Truck Accidents Due to Negligent Maintenance

Commercial trucks are complicated machines that are designed to haul large quantities and weights of goods over long distances. As a result, these machines require extensive maintenance and constant upkeep to ensure that the driver, cargo, and all other people that they share the road with stay safe on their journey. In most cases, a responsible truck driver and reputable trucking company will make sure that all of their trucks and trailers are meticulously inspected and maintained in order to maximize the life of the equipment as well as ensure that they are minimizing the risk of possible injuries or death resulting from equipment failures that could result from negligent maintenance.

Since commercial trucks are so complicated, and their drivers so specialized, the Federal Government has a strict and extensive set of rules that drivers and trucking companies must adhere to, including maintenance schedules, limits to driving hours over the course of days or weeks, and more. All of these rules also require that truck drivers keep logs and documentation that show that are adhering to the laws set forth, in order to create additional levels of accountability.

If you are involved in an accident with a truck, the records and documents that the drivers must keep can be a blessing and a curse, since they provide ample information and opportunities to identify what went wrong, but at the same time can create complicated claims processes that require intimate knowledge of commercial insurance and trucking law. For this reason, among many, working with a team of personal injury lawyers familiar with commercial truck accidents in California can be a great decision for you to make.

Hiring a Lawyer After a Truck Accident

Many people may think that they should only hire a lawyer if they are going to file a lawsuit, but this is far from the truth. When you are dealing with an insurance company, it is important to remember that the company’s first priority is to limit the amount that they pay to victims in order to protect their own financial interests. This can be even truer when the policy is in excess of $1 million, as is common with most commercial trucks.

Instead of attempting to handle these initial conversations on your own while also trying to physically recover from your injuries, hiring an attorney to represent you can be a major help. We will work directly with the insurance company in an attempt to negotiate a fair settlement that actually compensates you for your suffering instead of being a number that the insurance company prefers. If we are unable to reach an agreement during this period of negotiation, we will then move forward with a lawsuit in order to get you the justice you deserve.

Determining Damage Amounts After a Truck Accident

After you are injured in a truck accident due to negligent maintenance, there are many different factors that will go into painting the complete picture of the damages you deserve. Many of these damages are what are known as “economic damages,” which are intended to repay you for either medical bills and expenses or lost wages that your injuries and medical treatments have caused. However, there are other damages called “non-economic damages” that are intended to quantify your emotional suffering and the pain that you have endured and factor these issues into the final amount as well.

Since non-economic damages do not have set dollar amounts for them, these are generally the damages that are contested more aggressively during settlement negotiations and lawsuits. This does not mean that they are not important, and we will do everything we can to fight for the damages you deserve.

Contact us now for a free initial consultation, and begin working towards getting the money you truly deserve after you suffer from injuries in a truck accident. These accidents can be extremely injurious and can be very frustrating when you know that your injuries resulted from negligence and a failure to keep equipment properly maintained.