic and noneconomic damages also take time to document. Our objective is to maximize our client’s settlement.

Along with proven and aggressive litigation techniques, we bring personal attention and compassion to the representation of accident victims and their families. Contact an experienced professional such as the Personal Injury Attorney locals trust right away by phone or by email after any truck accident for a free consultation and case evaluation. You don’t need to have a single dollar in your pocket; that’s because no legal fees are due unless we obtain a settlement or verdict for you.