The Process of a Truck Accident Lawsuit
Accidents involving trucks can cause serious and permanent injuries. These can lead to significant medical costs as well as psychological damage.
Your lawyer will issue an Summons & Complaint to the parties who are liable. The process could last for several years. Your lawyer can help determine whether any shared responsibility been properly assessed and assigned.
Investigations
A truck crash can be more severe than a car accident. A truck accident can have life-changing consequences. The impact is more complex due to its weight and size. These accidents also involve more complicated investigations.
Because of this, insurance companies and trucking companies frequently conduct their own investigations immediately following an accident to protect their interests. The victims are left to deal only with their injuries and are unable to collect evidence. This puts them at a disadvantage compared to the insurance company and trucking companies.
A lawyer for truck accidents who has experience will look for evidence from a variety of sources, including witness testimony, police reports and inspections of vehicles. A lawyer who is knowledgeable cannot rely solely on only police reports as they can be not sufficient for civil litigation. Police officers may not be trained to conduct an inquiry correctly and may not collect all the evidence required for the court case.
Other kinds of data include logbook records, maintenance and service records for the truck and other equipment, data from the event data recorder (also called a black box), and more. A competent attorney will request the driver of the truck and the trucking company for these types and other types of evidence, and then examine them to determine the causes of the accident.
Expert Witnesses
An expert witness can help your lawyer prove the various elements of your truck accident case. For example, a medical expert will provide your lawyer with evidence that the crash caused your injuries. Experts can also testify as to how your injuries affect your life's quality of living in the future. Expert witnesses can assist your lawyer calculate the amount of damages, such as lost income and your future earning capacity.
Your doctor can look over physical evidence and explain the impact of your injury on your future. For instance an expert in medical science can show how your accident can affect you in terms of physical and mental health. Another type of expert is a metallurgist, who can analyze why a vehicle part failed. There are experts who can determine if the weather was the cause of the crash.
The primary role of your expert is to analyze the evidence and provide an objective and impartial opinion. Some experts could be a liability for your case when their opinions are skewed or they have connections to the defendants. Your lawyer can conduct an investigation into the background of the expert witness to determine any risks.
Apart from expert witnesses, your attorney will also interview you as well as other eyewitnesses, including any people who saw the crash taking place prior to when it occurred. You should be aware that the insurance companies of the defendants will attempt to get your to admit fault or give statements that they can twist or alter to make it appear as though they are trying to undermine your case.
Litigation
As with all drivers truckers are required by law to adhere to a duty to obey traffic laws and to take reasonable care when driving. If they fail to do so and their negligence leads to an accident, then they could be held responsible for the damage that victims are liable for.
Our attorney will collect evidence from eyewitnesses and seek written or oral evidence to prove that the defendant was negligent. Our team will also examine other evidence, such as skidmarks and points of impact, and conduct crash testing.
Sometimes the cause of the truck crash is complex and involves multiple parties. If the accident was caused by defective equipment or maintenance that was not done properly, we could sue the manufacturers or the trucks. We could also sue the mechanic or repair shop accountable for the repairs.
We will attempt to settle your dispute out of court, but in the event that the trucking company, or its insurer refuses to accept a fair settlement offer, we will prepare for trial. During trial in which a judge or jury will decide on the dispute like who was at fault and how much compensation you should get. The total amount of your legal damages will be based on your documented losses, which include physical, financial and emotional pain.
Statute of limitations
Understanding how these cases typically proceed can help prepare you for what is to come and provide you with an idea of how long it could take to settle your case.
One of the most important actions is to establish the extent of liability. If an truck driver was sleepy or distracted, for example, it is likely they'll be held accountable for the damages. However, there may be other parties who are equally responsible. For instance, if the crash was caused by poor repairs such as a mechanic who completed the work or a company that made the truck or its components could be held accountable in the legal concept of respondeat superior.
You may also be entitled to punitive damages if the responsible person acted in a manner of recklessness that was more severe. To establish this, we have to prove that the liable party acted recklessly of your safety or that of others.
columbus truck accident law firm to work with an attorney who is knowledgeable with the complexities of truck accident cases. Insurance companies and attorneys for at-fault party can be seen as the wolves in sheepskins who try to get you to sign statements which they later use against you. You can steer clear of these pitfalls by hiring an attorney to manage your communications.