The Process of a Truck Accident Lawsuit
Many accidents involving trucks cause severe and permanent injuries. They can cause significant medical expenses, lost wages and psychological harm.
Your lawyer will make an Summons and Complaint against all responsible parties. This process could take several years. Because New York uses comparative fault rules, your lawyer will ensure that any shared responsibility is properly assessed and allocated to defendants.
Investigations
A truck crash could be more severe than a car accident. The effects of a crash involving a truck can be life-altering and the impact is more complex due to the weight and size of commercial trucks. These accidents also involve more complex investigation.
To protect their interests trucking companies or insurance providers will often conduct their investigations immediately after a crash. The victims are left to deal with their injuries, and are not able to gather evidence. This leaves them in a position of disadvantage compared to the insurance provider and trucking companies.
A lawyer for truck accidents who has experience will look for evidence from a variety of sources, such as police reports, witness testimony and inspections of vehicles. A lawyer with experience does not rely on police reports alone, as they are often not sufficient for civil litigation. Police officers might not be properly trained to conduct an investigation properly and might not gather all the evidence required for a lawsuit.
Other kinds of data include logbook records, maintenance and service records for the truck as well as data from the event data recorder (also called a black box) and more. An experienced attorney will seek these and other forms of evidence from the truck driver as well as the trucking company and carefully examine them to determine the cause of the accident.
Expert Witnesses
A expert witness for a truck accident could help your attorney prove different aspects of the case. For instance medical experts can prove to your lawyer that the crash caused your injuries. Experts will also testify on the impact your injuries could have on your quality of life in the future. Expert witnesses can also assist your lawyer determine the value of your damages, which could include lost income and loss of future earning capacity.
Experts can examine the physical evidence and explain how your injury will affect your future. An expert in medicine can, for instance, explain how the accident could impact your physical and mental health. Another type of expert is a metallurgist, who can determine the reason why a component of a vehicle failed. There are experts who can determine if weather was a factor in the crash.
The primary role of your expert is to examine the evidence and provide an impartial opinion. However, some expert witnesses could pose a liability risk for your case if they are biased or have connections to the defendant's companies. Your attorney can use an investigation into their background to determine these risks and ensure that you have the top experts on your side.
Aside from expert witnesses, your lawyer will also interview you as well as other eyewitnesses. This includes people who saw the crash taking place prior to when it occurred. It is crucial to remember that the defendants' insurance companies will try to get you to acknowledge fault or to make statements they can twist or distort to undermine your claim.
Litigation
Truck drivers must also adhere to traffic laws and use reasonable care when driving. If they do not comply and their negligence results in a crash, then they could be held liable for the damage that the victims suffer.
To show the defendant's negligence our lawyer will collect a number of eyewitnesses who witnessed the crash and give either oral or written testimony regarding how the collision occurred. Our team will also review other evidence such as skidmarks as well as points of impact. We will also conduct crash testing.
Sometimes the cause of the truck crash is complex, involving multiple parties. For bellflower truck accident lawyer , if a truck accident was caused due to defective equipment or insufficient maintenance, we could bring a lawsuit against the manufacturer of the equipment or the trucks themselves. We might also bring a lawsuit against the mechanic that performed the repairs or the repair shop.
We will endeavor to resolve your case outside of court, but should the trucking company or its insurer refuses to accept an appropriate settlement offer and we prepare for trial. During the trial the judge or jury will decide on issues that are disputed, such as who was at fault for the crash and the amount of compensation you must be awarded. The legal damages you receive will be determined by the sum of your losses. This includes financial, physical, and emotional pain.
Statute of limitations
Although navigating the legal system after a truck accident can be complicated, understanding how these cases typically proceed can help you plan for what's to come and provide you with a better understanding of the length of time your case may take.
One of the most important steps is to establish the liability. If the truck driver was tired or distracted, for instance the chances are that they'll be held accountable for the damages you suffered. There could be other parties that are as well. If the accident was caused by faulty repairs such as a mechanic or company that manufactured the truck or its components could be held responsible according to the legal theory of respondeat superior.
It's also possible that the accountable party was guilty of a more serious act of recklessness, which could result in punitive damages. To be able to prove this, we must to prove that the responsible party acted recklessly to your safety, or that of others.
It is vital to hire a lawyer who is familiar with the complexities of truck accident cases. Insurance companies and at-fault parties' attorneys are frequently wolves in sheep's clothing and will try to collect statements from you that they can use against you in the future. You can steer clear of these pitfalls by hiring an attorney to handle your communications.