Watertown Truck Accident Lawyer
Many drivers find sharing the roads with large commercial trucks intimidating. Trucks can cause significant damage and devastating injuries when they collide with smaller passenger vehicles.
If you were hurt in an incident involving a truck, a skilled personal injury attorney could help you claim compensation for your injuries. A Watertown truck accident lawyer could review your case and help you pursue damages from the trucking company responsible for your injuries.
How Can Compensation Help a Truck Accident Victim?
Occupants of smaller vehicles often suffer permanent injuries when involved in a tractor-trailer collision. Negligent trucking companies and other responsible parties must often pay compensation, called damages, to accident victims who sustained injuries.
Economic damages provide reimbursement for an injured person’s out-of-pocket expenses related to a semi wreck. For example, an at-fault party could be responsible for paying income lost while a claimant was recovering from their injuries. Likewise, negligent parties are also liable for any reduction in a claimant’s earning capacity due to an injury. A responsible party may also have to pay other injury-related expenses for a claimant, including:
- Hospital expenses
- Mental health treatment
- Prosthetics
- At-home nursing care
- Surgical expenses, including cosmetic surgery to correct disfigurement
- Rehabilitation costs, including occupational, speech, and physical therapy
- Home renovations to accommodate a person’s injuries
- Necessary assistive devices or furnishings such as wheelchairs or hospital bed
At-fault parties should also compensate victims for the accident’s effect on their quality of life. An injured person can seek non-economic or general damages for pain and suffering, lost enjoyment of life, disability, and disfigurement. A seasoned attorney could help a truck crash victim assess an injury’s effects on their lives and get compensation for their losses.
Liability for Truck Wrecks
Anyone seeking damages after a tractor-trailer accident must prove that another party’s negligence contributed to their trauma. Determining recklessness in a truck crash requires proving that a truck company or driver did not exercise a reasonable duty of care to others on the road. Trucks must adhere to this high standard because they are commercial carriers under federal law.
Besides trucking companies, others might also bear responsibility for a truck crash. For example, an injured individual might hold a tire manufacturer liable if defective tires contributed to an accident. Similarly, poor loading can cause a truck to break an axle, jackknife, or overturn. If load shift or overloading caused a collision, the company that loaded the cargo could owe damages to an injured person.
According to Connecticut General Statutes §13a-149, an injured person can sue a local government responsible if poor road design contributed to a vehicle collision. However, an injured party must notify the correct municipal office of their claim within 90 days of the accident or lose the right to sue. Seeking legal advice immediately after a wreck preserves an injured person’s right to sue a liable local government.
Seeking Damages After a Truck Crash in Watertown
Finding legal representation quickly after a truck collision is crucial to the success of your lawsuit. Trucking companies typically investigate accidents involving their fleet and drivers thoroughly. A Watertown attorney could demand access to any materials important to the investigation. If there is a delay before an attorney comes on board, critical evidence could be lost or damaged.
A trucking company’s insurer often approaches an injured person with a settlement offer after the accident. In some cases, they might do so before an injured person leaves the hospital. However, these offers do not provide fair compensation, yet injured people often accept them.
A legal professional could manage contact with an insurance company and negotiate a fair settlement to compensate for an injured person’s losses. If the two-year statute of limitations for personal injuries has not expired, an attorney could leverage the possibility of a lawsuit to secure the maximum settlement possible under the circumstances.
Trust Your Truck Injury Claim to a Watertown Attorney
Trucking companies often have teams of investigators and lawyers who attempt to minimize the consequences the company suffers after causing harm to others. Likewise, insurers do not hesitate to exploit an injured person suffering financially and physically because of a company’s negligence. Even more concerning, trucking companies are trained to immediately deflect and avoid blame at the scene of an accident.
A Watertown truck accident lawyer could ensure you get a fair settlement for your losses. Schedule a case review with a knowledgeable attorney today. Acting quickly is crucial to the success of your claim.
