A commercial truck accident is one of the worst you can imagine. A vast, heavy dump or garbage truck slamming into your car can turn you and your vehicle inside out. Overwhelmed with pain and injuries, you can wonder how you’ll ever recover.
A truck accident attorney can ensure you receive much-needed compensation after a severe crash. Learn all about dump and garbage truck accidents below. Then, speak to a Wesley Chapel truck accident lawyer in your community in a free consultation.
The attorney will review the accident and injuries to determine if another party’s negligence caused your injuries. If so, they may file a personal injury lawsuit against the liable driver or entity to obtain compensation for your medical bills and other losses.
The Dangers Of Dump And Garbage Trucks
We often see garbage and dump trucks in our communities. They serve vital functions; garbage trucks pick up refuse from homes and businesses, while dump trucks transport loads of dirt, rocks, and other materials from place to place. Unfortunately, these commercial vehicles are large, heavy, and often deadly. The massive size differential between dump and garbage trucks and smaller vehicles leads to many devastating accidents.
Like any large commercial truck, dump or garbage trucks have large blind spots and take a long time to slow down in an emergency. Commercial truck drivers are supposed to drive carefully and never break traffic laws, but they often do. When a dump or garbage truck hits a smaller vehicle, the occupants can be severely injured or killed.
You should call a dump or truck accident attorney as soon as you suffer an injury in an accident. Your commercial truck accident attorney will review the case promptly and outline your legal options.
What Causes Dump And Garbage Truck Accidents?
Driving a commercial vehicle safely takes practice, patience, and training. However, commercial truck drivers frequently cause severe and fatal accidents for many reasons:
- Negligence, such as speeding or running a red light
- Distracted driving with a GPS or cell phone. Distracted driving claims 3,300 lives per year.
- Driving while fatigued. Fatigued driving causes 693 lives annually.
- Inattentiveness, such as not seeing a car in their blind spot
- Driving under the influence
- Vehicle or part failure, such as defective tires or brakes
- Falling debris or garbage
Also, many of these accidents involve load securement problems. Garbage and dump trucks have a vehicle's rear area containing the garbage or other type of load. Garbage and debris should not fall from the car and cause an accident, but it happens.
Dump truck drivers must follow rules established by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to secure their loads. For example, the FMCSA states that all dump trucks must maintain and equip their rigs to prevent anything loose from falling out of the car. The dump truck's bed cannot have any cracks or holes that cause rocks or other items to fall through.
How the dump or garbage truck accident occurred will help your truck accident attorney determine liability for the crash. No matter what caused the accident, you deserve fair compensation if you have a commercial truck accident injury.
Who Is Liable For A Dump Or Garbage Truck Crash?
The first step to receiving compensation in a personal injury lawsuit is determining who is liable for the crash that injured you. In many accidents, more than one person or entity caused the accident. Potentially liable parties in a dump or garbage truck accident are:
- The truck driver: Most commercial truck accidents happen because of driver error. They may be distracted, drunk, sleepy, or simply reckless.
- The truck owner or operators. The truck company or local government that owns the truck can be responsible for your injuries.
- A maintenance company that serviced the truck recently.
- A truck or part manufacturer that made something that contributed to the accident.
To determine fault for a dump or garbage truck accident, you must prove the following:
- Duty of care: The truck driver or employer owed you a duty of care. All vehicle drivers are obligated to drive safely and not injure others. Commercial truck drivers have a license and a higher duty of care to other motorists.
- Breach of duty: The truck driver violated their duty of care when they did something to cause the accident. For example, they may have run a red light and hit your vehicle.
- Injury: The breach of the duty of care caused your injury, such as broken bones and abrasions.
- Damages: You have damages from your injuries, such as medical expenses and lost work time.
If your truck accident attorney demonstrates these four points, you can receive compensation for your claim. Typically, your attorney will negotiate a settlement with the at-fault party’s insurance company. However, the case also can go to trial if the insurance company doesn’t agree to a fair settlement.
Can You Sue The Dump Or Garbage Truck Driver?
Yes, you can sue the dump or garbage truck driver for causing an accident with injuries. However, hiring a truck accident attorney to support you is recommended. Commercial truck accidents are notoriously tricky and complex, and you must know many rules, regulations, and deadlines. Missing a deadline, suing the wrong party, or submitting forms with incorrect information can derail your claim.
When you hire a truck accident lawyer, they will investigate how the crash happened and collect critical information to prove fault. Some of the duties your attorney will handle to prove fault are:
- Obtain police reports from the responding police agency
- Take photos and videos of the crash scene
- Obtain any video footage available of the crash
- Find eyewitnesses and get statements
- Obtain insurance policies that may cover your injuries
- Obtain cell phone records and black box information
- Obtain your medical information, records, proof of lost earnings, car repair bills, etc.
Your attorney will attempt to settle the claim with the insurance company. If necessary, they will prepare the case for trial and argue it persuasively in front of a jury.
How Much Is Your Truck Crash Claim Worth?
Everyone wants to know how much their truck accident settlement will be. A settlement can be for thousands or millions; everything depends on the case details and the following factors:
- Your injury severity and time to recover: Did you suffer a severe head injury and need three years to recover? Or did you break your arm, which healed in six weeks? The more severe the injury and longer the recovery, the higher the case value. Many garbage and dump truck crashes cause catastrophic injuries, so your claim might be higher than regular auto accidents.
- Economic damages: How much are your current and future medical bills and lost income? The more they are, the higher the settlement value. Additionally, a totaled vehicle that’s beyond repair increases the case value.
- Non-economic damages: Truck crashes cause severe, painful injuries. If you have severe burns and shattered bones, you will be in a lot of pain. You also will have mental anguish and trauma. These factors will raise your settlement value significantly.
- Insurance: Settlements often depend on the insurance coverage available. However, commercial truck companies must carry at least $750,000 or one million dollars in coverage so your case can have enough insurance to fully compensate you.
- Your age and health: A severe injury in a truck crash may affect some people more than others. Younger, healthy people may not be as severely injured as older people with preexisting conditions.
- Settlement or trial: Settlements usually involve taking less than the total cash value in exchange for ending the case earlier. A settlement also guarantees you a specific financial outcome. For example, if you agree to a $100,000 settlement, you know you will receive that amount minus legal fees and other expenses. On the other hand, going to trial might lead to a higher payout, but you also can lose and get nothing.
A free consultation with a truck accident attorney is an essential step to understanding what your case is worth. Talk to a truck crash attorney today to learn more.
Truck Accident Myths
You probably search online for legal information about your dump or garbage truck crash. However, be wary of the information you read; it isn’t always accurate. For example:
Truck Drivers Are Always At Fault
Truckers are usually at least partially at fault for truck crashes. However, other parties often share the blame. The trucker's employer may take responsibility if the driver was working during the crash. Another driver can also be at fault for hitting the truck that hit you. A truck accident attorney will get to the bottom of the accident that injured you and who caused it.
Truck Crashes Always Lead To Big Settlements
Big truck crashes can indeed cause severe injuries and large settlements. However, the amount you can receive in compensation depends on the extent of your injuries and other damages.
How much you receive depends on who is responsible and the insurance available. A truck with $1 million coverage may have hit you, but you won’t get more compensation than you deserve. If you only have $50,000 in losses, your payout will be approximately the total of your economic damages plus any amount added for pain and suffering.
Truck Crashes Are Just Like Car Accidents
Truck crashes are usually more complicated than car accidents. There are federal and state regulations, multiple liable parties and victims, and possibly more severe injuries. These factors mean the case will probably be longer and more difficult to settle than other accidents. Hire a truck crash lawyer with ample experience in dump and garbage truck accidents to help.
Truck Accident Attorneys Cost Too Much
A truck accident attorney charges legal fees, but the compensation doesn’t come from your pocket. Instead, the attorney charges a contingency fee at the end of the case. The truck accident attorney will take a portion of your settlement as compensation. A typical contingency fee is 33 percent of what you receive, but it varies. The attorney will also probably take legal expenses from your settlement, such as hiring professionals.
Remember that a truck accident lawyer usually gets you more money than you can without an attorney. So, you will usually put more money in your pocket, even after legal fees.
The Insurance Company Will Take Care Of You
No, they won’t. If you don't hire a lawyer, truck company insurance providers will take advantage of you after a serious accident. For example, let’s say a dump truck hits you at a red light, and you break your arm. The police come to the scene and cite the truck driver, and the witnesses say the driver hit you.
When you get home from the ER, don’t be surprised if you get a call on your cell phone from the truck insurance company to see how you are doing. This isn’t a courtesy call. They are trying to find out if you have an attorney yet. They also may want to record the call and get you to say something that tanks your claim.
The insurance adjuster may feign concern and offer to cover your medical bills. Don’t take the bait. Covering your medical bills can mean many things; this doesn’t necessarily mean you will cover all your future medical bills. You likely also deserve other compensation, such as lost earnings.
Always hire a truck accident attorney if a commercial vehicle hits you. They will protect your rights and ensure the insurance company doesn’t exploit you. Decline to talk to the insurance company directly and refer them to your attorney for all communications. This way, you can focus on your recovery while they handle the legal details.
Contact A Truck Accident Attorney Today
Truck accidents happen every day, and some of them involve dump and garbage trucks. A considerable truck slamming into your vehicle is usually devastating and causes horrible injuries. You don’t have to pay for your care if a truck driver injures you. Speak to a personal injury attorney today for more information during a free consultation.