Why Hire Our Truck Accident Attorneys in Lafayatte?
Anderson Blanda & Saltzman can provide the legal advocacy you need and deserve after a truck crash. Our Lafayette auto accident lawyers have more than 100 years of collective experience representing clients in over 10,000 legal claims. We know the law inside and out and will fight from day one to help you be “made whole” or fully compensated for all losses following your accident.
To find out more about how we can help you, give us a call at (337) 233-3366 to schedule your free consultation today.
Getting Compensation for Truck Accidents
There are many complicating factors in truck accident claims that you need to be aware of. One of the biggest issues is that there may be multiple defendants you can pursue a case against.
Louisiana law states that “masters and employers are answerable for the damage occasioned by their servants and overseers, in the exercise of the functions in which they are employed.” While this may sound complicated, it means that a trucking company can be liable for losses caused by their employees that occur while a trucker is on the job.
Identifying all possible defendants, including the trucking company, can be important to maximizing your compensation. That’s especially true as Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration insurance requirements can sometimes require as much as $5 million in coverage for large trucks.
Truck accident claims can also be complicated by the fact there are many safety rules that apply exclusively to truckers. For example, the hours of service regulations put in place by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration limit the time truckers can drive without mandated breaks. If these or other FMCSA rules are violated, you can prove negligence by showing a safety rule wasn’t followed.
Anderson Blanda & Saltzman understands these and other complexities of truck accident claims and we are prepared to help you navigate the legal system to get justice.
How Much is Your Truck Accident Case Worth?
In a typical truck accident claim, the goal is to “make you whole,” or put you as close as possible back into the position you would have been in if the crash had not happened.
As a result, you should be entitled to economic and non-economic damages in the aftermath of a truck crash. Economic damages equal things like
- Payment of medical bills: You should have all medical bills covered that you’ve incurred to date and you should make sure the compensation that you receive from the trucker who caused the crash is also large enough to pay any ongoing healthcare costs you’ll need to incur in the future due to the incident and injuries.
- Loss of wages or earning potential. You’ll be compensated for actual time missed from work to date and if you have lasting injuries that impact your earning power, you should be compensated for that loss as well.
- Pain, suffering, and emotional distress: These are non-economic damages as you can’t easily put a price on pain and emotional distress. Still, you should be paid for the physical, mental, and emotional damage the truck accident caused you to endure. You can do things like keep a pain journal to help show how badly the truck crash has affected your life.
If the truck crash is a fatal one, then certain surviving family members such as a spouse or children or parents of the deceased can also pursue a claim for wrongful death damages. These will cover the losses above, as well as things like loss of the deceased’s companionship, loss of the benefits and services they would have provided, and loss of the lifetime income of the deceased.
Your attorney should help you understand what your case is likely to be worth, as this will be very important in deciding if you want to accept a settlement offer or not.
Gathering Evidence in a Truck Accident Claim
When you are pursuing a truck accident case, you’ll need to show that the other driver was liable for your losses. You can do this by demonstrating negligence.
There are two ways to prove negligence. One way is to demonstrate that a safety regulation was not followed and that you were harmed as a direct result. This is called negligence per se. It can be easier to demonstrate negligence in this way because you can simply point to the rule that was broken and show how failure to follow it caused the truck crash.
You can also show that the driver was unreasonably careless. You’ll need to do this by demonstrating that:
- The trucker had a legal obligation to you
- They failed to fulfill that obligation by driving less carefully than a hypothetical reasonable driver would have under the same circumstances
- You were hurt as a direct result of their failure
- You suffered harm you can be compensated for
Gathering the evidence necessary to prove these elements of your claim can sometimes be a challenge. However, Anderson Blanda & Saltzman is here to help. We can assist you in obtaining the following types of crucial evidence necessary to make your case:
- Police reports
- Eyewitness testimony from the crash scene
- Black box data from computers aboard the truck that records driving details
- Driver logs, including hours of service logs and truck maintenance logs
- Expert testimony showing the cause of the accident and the extent of your damages
You have two years to make your case under Louisiana law, as ACT No. 423 extended the state’s statute of limitations in July of 2024. You don’t want to wait to begin gathering evidence as it can take time to get the information you need — especially when large trucking companies may try to conduct their own investigation to disprove your case or may be unwilling to voluntarily provide evidence you need, such as black box data.
An experienced attorney can work from the first day to gather the right information and make a compelling claim. The stronger your case, the better your chances of receiving a fair settlement offer or of prevailing in court and getting the money you deserve for medical bills, loss of wages, pain and suffering, emotional distress, or the wrongful death of your loved one.
Types of Truck Accidents
Because of their large size and their unique characteristics, truck accidents can cause devastating harm to collision victims.
Trucks can be involved in many of the same types of collisions as other vehicles on the road, but certain accidents are more likely to occur when a large truck is involved. These include:
- Rear-end crashes due to the slow stopping time of large trucks
- Jackknife accidents when a trailer spins out to the side of the tractor
- Underride accidents when a car slides into the undercarriage of a truck
- Drowsy driving accidents if a trucker exceeds the allowable time on the job
- Rollover accidents if trucks roll over as a result of being too top-heavy
- Accidents as a result of improperly loaded or unbalanced cargo
In these and other situations, victims of the crash can be badly hurt or even killed. These crashes can often be prevented if truck drivers live up to their professional obligations to behave safe behind the wheel. If a trucker is careless or if a driver violates safety rules and regulations, Louisiana law gives you the right to compensation for damages caused by the driver’s failures.
Causes of Truck Accidents
In 2023, 98 fatal accidents occurred in Louisiana involving commercial motor vehicles including trucks, according to research from LSU. Many other accidents involving large trucks also caused injury.
Because of the sheer size of these vehicles, truck accidents are more likely to be serious or even fatal. If you are involved in one, you must understand your rights as these cases can often be complicated with multiple defendants potentially to blame and liable for your losses.
Truck accidents can occur for many different reasons. Here are some of the most common causes of collisions involving large trucks:
- Driver inattention. If truckers fail to focus on the road, there’s a significantly increased risk of an accident. This could happen because of cell phone use, but also if a trucker is eating behind the wheel, distracted due to talking to dispatchers, or distracted by infotainment or music systems in the vehicle.
- Fatigued driving. Federal rules limit the number of hours a trucker can be behind the wheel without a rest break, but drivers can still get tired– and they don’t always follow these regulations. Fatigued driving significantly increases the risk of a collision, both because the driver could fall asleep and because a tired driver has impaired judgment and delayed reaction times.
- Intoxicated driving. Truckers are subject to lower BAC limits than other motorists because driving a large commercial vehicle while drunk is so dangerous. If a trucker has too much to drink, their judgment and reaction times are affected and their crash risk rises.
- Speeding. Trucks already have longer stopping distances due to their large size. If they are traveling too quickly, this only worsens this situation and makes it more likely they won’t be able to stop before crashing into other vehicles on the road. A high-speed crash is also more dangerous as there’s more force and impact involved.
- Improperly loaded cargo. Trucks need to be loaded safely so the cargo is balanced and kept secure. If that doesn’t happen, problems can occur including cargo falling off the truck or causing it to be top-heavy and rollover onto other vehicles.
- Inadequate training. Truck drivers need to obtain a special commercial license to ensure they are able to safely operate large commercial vehicles. If drivers don’t properly complete their training and/or if they don’t develop the skills they need to be safe behind the wheel, a serious accident can occur.
- Reckless driving. Truckers who choose not to be careful but instead engage in high-risk behaviors like passing on the right or weaving in and out of traffic could also increase the chances of a crash happening.
These are just some of the many cases of truck crashes that exist. If you or someone you love was involved in an accident with a truck, you need to understand the cause of the incident so you can determine if you’ll be able to prove the driver’s carelessness or wrongdoing was the cause of your injuries.
Common Injuries After Truck Accidents
While many types of injuries can occur after a collision with a truck, there are some specific types of physical harm that are very common. Here are some of the injuries that many crash victims suffer when they become involved in an incident with a commercial motor vehicle.
- Bone fractures
- Spinal cord injury
- Traumatic brain injury
- Soft tissue injuries, such as whiplash
- Cuts and bruises
- Burn injuries, including chemical burns if the truck was carrying dangerous cargo
- Internal injuries
- Loss of limbs
- Back and neck injury
Because trucks can be so much larger than your car, the chances are slim that you’ll walk away with no injuries after a crash happens. You should always see a medical professional to make sure that you don’t have any undiagnosed or hidden injuries that don’t result in symptoms right away.
The sooner you document your injuries, the easier it is to prove that they were related to the accident that occurred. Since you’ll need to be able to show the extent of the harm that the other driver caused if you wish to recover compensation from them, having medical records showing all of your injuries is very important in the aftermath of a truck crash.
Call Us Today to Get Help from an Experienced Lafayette Truck Accident Attorney
If you or a loved one suffered harm in a truck crash, you owe it to yourself to get the compensation you need to move forward. The Lafayette injury attorneys at Anderson Blanda & Saltzman is committed to helping you maximize your damages to get the money you deserve. Give us a call at (337) 233-3366 today to schedule a free consultation and learn more about how our Lafayette truck accident lawyers can fight for you.