Truck Accident Cases Can Be Severe & Complex. We Can Help.
Truck Accident Cases Can Be Severe & Complex. We Can Help.Standing fourteen feet tall, boasting an impressive seventy feet of length, and weighing in at an astounding 80,000 pounds, semi-trucks are truly a sight to behold. You can probably still remember being a young child and marveling at these metal monsters as they rumbled down the highway.
However, for the victim of a truck accident, these behemoth vehicles represent a lot more. If you or a loved one have been injured in an accident with a truck, it's important you have an experienced truck accident lawyer by your side. At Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys, our Philadelphia truck accident lawyers are the top truck accident lawyers in the country. We have decades of experience ensuring truck accident victims get the justice they deserve.
Truck accidents can be complicated cases – from determining fault, to third party claims, severe injuries due to the vehicle's size and weight, and more. Contact us today for a free consultation.
The Truth about Truck Accidents
While many truck drivers can boast impressive safety records, the reality is truck accidents are far more common than you may think and their operators are often at fault for the crash. Consider some of the following statistics taken from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration:
- There were 4,479 FATAL truck crashes in 2019
- 73 percent of those fatal crashes involved colliding with another car on the road
- Another 8.8 percent were the result of a truck striking a pedestrian
- 29 percent of all truck accidents result in injury
- There were 13.65 fatal large truck crashes per million people in the United States in 2019, a 29-percent increase from 2010.
Truck crashes result in large amounts of damage to people and property every year. Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys's Philadelphia accident attorneys have won millions of dollars for truck accident victims and stand ready to help you seek compensation for the damages one of these tragic truck accidents may have caused you or someone you love.
What Causes Truck Accidents?
By their very nature, semi-trucks and tractor trailers are incredibly dangerous when negligence or recklessness on the part of the truck driver results in a collision. The sheer size and weight of these large trucks results in high likelihood of injury, especially if the vehicle struck by the large truck is a typical passenger automobile.
The amount of force that is generated by 80,000 pounds traveling at seventy miles per hour, or more, can create damage that virtually guarantees injury to the passengers of a smaller more vulnerable motor vehicle. Some of the causal factors that result in a truck accident are:
- Aggressive driving
- Speeding and ignoring reduced truck speed limits
- Driver fatigue
- Distracted driving (i.e. cell phone use)
- Impaired driving (i.e., alcohol and drug abuse)
- Failure to inspect tires and brakes
Any of these factors can contribute to the chance that a semi-truck wrecks into another vehicle. If any of the above were at play in your accident, it is extremely important to contact experienced truck accident attorneys to help sort through what you may be owed.
What Happens Immediately After a Truck Accident?
Due to the likelihood of injury, the first thing that will happen after a semi-truck accident is emergency service personnel will arrive on scene and attempt to make the area safe by blocking off or shutting down the roadway. Police and medics will attempt to treat the injured and will transport them to the hospital if necessary.
During this process the police will begin to investigate the crash and try to determine what happened. They will interview the truck driver, other vehicle drivers, witnesses, review any highway or dash camera footage, and look at the overall damage to the vehicles.
In truck accidents that result in serious injuries, police will even download the data that is recorded in the truck's “black box” or data recorder which contains information on speed, brake application, and engine status. Based on their investigation they will come to an opinion as to what happened just before and at the moment of the truck accident.
It is very important that you contact experienced Philadelphia truck accident lawyers, like those at Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys, as soon as you are able. The quicker you get a truck accident attorney working on your case, the more quickly you may be able to recover damages you are owed.
How is Fault Determined in a Tractor Trailer Accident?
During their investigation police will attempt to determine which driver was at fault for the crash. This is important for the police because they will often times issue a traffic citation or a criminal charge as a result of their findings. If the police can determine that one driver's violation of traffic or criminal law resulted in the damage or injury that resulted from the truck accident, they will more likely than not charge that driver with the violation.
For routine traffic violations, improper lane change, speeding, and following too closely for instance, the ticket issued can be paid through the mail or online. For more serious offenses such as, speeding through a school zone, reckless operation, or driving without the proper license, the officer will usually issue a summons that requires the driver to show up in court and explain his or her actions.
In the most serious of cases, like operating a vehicle while intoxicated by alcohol or another drug, the officers at the scene of the truck accident may actually arrest the truck driver and take him or her to jail!
The Physical Cost of Truck Accidents
As we said earlier, by their very nature truck accidents are incredibly dangerous events. The likelihood of injury and significant damage go way up due to the size of the vehicles involved. It should be no surprise then that the injuries sustained during truck accident accidents can be significant and life changing, sometimes even resulting in death. Some of the more common injuries that are associated with truck accidents are:
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- Neck or spinal injuries (whiplash)
- Broken ribs or other torso trauma
- Lacerations (cuts caused by glass, metal, or other crash debris)
- Broken bones
- Internal bruising or bleeding
- Wrongful death
It is easy to see how any of these injuries can be life changing and result in lifelong medical bills that can quickly overwhelm most individuals and families. It is for this very reason that Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys's team of expert truck accident attorneys stand ready to help you receive compensation to which you may be entitled.
The Financial Cost of Truck Accidents
Truck accidents not only cost survivors and their families in the form of physical injury, but also in financial injury. The most obvious cost of a truck crash is the damage to the survivors motor vehicle. The cost of repairing or, more likely when involved in a crash with a large truck, replacement of a car can be very large.
Additionally, the costs of hospital bills, medical devices, physical therapy, medication, and home healthcare can quickly consume a family and put them in a very unstable financial situation. Add to that the lost income associated with missing or losing the ability to work, and you have a recipe for financial disaster.
Unfortunately, the recklessness of truck drivers all too often creates this type of situation for American families. The Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys tractor-trailer and truck accident attorneys can help ease that burden by fighting on your behalf to money that you may be legally owed to compensate for the damage you or a loved one have suffered.
Frequently Asked Questions About Philadelphia Truck Accidents
Q: What Should I Do at the Scene of a Truck Accident?
While you are at the scene of the wreck, be sure to: Remain calm and remain in your vehicle, if it is safe to do so
- Turn on your hazard lights
- Call 911, even if your injuries seem minor
- Seek medical attention for yourself and your passengers
- Never leave the scene of the accident
- Get the names, addresses and phone numbers of all parties involved, and any witnesses
- Write down the names and badge numbers of any police officers at the scene
- Take photographs of your vehicle, the truck, and any injuries
- Do not admit fault
- Do not discuss the wreck with anyone except the police or your own insurance agent; you are not required to give a statement to the other driver's insurance company.
Q: Who Can Be Held Liable in a Truck Crash?
A: There are multiple parties that may have liability for the damages that resulted from your semi-truck accident. These can include: the driver, the trucking company, the broker, or even the truck manufacturer. It also doesn't have
Q: What is a “Large Truck”?
A: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration defines a large truck as a truck with a gross vehicle weight rating of greater than 10,000 pounds. As you can imagine, getting into an accident with a vehicle this size can be much more disastrous than an accident with another passenger vehicle.
The size and weight of a large truck also makes it harder for the driver to do basic tasks like stopping, braking, turning, and more. They have to consider more time and distance to make these moves properly, and other cars on the road need to keep this in mind as well to ensure everyone is safe on the road.
Hire a Philadelphia Truck Accident Lawyer Today
Hire a Philadelphia Truck Accident Lawyer TodayWhen it comes to sharing the road with large trucks, safety is key. If you find yourself in an accident with a truck, you'll likely have severe injuries, damages, pain and suffering and more. More than ever, you will need the experienced truck accident lawyers at Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys to help you recover what you deserve. Going to battle with trucking companies, who have their own investigators and attorneys fighting for them is no easy feat. Make sure you have someone fighting for you. Contact us today for a free consultation.
