The Process of a Truck Accident Lawsuit
Accidents with trucks can cause severe and permanent injuries. These can lead to significant medical costs, lost wages and psychological harm.
Your lawyer will issue a Summons & Complaint to all the parties responsible. The process could last for several years. Because New York uses comparative fault rules, your lawyer can ensure that any shared responsibility is properly evaluated and distributed to defendants.
Investigations
A truck accident can be more severe than an auto crash. The consequences of a truck crash can be life-changing and the impact is more complicated due to the size and weight of a commercial truck. These accidents also require more intricate investigation.
To protect their interests, trucking companies or insurance companies usually conduct their investigations as soon as they are aware of the accident. The issue is that the victims are left to handle their injuries and are not being able to gather evidence. This puts them at a disadvantage comparison to the trucking company and insurance company.
A truck accident lawyer with experience will search for evidence from a variety of sources, such as police reports, witness testimony, and inspections of vehicles. A knowledgeable lawyer will not only rely on police reports however, as these reports are not always sufficient for civil litigation purposes. Police officers are not trained to conduct an effective investigation and might fail to gather all of the evidence needed for a lawsuit.
Other types of information include logbook records maintenance and service records for the truck, data from the event data recorder (also called a black box) and more. A skilled attorney will request these and other forms of evidence from the truck driver and trucking company, and then analyze them to determine what caused the accident.
Expert Witnesses
A expert witness from a truck accident can aid your lawyer in proving different elements of the case. For example an expert in medicine can provide evidence that the crash resulted in your injuries. Your expert may also testify about how your injuries will affect your future quality-of-life. Expert witnesses can help your lawyer determine the worth of your damages, which could include lost income and loss of future earning capacity.
Your doctor can look over physical evidence and explain the impact of your injury on your future. For example medical experts can explain how your accident will affect you in terms of mental and physical well-being. A metallurgist, for instance, is another kind of expert who will analyze the causes behind why a component failed. There are also centennial truck accident lawsuit who determine if the weather could have contributed to the crash.
Your expert's responsibility is to give an impartial and objective opinion after having examined the evidence. However, some experts can be an issue in your case if they are biased or have connections to the defendants' businesses. Your attorney can perform an identity check to identify the risks and ensure that you have the best expert witnesses on your side.
Your attorney will interview you, as well as witnesses who were present at the accident before it happened. It is crucial to remember that the defendants' insurance companies will try to convince you to admit guilt or to make statements they can twist and distort to weaken your claim.
Litigation
Truck drivers are also required to obey traffic laws and drive with reasonable care. If they fail to fulfill this obligation and their carelessness causes a crash, they may be held liable for the injuries incurred by those who were injured in the collision.
Our lawyer will gather evidence from eyewitnesses, and get oral or written testimony to prove that the defendant was negligent. Our team will also study other evidence such as skidmarks as well as points of impact. We will also conduct crash testing.
Sometimes, the reason for an accident involving a truck is complex and involves multiple parties. If the truck crash was caused by defective equipment or maintenance that was not done properly, we could sue the manufacturers or the truck. We could also sue the mechanic who performed the repairs or the repair shop.
We will try to settle your case outside of court. If, however, the trucking firm or its insurance company refuses to negotiate an equitable settlement and we are unable to reach a fair settlement, we will go to trial. In the trial where a judge or jury will rule on disputes such as who was responsible and what compensation you should get. The total of your legal damages will be based on the losses you have documented, which include financial, physical and emotional pain.
Statute of limitations
Understanding how these cases normally proceed can help prepare you for what's to come and give you an idea of how long it may take to settle your case.
Finding out who is responsible is one of the most important steps. If a truck driver was drowsy or distracted, as an example then it is likely that they'll be held accountable for the damages. However, there might be other parties who are liable as well. If the crash was caused by poor repairs or a mechanic, then a company that manufactured the truck or its components could be held responsible according to the legal theory of respondeat superior.
You could also be entitled to punitive damages if the responsible party acted with recklessness that was a lot more serious. To determine this, we must prove that they behaved in a reckless, impulsive manner, with no regard for your safety as well as that of others.
It's essential to find an attorney who is familiar with the complexities involved in truck accidents. Insurance companies and the attorneys representing the parties at fault are frequently wolves in sheep's clothing and will try to get statements from you which they can use against you later. You can stay clear of these pitfalls by hiring an attorney to manage your communications.