Thibodaux Truck Accident Lawyer
Every day, countless trucks use the roadways alongside smaller vehicles, passenger cars, motorcycles, and pedestrians. Big rigs are an essential component of our nation’s economic system traveling millions of miles annually transporting cargo quickly and efficiently from place to place.
Across these millions of miles, the potential for a serious accident exists. Driver fatigue, inadequately maintained equipment, improperly secured loads, inclement weather all increase the potential for a truck crash. If you or a loved one were injured in a truck accident, a practiced personal injury attorney can help in your pursuit for your legal right to compensation. A Thibodaux truck accident lawyer can be your guide to financial recovery so you can focus on putting your life back together.
How Do Tractor Trailer Crashes Happen?
Determining precisely what caused a truck accident is essential. An attorney can work closely with police and emergency personnel, insurance company adjustors, and even private investigators to ensure the true cause of an accident is discovered. There are some common fact patterns surrounding the cause of truck accidents, these include:
- Failure to obey traffic laws
- Inadequately maintained equipment
- Driver error and/or fatigue
- Failure to abide by industry regulations
Importance of Following Traffic Regulations
As a Thibodaux truck accident lawyer knows, traffic laws exist to maximize safety for those traveling on the roads. When drivers fail to obey traffic laws – whether by speeding, failing to adhere to posted signage, or not obeying traffic lights – they can create incredibly dangerous situations that may result in life-changing accidents. When a driver’s failure to obey traffic laws causes an accident, they may be held liable for the injuries that result.
Trucks, like all machinery, must be properly maintained to ensure they are safe to operate. As commercial equipment, trucks experience some of the heaviest use of all vehicles on the road. Absent proper maintenance, they can become susceptible to catastrophic failures that can cause serious accidents. When inadequately maintained equipment causes an accident those parties responsible can be liable.
How Common is Human Error in a Truck Crash?
Truck drivers often live on the road. Long-haul drivers can spend countless hours behind the wheel. Driver fatigue is among the most common causes of serious accidents on the road. Even without fatigue, drivers can make mistakes. On the road, mistakes and fatigue can cause life-changing accidents.
Trucking companies and their drivers are required to maintain extensive logs of the work they perform, maintenance of their equipment, and miles traveled. If a driver or company’s records are not adequately maintained, this may be evidence that they were negligent. Drivers and companies who are not following industry regulations and are then involved in truck accidents may be held liable for the damage caused by the crash.
Types of Compensation for Tractor Trailer Collisions
In any personal injury lawsuit, there are two types of damages that can be claimed – economic and non-economic. Economic damages are typically easy to quantify as they represent the actual monetary costs associated with an accident. These include medical bills, lost wages, and future earnings lost. Non-economic damages are more difficult to calculate as they represent intangible losses such as pain and suffering, damage to relationships (loss of consortium), and emotional distress.
How a Thibodaux Truck Accident Attorney Can be an Ally
The most common legal theory underlying truck accident lawsuits is negligence. Negligence occurs when a party has a duty to act in a certain way and fails in performing that duty. When an accident is caused by a failure to obey traffic laws, a failure to properly maintain equipment, a failure to abide by industry regulations, or distracted driving, recovery of compensation may be predicated on negligence.
A truck accident can be a life-changing event. Truck accidents can cause serious and even life-threatening injuries. Recovering from such an accident can not only take a significant amount of time but can also be very expensive. If you are injured in a truck accident, let an experienced Thibodaux truck accident lawyer worry about getting you the compensation you deserve.