Semi trucks, otherwise referred to as tractor trailers or sometimes simply “trucks” (not to be confused with pickup trucks) can be very dangerous on freeways and surface streets alike. In Edwardsville, MO, truck accidents are a common occurrence you may have noticed. You might not think about it every day, but any time you drive around them, you put yourself and your passengers at risk; one false move – merging, changing lanes, or any other kind of routine driving action – could have life-altering implications for you, your passengers, and any other cars around you.
Semi trucks are huge and heavy, carrying tons of cargo and causing millions of dollars in damage every year; they also provide a basic need that we all take for granted. Trucks deliver large amounts of a wide variety of goods to St. Louis and all over the country every day.
Semi Truck Accidents
If you or a family member was injured in an accident with a semi truck, you have the right and responsibility to seek compensation for your injuries, including:
- Damage done to your car and its contents (including fixing or replacing your vehicle)
- Physical harm done to you and your passengers
- Medical bills – current and those expected to last into the future (including therapy, rehabilitation, surgeries, and any prescription medication)
- Pain and suffering
- Mental and psychological effects, including therapy, medication, emotional strain, and mental anguish
- Permanent injuries or disabilities that may cause you to miss work, lose wages, and experience a decreased earning capacity in your chosen career field.
Causes Of Semi Truck Accidents
Trucks are only supposed to hold a certain amount, but in order to increase profit margins, some trucking companies go against regulations and laws, and participate in the following illegal practices:
- Filling trailers too full or with too much weight
- Driving too fast for the road or weather conditions (in many locations, trucks have a lower speed limit than regular cars)
- Working for longer than they are allowed and skipping their break times so that they get to their destinations faster and can therefore earn more money; this can lead to drivers being too tired to drive, but still motivated to reach the destination
- Failing to properly maintain the truck
- Driving under the influence of alcohol and/or other drugs – although one could argue that substances intended to keep drivers awake provide a benefit, many drugs have very serious side effects that further complicate the already difficult task of driving an 18-wheeler
- Failing to adhere to safety guidelines, including checking blind spots
Defective Equipment
Every kind of vehicle – motorized or not, with two wheels or eighteen – can have defective equipment that makes it a challenge to stay upright or drive in a straight line, not to mention much more complicated maneuvers. If a semi truck has even a small flaw, it can have huge repercussions that impact not just the driver and his load, but other drivers all around them, even those traveling on the other side of the road. Semi trucks can easily jackknife or roll over, and their drivers can much more easily lose control; when they do, there are far-reaching impacts, including those that could include life-altering injuries to you and your family.
Driving Conditions
Navigating treacherous, winding mountain roads can be difficult in the best of circumstances; the same goes for busy city roads. But for semi trucks, everything is made exponentially more difficult and complicated. In rain, snow, and ice, for example, cars have to be especially careful, taking great pains to slow down and drive very intentionally, concentrating on each move. Semi truck drivers are acutely aware, especially in adverse conditions, that the simplest miscalculation or wrong move could injure or kill a nearby driver and their passengers.
Settlement Offers
Because semi truck drivers and companies realize the great risk they run simply from doing their job, they usually have teams of attorneys that work to protect them. When truck accidents happen, the trucking company owners and operators dispatch their attorneys to start working on the case and possibly developing a settlement offer for you, which will very likely not be in your best interest. The company and its lawyers will do their research and have some approximation of what settlement offers you’re likely to entertain as well as what a jury may award you as the victim, given the anticipated extent and duration of your injuries. They know that you probably want a speedy resolution so that you can put the whole nightmare of the accident behind you, so they might make a settlement offer, but it will be nothing close to what you deserve.
Call The St. Louis Truck Accident Attorneys at Walton Telken Today
This is one of the most important reasons you need to hire a skilled attorney with the knowledge and experience to help you through this very weighty, complex process. You shouldn’t accept a trucking or insurance company’s first settlement offer, and you shouldn’t go through this process alone. You need someone with the expertise of dealing with trucking companies and their attorneys in order to receive the compensation you deserve. You have the right and responsibility to hold the semi truck driver and company responsible for their negligence; it is imperative that you do so – your failure could spell disaster for multiple other individuals and their families. You owe it to yourself to fight for what you deserve.
When you call today to schedule an appointment to talk to one of our understanding, sympathetic attorneys, they will listen to your story and ask you about your reasons for considering filing a lawsuit; after they explain your options to you, together you can find the best route for you, given your current situation. Also, if you are unable to do so, an attorney will come to you to discuss your case, rather than cause any undue burden of having you come to our office. Furthermore, our attorneys will take cases on contingency, which means that if you don’t win anything, we don’t get paid, so you have nothing to lose.
The information provided by Walton Telken, LLC in this Blog is not intended to be legal advice, but merely provides general information related to common legal issues. This Blog, and the information contained within it, is Attorney Advertisement. The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements. Past results afford no guarantee of future results. Every case is different and must be judged on its own merits.