Truck accident and injury claims can help victims of serious injuries recover compensation to cover their medical bills and help them move forward with their lives after injuries keep them from going back to work. If you were hurt in a crash involving an 18-wheeler, semi truck, or other large commercial motor vehicle, our lawyers can help.
Our attorneys fight to hold truckers and the companies they work for accountable for injuries their drivers cause. This includes not only suing for violations of traffic laws, but also for violations of trucking regulations that are put in place to help protect other drivers. Often, the somewhat intentional nature of trucking companies’ violations can put them on the hook for thousands or even millions of dollars.
Call Legal Care New Jersey today at (732) 838-9769 for a free case review with our truck accident lawyers.
Trucking Accident Types in Clifton, NJ
Truck accidents can involve many different situations and setups, but the victims are usually drivers, passengers, cyclists, and pedestrians in smaller cars. Our truck accident attorneys can help victims with all of the following kinds of truck accident cases and more:
Pileups
Truck accidents are often responsible for large pileup accidents on highways because their size causes them to strike cars or block traffic in multiple lanes. Trucks that get out of control because of malfunctioning braking systems, unstable cargo, “jackknife” accidents, and even crashes started by other vehicles can all cause substantial damage and injury to many people at once. Trucking companies and their drivers can be liable to each and every victim in the crash. If another driver caused the truck to crash and take other cars with it, that driver is often at fault instead – but the trucker or trucking company might still share liability.
Drunk and Drugged Driving Accidents
Truckers who use drugs or alcohol while on the clock are an extreme danger to themselves and others. If a driver causes a crash because of their intoxication, they could be on the hook for all of the damage they cause. If the trucking company kept them on despite previous DUI or DWI violations – or despite previous complaints about drunken driving – then they could be just as culpable.
Tired Driving
Commercial drivers – both those driving cargo and those driving people – are required to follow certain time limits on their driving for certain vehicles. This should help prevent tired driving and keep drivers alert by requiring short breaks every 8 hours and longer breaks every 11 hours. There are also limitations on how much driving they can do in a workweek. All of this is to say that violations of these rules could put truckers and trucking companies at fault for the resulting accidents under the argument that they violated a regulation. Even if the driver violated no regulations, tired driving is still incredibly dangerous and unreasonable.
Road Rage
Truckers spend a lot of time on the road, and they may have only so much patience. Truckers who intentionally try to run other drivers off the road or pressure them into dangerous moves could be at fault for the resulting accidents. A case to hold them liable will be incredibly fact sensitive.
Suing Truckers and Trucking Companies
For anyone to be liable for an accident – or any party or entity, in the case of trucking companies – there must be something that they did wrong to contribute to the accident. This usually comes in the form of a traffic violation or trucking regulation violation, but other specific instances of irresponsible or dangerous behavior can also qualify as the basis of a lawsuit.
When suing truckers for the accidents they cause, the same kind of issues that apply to other auto accidents apply to trucking accidents. For example, speeding, running a red light, or running a stop sign could all make a trucker at fault for the crash.
Trucking companies might also violate regulations or force their drivers to violate regulations. This can put them at fault directly. However, other irresponsible or negligent behavior by a trucking company can involve issues with how it staffs its company or how it maintains its vehicles. Hiring or retaining a dangerous driver is unreasonable, and trucking companies can be liable if they should have known their trucker was dangerous or had previous issues with the driver that should have led to their firing.
In the same way, using a truck they knew was dangerous is also grounds for a lawsuit. If the trucking company was responsible for maintenance, then any mistakes or mechanical issues should be their fault.
Trucking companies can also be held liable in their capacity as the driver’s employer. If the trucker was an independent contractor, then this kind of claim against the trucking company might not work. However, whenever an employee commits negligence while on duty and working to benefit the company they work for, the company as a whole is usually held responsible for their employee’s negligence. This is called “vicarious liability,” and it often applies to truckers and trucking companies.
What is My Trucking Accident Claim Worth in Clifton, NJ?
It is difficult to tell what a case will be worth without examining the facts. Our lawyers do offer free case reviews to help you understand your specific case a little better, but even so, it will usually take a full evaluation before we can accurately calculate damages.
Nonetheless, you can begin estimating the damages in your case by totaling up all expenses and bills brought about by the accident: repair bills, hospital bills, and more. You can also look at the wages you lost while you were out of work – or while you continue to miss work. Lastly, damages for pain and suffering can be added on top of these damages in many serious injury cases, leading to higher damages overall.
Sometimes punitive damages can be issued to punish trucking companies that repeatedly or intentionally violate trucking rules and regulations.
Call Our Truck Accident Lawyers Today in Clifton, NJ
For a free evaluation of your potential claim, call Legal Care New Jersey’s truck accident lawyers at (732) 838-9769.
