What Are Your Rights If You’re Injured in a Truck Collision?

If you’re injured in an accident with a large commercial truck in Virginia, after you’ve been examined and/or treated by a medical professional, contact a Suffolk truck accident attorney – as quickly as possible – to consider your legal rights and options.

Permanent disabilities, long-term catastrophic injuries, and fatalities are the frequent results of truck accidents. Severe spinal cord and brain injuries, contusions, bone fractures, and injuries that require amputation are among the injuries that victims often sustain in truck crashes.

What is your recourse if you’re injured because another party was negligent and caused a truck collision? What measures should you take? Can you be compensated for your hospital bills and other medical costs, your lost income, and your related losses and damages?

If you continue reading this short introduction to the rights of truck accident victims, you’ll find the answers to these questions, and you’ll also find out how a Suffolk truck accident lawyer will work to win the justice and the compensation you’ll need after you’ve been injured.

What Parties Can Be Held Accountable for Truck Accidents?

When large commercial trucks are involved in accidents with injuries – and even when a truck driver was obviously negligent – other parties may also have liability for a truck accident.

Trucking companies, subcontractors, contractors, leasing companies, truck manufacturers, freight companies, and parts manufacturers may or may not share liability for any particular accident.

If a truck has not been maintained properly, if a truck or a part is defective, if cargo is not properly loaded, or if the street or highway where an accident occurs was constructed or maintained improperly, and you’re the injury victim, more than one party may have liability.

What Happens When More Than One Party Is Liable?

If you bring a personal injury claim after a truck collision, your Suffolk truck accident attorney will determine which parties have liability, hold those parties accountable, and fight for the compensation that you are entitled to under Virginia law.

Manufacturers are liable for defective vehicles or parts that cause collisions and injuries. Malfunctioning brakes or defective tires that cause accidents may trigger product liability lawsuits.

Government agencies and government contractors may also have liability if a truck accident is caused by a highway’s flawed design, negligent road construction, or failure to keep roads and driving conditions reasonably safe.

When a truck manufacturer or a government agency is a defendant in a truck accident lawsuit, the case will be complicated, and help from a good attorney will be imperative.

How Is Trucking Regulated?

In Virginia and across the nation, trucking is regulated by federal, state, and local laws and agencies. For example, a driver’s hours, the weight a truck may carry, and the training required for drivers are all regulated by the federal government.

After an accident, any violation of a state or federal trucking regulation – by the driver or by the driver’s employer – is evidence that supports an injury victim’s claim, and in some cases, makes the recovery of monetary damages almost certain.

Take These Steps If You Are Injured in a Truck Accident

If you’re injured in a truck collision, do not speak to the truck driver’s employer or to the driver’s or trucking company’s lawyer or insurance company. Refer all of their inquiries to your own injury attorney, and let your attorney do the talking and negotiating on your behalf.

An insurance company may offer you a quick settlement for a figure considerably below the actual value of your personal injury claim. This can’t be stressed strongly enough: Do not accept any settlement offer before you have discussed the case with a Suffolk truck accident lawyer.

What Will a Truck Accident Attorney Do on Your Behalf?

A Suffolk personal injury attorney will investigate the cause of a truck accident and review medical records, toxicology reports, the police accident report, the driver’s logs, the truck’s maintenance record, and any available video, photographs, or witness statements.

Your lawyer may also ask a medical authority or an accident reconstruction specialist to supply a statement or testimony that supports your personal injury claim.

Your lawyer will negotiate privately with the liable parties, their insurance companies, and their lawyers for your compensation. Cases with multiple defendants may be more difficult to settle out of court because the defendants may disagree regarding each defendant’s share of liability.

How Are Truck Collision Cases Resolved?

Most truck accident cases are resolved when the attorneys for both sides meet privately and outside of the courtroom to negotiate a settlement that is acceptable to both sides.

Some truck accident injury victims reach a settlement with a single defendant while continuing to pursue a lawsuit against other defendants. If your case goes to trial, your attorney will explain to a jury what happened and why the jurors should order the payment of your compensation.

If you have sustained a long-term injury or a permanent disability as the result of a truck accident, a Virginia truck accident attorney will negotiate aggressively – and if necessary, fight in court on your behalf – for the maximum available compensation amount.

When Should an Injury Victim Consult a Personal Injury Lawyer?

Under Virginia law, the statute of limitations – that is, the deadline for initiating a personal injury claim after a truck crash – is two years from the date of the accident. Don’t wait two years – in fact, don’t wait even two weeks – to contact a truck accident lawyer today.

Make the call immediately after you’ve been examined and/or treated for your injuries. A personal injury claim is much more likely to prevail if your lawyer can examine the evidence while it’s fresh and question the witnesses before their memories fade.

How Can You Afford an Attorney?

If you’ve been seriously injured in a truck accident, you won’t be able to work, and your medical bills and monthly obligations can pile up quickly, but you won’t have to worry about paying an attorney’s fee. Your first meeting with an attorney is offered with no obligation or cost.

You’ll receive personalized legal advice and find out how the law applies to your own case. If you and your lawyer proceed with legal action, you pay no lawyer’s fee unless and until your lawyer recovers the compensation you deserve and need.

If you become the injured victim of a Virginia truck accident, and if you and your attorney can prove your injury claim, the law will be on your side, and you’ll be compensated for your medical expenses, lost wages, and all of your other truck accident-related losses and damages.