TRUCK ACCIDENTS
By Zayouna Law Firm
What are truck accident claims?
A transport truck’s sheer size and load can turn accidents instantly fatal, with critical, lasting effects on victims and families. Along with these inherent risks, transport trucks are not immune to road hazards, poor conditions, and reckless driving that can cause a fatal truck accident. When a truck driver causes a collision due to negligence, recklessness, overloading, or other traffic violation, they — and their trucking company — may be held liable for the actions that caused the crash. Compared to passenger cars, the trucking industry is subject to distinct restrictions. Truck accident statistics in Canada are on the rise these days.
Working with a Truck Accident Lawyer
Transport truck accidents are tragic — not only for motorists and pedestrians who suffered the immediate impact but families who continue to suffer the ripple effects, from grief and trauma to financial hardship. You should not have to suffer these consequences. A truck injury attorney can find all responsible parties in your specific situation and file a lawsuit to hold them accountable.
Claim Accident Benefits
As in any motor vehicle accident, a truck collision entitles victims to accident benefits. It’s one of the main purposes of auto insurance, which all drivers are legally required to carry. All of the employees of the truck company must ensure that this auto insurance is in place.
Accident benefits are designed to cover the cost of medical and rehabilitation expenses, attendant care, and income replacement. But entitlement to benefits does not always equate to a substantial or even successful claim. Insurance providers are known to dispute, delay, minimize, and deny otherwise valid claims. It can be very challenging to navigate the legal system, comprehend the full scope of your losses, and negotiate the best settlement without the assistance of experienced truck accident attorneys.
For victims and their families, this only worsens the financial and emotional impact of a catastrophic accident involving a truck. Even when claims are successful, these can be delayed, or injuries are reclassified as minor, leading to more pain and suffering.
Tort Claim for Truck Accidents
Filing a tort claim with the assistance of a truck accident law firm is a legal option victims and families can pursue to seek damages from at-fault parties under the full extent of the law.
Are truck drivers responsible for damages? If it is a truck driver accident you can file a tort claim for truck accidents against at-fault drivers and their trucking companies. This allows you to hold them liable for their actions — such as negligent or reckless driving, truck overloading, and poor vehicle maintenance — that caused the truck accident.
While it is impossible to put a price on your pain and suffering, a tort claim can quantify the losses you suffered, and seek compensation for the lasting physical, emotional, and financial impact of a trucking accident, including:
- Death
- Medical bills and rehabilitation expenses
- Attendant care
- Home accessibility modifications
- Housekeeping and home maintenance
- Lost income and earning capacity.
Cause for Truck Accident Claims
A truck accident changes your life in an instant — forever. Even years later, it remains traumatic to victims and families. From disastrous injuries or loss of a loved one to lasting impairment and financial hardships, a collision can leave victims confused and hopeless.
Do you have a viable truck accident claim? With the assistance of a truck accident lawyer, a successful claim offers you and your loved one relief from pain and suffering in the form of rightful compensation and justice against negligent parties.
Find out about the common scenarios and catastrophic outcomes eligible for damages against at-fault drivers and trucking companies in a truck accident.
Some truck accident victims have permanent disabilities or have a restricted ability to work in the future, which causes lost wages. Those victims might be entitled to financial compensation in this situation for lost future profits due to serious injuries.
Common Causes of Truck Accidents
Transport trucks are built with an inherent risk due to their size and volume. But when a negligent or reckless truck driver is behind the wheel, and a trucking company fails to follow proper loading and vehicle maintenance procedures, they may be held liable for a truck accident:
- Speeding
- Failing to yield the right of way
- Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- Driver fatigue
- Inexperience and poor training of truck drivers
- Engine, brake, and other mechanical failures
- Truck overloading
- Poor road conditions.
Catastrophic Injuries and Outcomes from Truck Accidents
Faced with over 6 to 40 times their vehicle’s weight, other motorists — and more so, pedestrians — really are no match against transport trucks. A passenger vehicle involved in a car accident with another passenger vehicle is likely to experience a very different outcome than one with a truck. Colliding with a truck often results in these fatal effects compared to car accidents:
- Wrongful death
- Multiple fractures and severe injuries
- Traumatic brain injury
- Spinal cord injury
- Paraplegia, tetraplegia, or quadriplegia
- Whiplash injuries.
Truck Accident Lawyers FAQs
How long do I have to file a truck accident benefits claim?
You are required to notify your insurance company within 7 days of a trucking accident, and file an accident benefits claim within 30 days.
In Ontario, truck accidents have a short statute of limitations or the allowable period for which you can pursue legal action. You only have 120 days to notify the at-fault parties of your intent to sue, and two years to commence a lawsuit. Note that you must have filed a claim for accident benefits before pursuing a tort claim. It is important to note that in order to obtain maximum compensation, you must first file a claim for accident benefits.
Another important consideration is the requirement for commercial trucking companies to retain certain evidence. Key evidence pieces, such as black box data that records the speed at the time of the accident, as well as a dashcam and red light camera footage, might be destroyed if you wait too long to commence your claim.
Who can be held liable in a truck accident?
Aside from the truck driver, there are a number of other potentially liable parties in a truck accident, such as:
- The Trucking company where the contracted truck drivers work
- Company responsible for truck maintenance
- Owners of truck’s cab and trailer, if owned separately
- Company responsible for loading the truck
- Company that manufactured the truck’s contents, if packaged incorrectly, contributing to a rollover crash
- Truck manufacturer for mechanical defects
- Their insurance providers, if accident benefits were minimized or denied.
How much in accident benefits am I entitled to in a truck accident case?
In Ontario, you are entitled to the following insurance accident benefits amounts in a truck accident case:
- Medical and rehabilitation: $50,000
- Attendant care: $3,000, up to maximum of $36,000
- Income replacement: $400 per week, $185 for non-wage earners.
In large truck accidents, You may also be eligible for additional benefits in the case of catastrophic injuries. On the other hand, an insurance company can attempt to classify your injuries as minor, which reduces available medical and rehabilitation benefits to $3,500, and removes attendant care benefits. Along with any records that establish loss, gather and assemble all of your medical bills and expenses related to the injury to get maximum compensation.
What evidence is required to show that you were not the cause of the truck accident?
In personal injury cases, there are some essential elements of negligence, like in a car accident or truck accident. A truck accident victim must prove: The truck driver owes him a duty of care to drive prudently and safely. The truck driver violated or broke his or her duty of care. You or your loved one were hurt as a result of that carelessness. Your lawyer may record the eyewitness’s statement, take pictures of the accident scene, and thoroughly examine the vehicle to know the damages that occurred.
What are the common causes of a truck accident from the side of the driver?
A lot of professional truck drivers are under pressure to complete deliveries by a certain time. Because of this, a truck driver may become fatigued and cause distracted driving while driving a truck that weighs more than 20 times as much as the cars next to it. Long hours of driving for a truck driver may cause them to make rash choices or lose consciousness behind the wheel from exhaustion and cause truck crashes. Cargo can move during transit if it hasn’t been loaded correctly or if weight limits haven’t been followed. There might also be jackknife accidents on a busy highway, but everyone would be safe and could seek medical assistance for any injuries. Over speeding of truck drivers often cause trucking accidents. These are the causes of most truck accidents that happen from the driver’s side.
What are the differences in claims between car and commercial truck crashes?
Commercial trucks are part of the backbone of a country’s economy and allow goods to travel quickly across states and to consumers. Even though commercial trucks are an essential part of economic growth, they involve many fatal accidents. These are the main differences:
- Commercial truck crashes involve greater damage than car accidents
- Commercial trucks are susceptible to different types of collision
- Commercial trucks accidents involve multiple parties including the company that loaded the cargo, the commercial truck driver and other vehicle drivers.