Why Do Truck Accident Victims Have Trouble Getting Fair Compensation?

Trucks are much heavier than passenger vehicles making them difficult to stop. When they collide with other vehicles, the driver and passenger of those vehicles often suffer catastrophic injuries. Victims of truck accidents often have an extremely difficult time obtaining full and fair compensation for their injuries.

Why are truck accident cases so much more difficult than car accident cases, and why are victims at such a disadvantage? We’ve been fighting to obtain maximum compensation for accident victims for more than 40 years.  We’ve seen some pretty clear patterns emerge that explain the challenges with truck accident cases. Here are some of the issues that can complicate truck accident cases.

Injuries Are More Severe

The size and weight of tractor-trailers and other types of trucks can pulverize vehicles they come into contact with in a crash. Victims are often hurt much more severely than in car accidents, and that complicates the process of obtaining legal justice in numerous ways.

To begin with, when accident victims are unconscious or heavily medicated in the hospital fighting for their lives, they are not going to be able to take the immediate steps necessary to secure the evidence they need to establish liability for the accident. No matter how severely you are injured, you won’t be able to recover unless you can show how someone’s negligence or reckless conduct caused the accident. That requires evidence, and the best time to collect evidence is right after the collision.

As time passes, the accident scene changes, vehicles get repaired or junked, video images get recorded over, and the memories of witnesses fade. Accident victims suffering from severe injuries are not in a position take pictures of skid marks before they fade or subpoena footage from security and traffic cameras. They may have a severe disadvantage and could benefit from working with a legal team early on.

In addition to gathering and preserving evidence, an attorney can also handle questions and communications from the others involved in the case, which enables the victim to focus on healing. If the accident victim is too injured to talk to an attorney, or where injuries lead to a wrongful death, an attorney can work with family members to start investigating early while evidence is most readily available.

Another way that severe injuries can make it difficult for truck accident victims to get fair compensation is that unless you’ve had considerable experience with similar injuries in the past, it can be easy to underestimate the long-term impact. Accident victims should receive compensation to cover future medical needs and make up for income lost due to reduced work capacity. In addition, they should recover amounts to offset the pain, suffering, emotional anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life they experience in the years ahead. It is important for victims to work with an attorney who is familiar with the long-term effects of injuries such as spinal cord damage, traumatic brain injuries, complex bone fractures, burns, and crush injuries to ensure that all future needs are accounted for.

The Case Can Involve Multiple Defendants

In a car accident case, typically the driver at fault is also the owner of the car and responsible for maintaining and loading the vehicle. That means a lawsuit typically involves the accident victim as the plaintiff and the owner/driver as the defendant. But trucks are almost always commercial vehicles, and that means many companies may be involved in their operation. Each of those companies could potentially have a share in liability for causing the accident.

It becomes necessary to investigate in-depth to determine who could be at fault and to recover evidence to hold them accountable. Each company may blame someone else. If the accident victim is working with an experienced attorney, their legal team may be able to use the number of potentially liable parties as a way to ensure that there are enough resources available to meet the victim’s future needs. Liability could be shared among parties.

The Defendants Work with Experienced Corporate Legal Teams

The companies that own, operate, load, and perform maintenance on commercial trucks can often call on the resources of experienced corporate attorneys who understand how to limit their potential liability for truck accidents. They know how to interview accident victims in a manner that will allow them to shift liability or undervalue the losses and harm suffered. They know how to make it very difficult for the victim to gather evidence revealing their liability. It is their job to defend claims using multiple strategies, and they deal with liability defense for truck accidents on a regular basis.

The victim of a truck accident needs to work with a legal team with extensive experience and dedication to have a chance of succeeding. Many attorneys simply aren’t prepared, or they are contacted too late to be fully effective.

Martin & Jones Knows How to Work Effectively to Get Truck Accident Victims Full Compensation for Their Losses

When a truck accident causes serious injuries, it seems grossly unfair that it is so difficult for an accident victim to receive the compensation they need to rebuild their life and move forward. That’s why the team at Martin & Jones is dedicated to protecting the rights of those injured in accidents caused by the negligence or recklessness of others.

We know how to stand up to insurance companies and corporate legal teams with effective arguments, and we also understand how to account for every factor in a claim for damages so that our clients receive full compensation for their losses. If you or a loved one were injured in a truck accident, we urge you to contact us now for a free consultation and case evaluation to learn more about the potential of your case and how we can help you maximize your recovery.