Traffic accidents involving commercial vehicles often result in multiple victims and severe injuries. As a Columbus truck accident lawyer knows, these vehicles are often very large, dwarfing passenger vehicles.
Let us cover the most important points related to truck crashes that accident victims need to know. Contact our law firm today for help after a truck crash in Columbus or anywhere in Georgia.
How Common Are Commercial Truck Accidents?
18-wheeler or delivery truck collisions are unfortunately a common occurrence on US interstates and highways. Statistical data compiled in the TruckInfo annual report show that in 2022 there were 166,833 accidents involving commercial vehicles across the US. And 4,678 of them resulted in one or several deaths.
As for the state of Georgia, the same report offers the following data:
- 6,667 total accidents
- 2,100 of them involved injuries
- 218 of them caused death.
The Most Common Types of Truck Accidents
The dynamics of a truck crash are influenced by several factors:
- Driver error
- The load of the trailer
- The distribution of the load inside the truck
- Truck maintenance and repair
- The wide space needed by a truck to make a turn
- The truck driver’s blind spots.
Based on these facts, the most frequent types of commercial vehicle collisions are:
- Jackknife accident – When a large vehicle folds, causing the cab and the trailer to form a 90-degree angle. A vehicle caught inside this angle can get crushed.
- Truck rollover – If the driver loses control of the vehicle, the truck can slide and roll over onto its side, involving all nearby cars in the accident.
- Under-ride – When a trucker hits the brakes suddenly, the car behind them may not have sufficient time to stop safely and may get lodged under the trailer.
- Wide turn – Since trucks need a wider berth to make a left or right turn, vehicles too close to it may get hit.
- Head on – Distracted or DUI truck drivers may hit a car on the opposite lane heads on. This is the worst type of truck accident, resulting in catastrophic injuries or even death.
Who Is Liable for Your Columbus Truck Accident?
In collisions involving passenger cars, the obvious at-fault party is the driver who caused the accident through their negligence. However, a Columbus truck accident attorney knows that the situation is more complex when the other driver is operating a commercial vehicle.
Thus, a skilled lawyer may identify several parties to pay for your damages, such as:
- The trucking company, because in most cases the trucker was on duty when they caused your crash.
- The producer of the truck if it turns out that the accident was caused by a malfunctioning truck part.
- The truck maintenance company, if the crash was caused by worn-out tires or other reasons related to poor maintenance of the vehicle.
- The cargo owner if your attorney can prove that the accident was caused by overloading or uneven loading of the trailer.
How Much Can You Collect in Damages?
A simple Google search will return results showing people who have won millions of dollars in truck claim settlements. And this is the kind of expectation most accident victims have when they talk to a lawyer for the first time.
However, the value of a commercial vehicle accident claim represents compensation for justifiable economic and non-economic damages. They represent:
- All present and future medical care and nursing costs
- Property damage
- Lost wages and loss of earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional trauma
- Loss of quality of life
- Loss of consortium.
Thus, people who won very high settlements most certainly suffered permanent life-changing injuries requiring expensive long-term treatments and assistance with activities of daily living.
Also, you must not forget that Georgia is a comparative negligence state. This means that your percentage of fault will be determined and used to reduce your total amount of damages. Thus, if you were 20% at fault and your damages were estimated at $100,000, you would collect $80,000.
Call an Experienced Columbus Truck Accident Lawyer!
Winning a truck accident claim is extremely difficult when you have to fight big trucking companies and their insurers. However, no case is too complex or difficult for an experienced Columbus truck accident lawyer at Joe Durham Jr., P.C.
We encourage you to reach out to us as soon as possible after your accident. We offer each new client a free case review, and you do not pay legal fees unless we win your case. Call us today at 229-210-6226!
