On I-75, Stockbridge sees its fair share of traffic – and unfortunately, an accident with a semi-truck passing through the Atlanta area can be devastating. You may be eligible for compensation to help you recover what you have lost after your accident with a large truck or semi. If somebody else was responsible for your truck accident, you may be within your rights to bring a case against them.
The idea of filing a civil case or insurance claim can seem intimidating and confusing – especially if you have serious injuries and need compensation. If you retain a Stockbridge personal injury lawyer on our team, they can be there to assist you at every turn. In the meantime, you can dedicate yourself to your recovery while we worry about building your legal case.
Causes of Large Truck Accidents
Common causes of truck accidents include the following:
- Unbalanced cargo/improper loading
- Distracted driving
- Driver fatigue, company failure to enforce break periods
- Inexperience driving or company failure to properly train drivers
- Maintenance problems, failure to maintain trucks to a quality standard
- Driving too fast or failing to accommodate existing weather conditions
- Driving while intoxicated
- Speeding and driving recklessly
- Negligent hiring by the truck company
Our firm will work to identify all forms of negligence that may have led to your accident. Then, we will show that the liable party owes you compensation for your losses.
For a free legal consultation with a truck accident lawyer serving Stockbridge, call 404-214-2001
Collecting Compensation After a Truck Accident
Ultimately, we want your settlement to reflect the totality of your economic and non-economic damages. For a better understanding of your legal options, here are some of the numerous damages you can address in your case:
- Loss of quality of life
- General pain and suffering
- Medical expenses
- Lost earning capacity, making it difficult to earn the income you used to earn
- Lost wages
- Property damage
- Mental anguish
- Vocational rehabilitation services
- Long-term disability assistance
- Disfigurements
- And more
We advise that you carefully consider the damages you have suffered before accepting any sort of settlement after a negligent truck accident.
While the most obvious impact of truck accidents is the physical injuries you suffered, you may be underestimating the emotional and financial effects of your accident. In some cases, these unseen damages may take months to appear.
When you retain a truck accident lawyer on our team, they can determine the cost of both short-term and long-term effects of your accident. That includes your future medical care and your ability to earn a proper income in the years to come. Further, we can contact expert witnesses and other specialists to gain deeper insights into your emotional damages.
Stockbridge Truck Accident Lawyer Near Me 404-214-2001
Services Provided by Our Stockbridge Truck Accident Lawyers
Our truck accident lawyers serving Stockbridge take pride in offering a variety of legal services for our clients to help take the pressure off you during your legal battle. Our services range from helping you with insurance claims to litigation.
We are here to serve all your legal needs from the beginning of your case to the conclusion. We can be as involved as you want us to be. If you decide that you would rather take a step back from your case and let us take control, we can keep you updated as your case moves through the necessary legal channels.
Some of our legal services include, but are not limited to:
- Gathering evidence
- Providing legal counsel
- Researching laws and legal precedents in cases similar to yours
- Working to protect your rights in civil court
- Assigning monetary values to your losses
- And more
Click to contact our Truck Accidents lawyers today
You don’t Have to Pay Any Upfront Fees to Get Started
Like many victims who have suffered a traumatic accident, you may be worried about the financial aspect of retaining an attorney. Our law firm puts victims first. That is why we strictly work for contingency fees on personal injury cases.
If you win your case, we will retain a pre-arranged percentage of your settlement as payment for our services. If you do not receive a settlement, you do not owe us a thing.
Complete a Free Case Evaluation form now
You Are Required to File Your Truck Accident Lawsuit Within a Specific Time Period
The general statute of limitations on truck accident lawsuits in Stockbridge is two years – according to O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. However, the amount of time you have to file your case can change if you decide to take legal action against a government organization.
For example, if your truck accident was caused by a dump truck owned by the city, your claim might be governed by a six-month timeline to give notice, as described under O.C.G.A. § 36-33-5.
With one of our truck accident lawyers in your corner, you can worry about more important things while we track these important deadlines. We cannot stress the importance of these statutes of limitations enough. If you wait too long before filing your truck accident case, you may essentially forfeit your eligibility for financial compensation.
How Truck Accidents Differ from Regular Auto Accidents
Commercial freight trucks, also called “semi-trucks” or “semis,” can weigh 80,000 pounds or greater when fully loaded, or more than 20 times the average weight of passenger vehicles, which is only around 4,100 pounds.
Furthermore, despite existing regulations intended to ensure truckers do not drive longer than 11 hours a day, they are often offered financial incentives for traversing large distances faster, which can directly impact the safety of others on the road. Negligent truckers may violate these regulations or falsify logs so they can drive more extended hours than allowed by law.
More Comprehensive Insurance Policies (Larger Payouts)
Truck drivers’ insurance policies tend to be substantially larger than personal auto accident policies, placing the potential total insurance value in the millions in many cases. For this reason, insurers named in a legal claim are likely to do everything they can to show they were not liable for an accident or injuries. However, having a truck accident lawyer working for you can help make the damage recovery process more efficient and less stressful.
Increased Property Damage
As noted, the weight and size of a full-size commercial freight truck is much greater than that of a typical vehicle. This means that accidents with these enormous vehicles will likely impact cars, passenger trucks, and other properties much more than a collision involving two average-sized vehicles.
More Severe Injuries and Extensive Medical Bills
Similarly, accidents involving semi-trucks also tend to be far more severe and can lead victims to require extended medical care and excessive bills. In addition, injuries caused by a freight truck accident are often life-altering. They can result in severe whiplash, lacerations, broken bones, internal bleeding, traumatic brain injuries, disfigurement, and long-term disabilities.
On a related note, hospital stays due to semi-truck accidents and injuries tend to be longer than those related to common car accidents. As a result, victims often cannot work for an extended period and opt to pursue reimbursement for lost wages and benefits. When you have the help of a personal injury attorney from our team, they can estimate the losses related to your physical and mental suffering and seek the compensation to which you are entitled.
Higher Risk of Fatalities
An accident with a large semi-truck is far more likely to result in fatalities than a collision between two passenger vehicles. Moreover, those traveling in smaller cars and trucks are more vulnerable—as noted, semis are considerably larger than these vehicles. They are also taller and have more ground clearance, leading to smaller cars “underriding” large trucks in accidents. This is where one vehicle partially or fully slides underneath another.
The following statistics from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) illustrates the seriousness of truck accidents:
- In 2019, 4,119 individuals were killed in large truck accidents. Of these deaths, 67% were passenger vehicle occupants, 16% were truck occupants, and 15% were bicyclists, motorcyclists, or pedestrians.
- When compared to 2009 numbers, 31% more people died from truck accidents in 2019.
When you consider the potentially devastating nature of semi-truck accidents and trucking companies’ extensive resources, victims are urged to consult with a personal injury lawyer who can fight back and work toward achieving the compensation they deserve for their losses.
Understanding the Impact of Contributory Negligence in Truck Accidents
When you contribute to your truck accident, your settlement can be negatively affected. As explained in O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33, the amount of negligence displayed by both parties will be taken into account before any settlements are distributed.
Simply put, the party who was responsible for most of the accident will be required to pay out the damages to the victim. However, this law is designed to take your actions into consideration as well. If the court determines that your actions constitute a minor amount of responsibility – less than 50% – your settlement will be reduced by that percentage.
If you retain a truck accident lawyer from our team, we can help defend you from any unreasonable allegations the defense tries to make against you. We want your percentage of liability to reflect your true actions. We can be there to help you gather evidence that brings the truth to light during your fight for justice.
Truck Accident Lawyers Fighting for Victims in Stockbridge
Here at Kaine Law, we hope that one of our truck accident lawyers serving Stockbridge can give you peace of mind throughout your case. You do not have to go through this alone. With decades of experience with injury cases, we will seek the best possible results for you.
For more information about seeking justice after a negligent truck accident in Stockbridge, contact a team member at Kaine Law today to receive your free consultation.
Call or text 404-214-2001 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
