Allentown Tractor Trailer Accident Lawyer

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Tractor Trailer Accidents Can Be Devastating. Our Allentown Tractor Trailer Accident Lawyers Can Help.

America's highways are full of large tractor trailers carrying goods across the nation. Some 13 million commercial trucks operate in the U.S., including nearly 3 million large tractor trailers. While truck accidents only account for 5 percent of accidents in Pennsylvania, they can be devastating to those who suffer from them, especially those driving small cars struck by the enormous force of a large tractor trailer.

Allentown sits as a confluence of highways, including Interstates 78 and 476, as well as US Highway 22 and the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Add to that its heavy concentration of industry and manufacturing, Allentown and the rest of the Lehigh Valley present higher than average risks for truck accidents to occur on its highways.

If you have been involved in an Allentown tractor trailer accident, you know the kind of life-altering injuries that they can cause. Accidents involving tractor trailers can be particularly devastating, resulting in brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and other traumatic personal injuries that can require significant medical attention.

If you or a loved one has been involved in a tractor trailer crash, you need an experienced Allentown tractor trailer accident lawyer to ensure that you hold the driver and tractor trailer company responsible, and receive adequate compensation for the serious injuries you may have sustained. Contact Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys to receive a free consultation with a Allentown truck accident lawyer to find out what you may be entitled to receive.

Why Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys's Allentown Tractor Trailer Accident Attorneys are Unique

Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys has been defending victims of tractor trailer accidents for more than 60 years. In that time, the firm has built a national reputation as the #1 firm in the country in this area, known for fighting hard to get clients the results they deserve.

Munley is the only law firm in the United States with two attorneys who have served as chair of the American Association for Justice Trucking Litigation Group–Daniel Munley (2011-2012) and Marion Munley (2018), the first woman to lead this group. Marion and Daniel Munley are both board-certified in Trucking Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, and they both are named among the National Trial Lawyers “Trucking Trial Lawyers Top Ten.”

Our experienced Allentown truck accident attorneys are known for their deep experience in handling all manner of truck accidents. They speak frequently on truck issues at conferences and seminars across the country, and are consistently ranked among the Best Lawyers in America and have earned AV-Preeminent designations and Platinum-Level Client Champion ratings from Martindale-Hubbell.

Together, Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys's truck accident lawyers have won tens of millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements, a track record no other truck accident attorneys can claim.

What Catastrophic Injuries Could I Receive in a Tractor Trailer Accident?

Due to the sheer size and weight of massive tractor trailers, the consequences of a tractor trailer truck accident can be deadly. Even a semi truck accident, involving the massive truck that pulls the trailer, can cause significant damage and personal injury to vehicle occupants in the smaller vehicle.

Among common truck accident injuries are:

• traumatic brain injuries
• spinal cord injuries
• broken bones
• loss of limbs
• lacerations
• internal organ damage
• disfigurement
• burns
• wrongful death

Even in cases where victims survive, they are often injured for life, remaining permanently disabled. In cases where full recovery is possible, injuries sustained from an Allentown truck accident can take years to recover from.

What Are the Common Causes of Tractor Trailer Crashes in Allentown?

In 2021, tractor trailers were involved in nearly 530 accidents in the Lehigh Valley, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. While it may seem like driver error at the time of the crash is the main cause of a truck accident, crashes often sit at the end of a long string of events contributing to the accident. An experienced Allentown truck accident attorney can help to piece together exactly what happened at the time of the truck crash to determine how it happened. Common causes of Allentown truck accidents include:

Truck Driver Fatigue

A truck driver is limited in the number of hours that they are legally allowed by the federal government to be behind the wheel before taking a break to sleep; however, sometimes a truck driver will exceed those hours, falling victim to fatigue that can contribute to an accident taking place. In addition, sometimes due to the nature of their work, a truck driver will develop sleep apnea, a disorder that can get in the way of a good night sleep and create tiredness during the day.

Distracted Driving

With the increasing amount of media available to us on smartphones, a truck driver might succumb to the temptation to distract themselves from their long hours of driving. Common distractions include texting, social media, phone calls, and even watching sports or TV shows while driving. A trained Allentown truck accident lawyer can help to determine whether or not distraction played a role in the truck accident taking place.

Transportation Company Hiring and Training Practices

Many things can go wrong during the hiring process, resulting in a truck driver who should not be behind the wheel of a massive 18-wheeler. A company might fail to do a background check, hire a truck driver with an expired license, or be negligent in training employees properly on how to drive safely. A good Allentown truck accident lawyer can follow the paper trail in employment records to determine how much this played a role in the crash.

Trucking Company Negligence

In addition to poor hiring practices, a trucking company might also fail in performing their proper diligence when it comes to maintaining their fleet of tractor trailers in working order, failing to enforce their own safety practices, or perhaps putting pressure on drivers to work longer hours than they are legally allowed to work. All of these negligent practice can lead to an increase in truck accidents.

Mechanical Failure

In a related cause, lack of tractor trailer maintenance can lead to a mechanical failure that cause the truck to malfunction and the truck driver to lose control. Among common mechanical issues are tire blowouts, brake failure, and electrical problems. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation determined that the largest number of truck accidents in Pennsylvania were caused by tire or wheel-related failures, accounting for 38 percent of equipment-related truck crashes. Following that were brake-related failures accounting for 27 percent of accidents, steering failures accounting for 16 percent, and all other defect-related crashes accounting for 18 percent.

Reckless Driving

Finally, a truck accident could be caused by recklessness on the part of the driver, including driving over the speed limit, failing to use proper signals, or ignoring weather conditions such as rain, snow, or ice, that could cause a truck driver to lose control. Sometimes, crashes are also caused by a truck driver who is driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Allentown truck accident attorneys can help to determine whether any of these reckless behaviors contributed to the crash.

Who is Responsible for Your Allentown Tractor Trailer Accident?

Just as many factors can contribute to a truck accident, many parties might ultimately be held responsible for the accident taking place. A truck driver might be liable for a truck accident, but so too might other actors.

Responsible parties who might be named as a defendant in a tractor-trailer accident lawsuit include:

• Truck driver
• Trucking company
• Parent company of the trucking company
• Manufacturer of faulty truck parts
• Third party maintenance and service company
• Driver(s) and owner(s) of other motor vehicles involved in the crash
• Automobile insurance companies

An expert Allentown truck accident attorney will carefully look at the specific facts in a case to determine who is most at fault as well as who could be held liable in a personal injury lawsuit, in order to obtain maximum compensation for the injuries you have received.

What Compensation Might You be Entitled To?

While the most obvious loss incurred by the victim of a truck accident are the medical expenses associated with personal injuries, truck accident attorneys will consider many possible types of damages to achieve maximum compensation from the responsible party or parties.

These damages might include compensation for:

• Medical treatment, both past and future
• Rehabilitation
• Scarring and disfigurement
• Lost wages
• Household services
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of enjoyment of life

Upon hiring one our experienced Allentown truck accident attorneys, we will show you how to properly seek medical attention and record all medical bills and other fees and expenses associated with your truck accident.

In addition, our truck accident attorneys will conduct a comprehensive assessment to determine the more intangible damages that inevitably occur with someone who with substantial personal injuries from a truck accident, including pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life.

Frequently Asked Questions About Tractor Trailer Accidents in Allentown

Q: What If I Am Responsible in Part For the Truck Accident Too?

A: Truck accidents are complicated, and sometimes involve shared liability, in which both the truck driver and the driver of the smaller vehicle share in the blame for the accident. That does not mean that you are not entitled for compensation for your injuries, however.

Pennsylvania employs a modified comparative negligence law, which means that so long as you are less than 51 percent at fault for a tractor trailer truck or semi truck accident, you are still entitled to compensation for damages you sustain. Our experienced Allentown truck accident lawyers can help to determine comparative fault for an accident, and argue your case in even the event that you are partly responsible for the accident.

It is important to note, however, that a plaintiff's award in a case will be proportional to the percent that they are at fault for the truck accident occurring. Therefore, it is essential to hire truck accident attorneys who are able to assign the highest amount of liability to the truck drivers or trucking companies involved in order to achieve maximum compensation.

Q: What Do Allentown Truck Accident Lawyers Do?

A: Pennsylvania has a two-year statute of limitations on bringing an action from the date of a tractor trailer or semi truck accident. For that reason, it is vital that an Allentown truck accident lawyer act fast to investigate the crash thoroughly and gather enough information to bring a personal injury lawsuit in a court of law.

An investigation may include many different areas of inquiry, including:

• the accident scene
• the truck
• the tractor trailer's “black box”
• truck driver's cell phone(s)
• your vehicle
• trucker log books
• transportation company records

Our experienced truck accident lawyers know that truck drivers and trucking companies must comply with many different state and federal laws and regulations. These extensive statutes govern all aspects of truck drivers' work, including

• Drivers, who must be tested for alcohol and drugs on a regular basis, cannot text while driving, and comply with other rules to ensure they operate their tractor trailers properly
• Equipment, which must be maintained and regularly inspected to make sure that all parts of the tractor trailers are operating properly, including brakes, tail lights, and cargo latches
• Cargo, which must be safely loaded, stowed, and secured to ensure that it does not shift during driving, causing a truck or truck driver to lose control

All of these laws and regulations can be used by an Allentown truck accident lawyer to bring a personal injury lawsuit against a trucking company for a truck crash or other accident.

In addition, our trained Allentown truck accident attorneys will seek out the opinions of experts, eye-witnesses, and re-constructionists to develop as complete a picture of the specific circumstances of the accident as possible.

Our many decades of experience in this complicated area of law ensures that we have the best truck accident experts in the country working on your behalf. These experts might include those with extensive knowledge of the trucking industry, engineering, accident reconstruction, life care planning, economics, and medicine.

All of this investigation is devoted towards one purpose: gathering as much favorable evidence as possible to ensure that you will be able to win your truck accident case and obtain the maximum compensation you deserve.

Q: How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Truck Accident Law Firm?

A: Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys operates on a contingent fee basis. That means that you don't pay anything out of pocket. We pay all costs upfront, including investigation expenses and medical bills for personal injuries. If we don't win a case, then we earn nothing and you pay nothing.

When we are successful in a personal injury lawsuit, then we collect our fees and costs out of the award paid by the responsible party in the case. That means you can afford to hire the very best trailer truck accident lawyers in the country, who will fight to earn you maximum compensation in your lawsuit.

Call us for your free truck accident consultation today

Our experienced staff of truck accident lawyers offers services in Allentown and the surrounding area. It is essential that you don't delay in starting the process to recover damages for your truck accident case. Call, chat, or fill out our online form today.

Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys

609 Hamilton St
Allentown, PA 18101
(610) 857-7424