Semi-trucks, tractor-trailers, 18-wheelers, and other large commercial vehicles are involved in thousands of crashes across Virginia each year. These crashes occur on interstates and local roads and may involve single vehicles or multiple vehicles. Common causes include tired drivers, drunk driving, distracted driving, texting, following too closely, failing to yield, improper lane changes, improper servicing or maintenance of the tractor or trailer, and unsafe turns. In short, negligent driving plays a role in most truck accidents.
Because of their size and weight, large trucks create a much higher risk of serious injury or death when they collide with passenger vehicles. Tractor-trailers can weigh 20 times more than a car, and even the largest SUVs provide little protection in such crashes. The result often includes catastrophic injuries, steep medical bills, loss of income, and long-term pain and suffering.
If you were injured in a crash with a commercial truck, a Charlottesville truck accident lawyer at MichieHamlett could help. Our seasoned personal injury attorneys have decades of experience standing up to trucking companies and their insurers, pursuing the compensation clients need to move forward.
While they may make up a low proportion of all traffic-related collisions, truck accidents are the most likely to cause death, injuries, and other devastation for victims. According to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles Traffic Crash Facts, there are almost 5,000 collisions involving semis, 18-wheelers, large trucks, and other commercial vehicles every year. Almost half of them cause a fatality or bodily harm to at least one person. From the size and weight of a truck, you can guess that the most seriously injured victims are occupants of the passenger car.
Virginia law does provide you with legal options as the victim of a truck collision, but the legal process is more complicated than other motor vehicle crashes. Instead of putting your rights at risk, trust our Virginia truck accidents attorneys at the MichieHamlett Law Firm to protect your interests. Please contact our office to set up a free consultation, and check out an overview of how these incidents happen.
The underlying cause of truck crashes in Virginia is operator error and carelessness, which translates to negligence in the practice of law. You need to prove that the truck driver breached the legal duty to operate the vehicle safely, and this was the cause of the collision. Specific types of truck accidents include:
Each of these accidents may lead to severe injuries and complex liability questions, making it critical to seek legal guidance as soon as possible.
Like most traffic crash cases, your first step toward obtaining compensation is filing a claim with the driver’s insurance company. If you cannot resolve your claim through settlement, you must go to court to recover monetary damages for your losses.
However, there are three key challenges that complicate truck accident cases. Our lawyers at the MichieHamlett Law Firm work to overcome legal obstacles, but you should be aware of them.
These challenges highlight why truck accident claims require careful investigation and strong legal advocacy to protect your rights and pursue fair compensation.
The very nature of tractor-trailers makes accidents more likely. Because of their immense size and weight, the big rigs require greater stopping distance, and truckers need more reaction time to respond to a traffic slowdown or other sudden change in traffic conditions. Unfortunately, drivers get distracted or careless and don’t always give themselves the room they need. A trucker who chooses the wrong method to stop a tractor-trailer in an emergency can jackknife the truck, causing a catastrophic accident often involving multiple vehicles on the road. Semi-trucks also have significantly larger blind spots than passenger vehicles, meaning turns and lane changes are inherently riskier and require a greater deal of time and attention to execute safely.
Driver fatigue is a leading cause of truck accidents. Federal regulations allow truckers to stay behind the wheel for as long as 11 hours and be on duty for 14 hours a day, and in some cases hours longer. Truck drivers can lawfully drive for eight hours straight before taking as little as 30 minutes to rest and then starting up again. Truckers can also legally put in 60 hours over seven consecutive days or 70 hours over eight consecutive days, and they only have to take 34 hours off before restarting a new seven or eight-day period.
Working under the allowable hours of service regulations can be punishing enough, but many drivers push themselves even farther – whether on their own initiative or under pressure from the trucking company – and drive longer than is legal. Truckers have been known to falsify their driving logs to hide their noncompliance from roadside inspectors and weigh stations. Sometimes, the facts only come out after a crash based on the diligent work of the accident victim’s attorney.
Just as dangerous as the condition of the driver is the condition of the truck itself. When safety agencies conduct roadside inspections, they find it necessary to pull one out of every five trucks they stop out of service because of dangerously unsafe conditions with their tires, brakes, or other critical components. These are not surprise inspections; trucking companies know about them months in advance. They simply don’t bother to maintain their fleets in safe working order, and it’s the occupants of the passenger vehicles, the trucks share the road with who suffer.
Occupants of passenger vehicles are at serious risk of catastrophic injury or death in a collision with a tractor-trailer due to underride accidents. Because of the height disparity between the two vehicles, a car colliding with a truck can drive under the trailer and impact the car at head or chest level with horrific consequences. Semi-trucks are required by law to be equipped with rear guards to prevent underride accidents, but many older guards don’t take into account the heavier weight of modern vehicles like pickup trucks and SUVs. Also, the federal government does not yet mandate side guards, and few big rigs have them.
Another danger comes from improperly loaded trucks. Drivers and loading crews must tightly secure and balance loads. When loads shift or loosen during travel, the trucker may lose control of the rig, or the load may fall from the truck and cause a massive disaster on the road.
When a truck accident occurs, our attorneys act quickly to investigate the cause of the crash. We work with accident reconstruction experts, engineers, and forensic specialists to determine whether truck drivers and trucking companies complied with federal safety regulations or attempted to conceal violations. With the facts established, a Charlottesville truck accident lawyer at MichieHamlett could negotiate with insurers from a position of strength and, when necessary, prepare to take your case to trial.
If you or a loved one suffered injuries in a Virginia truck accident, contact us at MichieHamlett for a no-cost, confidential consultation. Contact us today for a free consultation.
