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What Factors Can Complicate a Truck Accident Settlement?

Published on Feb 21, 2019 at 12:06 pm in Truck Accidents.

The trauma of a truck accident can be astronomical. They tend to have worse injuries and overall damages and can put someone’s life on hold while they worry about recovery and how they’re going to afford care for their injuries. At DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress, PLLC, we believe in standing up for those who have been wrongfully injured.

Multiple factors can complicate a trucking lawsuit. Here are some of the most common factors that may impact a case:

Figuring Out Who Is at Fault

Truck accidents can be very complex because you may not know who is liable for the accident. Your first inclination may be to assign the fault to the truck driver, but that’s not always necessarily the case.

A careful investigation needs to take place in order to find out who was responsible for the accident. While it’s possible for the driver to be at fault, whether it’s from a driver error or they were on their cell phone while operating a truck, other possibilities need to be taken into account.

For instance, it’s possible that the trucking company needs to be held liable for the accident. They are responsible for keeping their trucks safe and performing regular maintenance checks to know if they’re ready for the road. If a trucking company knowingly put an unsafe vehicle on the road or skipped the maintenance of their vehicles, then they can be held liable because they intentionally put a dangerous vehicle on the road. By doing that, they even put their own truck driver in danger, let alone the others around the truck driver.

Sometimes, the truck may have a defective auto part, which was sold to them from a manufacturing company. These companies are supposed to put their products through rigorous testing to make sure they won’t cause potential accidents when consumers use them. However, manufacturers may try to cut corners in order to save time, money, and to get their product on the market more quickly. Unfortunately, this means products can break down over time and cause unexpected issues on the road.

The Percentage of Fault in a Truck Wreck

Then, there’s the issue of comparative fault. In some cases, the guilty party may try and insinuate that you were partially at fault for the accident. While technically they caused the accident, they could say that you caused the accident and your injuries to be worse. For instance, if they were speeding, but you were texting and driving or didn’t check your blind spots before making a lane change or turning, then you could potentially have a percentage of fault for the accident.

In these cases, you won’t be able to recover full damages. The fault is assigned in percentages. So, let’s say your damages came to the amount of $10,000. If you were 30 percent at fault and the guilty party was 70 percent at fault, then 30 percent of the $10,000 would be subtracted from your total.

You may be depending on that money to pay for the injuries and damages that a truck accident can cause. The driver may seem cordial after the accident, but then try and put some of the blame on you. This isn’t fair and can seriously damage your chances of getting full compensation. That’s why it’s so important to have personal injury attorneys at your side that you can trust.

DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress, PLLC Is Here for You

The citizens of West Virginia deserve representatives who will fight for their rights no matter what. At DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress, PLLC, we take pride in knowing that we approach each case individually and work on it with a tenacity that often gets us successful results.

We won’t let the other party put some of the blame on you in an effort that reduces what you are rightfully owed. It’s imperative to get started on your Charleston trucking accident case as soon as possible so we can collect information, evidence, and start the claim process.

To schedule a consultation that’s free of charge, contact us today. We’ll be here to help you and answer any questions that you have.

The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice. Viewing does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Prior case results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
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