Truck accident cases are among the most
complex cases governed by both state specific and federal trucking laws.
However, the reality is that stiff competition in the trucking industry has
made it one of the most cut throat businesses where truckers at times tend to
throw caution to the wind when it comes to safety. A lot of them often overlook
the danger of fatigued drivers and the possibility of violating state and
federal trucking laws.
Trucks are large, heavy objects that
need to be handled with care, driven diligently and demand the full attention
of the driver at all times. This is what the laws seek to enforce, but there
are still hundreds of truck
accidents in America every year that claim thousands of lives. When someone
is hurt by a truck accident and they incur damages, they may rightfully file a
civil lawsuit against the trucking company.
This may be in the form of a personal
injury lawsuit or a property damage lawsuit and Houston, TX truck accident
lawyers are heavily involved with both. If you or someone you know is affected
by a truck accident then it would be prudent to seek legal counsel right away
to determine how you can go about claiming damages.
Who
is liable for your truck accident damages?
There are many potential defendants in a
truck accident case. This includes the trucking company, truck driver, truck
insurer, maintenance team, the lessor, and the owner, to name a few. For the
most part, it is a very challenging task to determine who exactly is
responsible for the accident and bring suit against them. If you happen to find
yourself in a similar problem then please visit a Texas truck accident attorney
as soon as possible.
A lawyer will be able to find out who
was at fault and hold them liable. In some cases, the negligence of the truck
driver may be seen as the negligence of the company, especially since it is the
duty of the company to employ responsible and qualified truck drivers. So if
you were to file a lawsuit only against the truck driver and not the trucking
company itself then you will not be able to recover as much damages as you may
actually deserve.
Determining
Damages
Truck accident companies specially hire
truck accident insurance adjustors to negotiate with victims of truck
accidents. Houston truck accident lawyers reiterate the fact that insurance
adjustors are professionals devoted to saving the company money and will reach
out to victims soon after an accident and offer money as settlement to keep
things out of court. Once a victim signs such an agreement then he or she loses
the right to file a lawsuit against the trucking company.
A Rush
to Sign
You cannot sue the same company twice. If
you sign any paperwork yes you may receive $20,000 but that may not cover your
medical costs or your lost time at work. They may buy you a nice used pick-up
truck as a replacement but so what when you could have obtained $55,000? Yes,
it may have taken you another month to receive that much but is it not worth it
to wait another month for another $35,000? Most people would agree that it is.
This is why you should not sign that
paperwork. You may want to get this over with and tell your family that you are
about to have a nice used F-150 with only 12,000 miles on it but that is not
quite good enough if you have to miss two weeks of
work and you have $10,000 in medical costs that you find out now your
insurance does not cover. Now you have to ask the tax payers to pick up the tab
which only adds more debt onto America, and sign up for Obamacare on a broken
website and hope that works out for you. It will not since this already
happened, the Affordable Care Act just does not hand out piles of cash (it is
not Congress or the White House).
You signed too early. There is nothing a
lawyer can do for you.
Patience
is a Virtue
Of course a quick settlement is better
than the hassle of taking things to court but the problem here is that truck
accident insurance adjustors offer only a fraction of what you may actually win
in a lawsuit, as already hit on. Furthermore, they will convince you that what
their offer is top dollar. Therefore, it would only be prudent to consult a Houston
area truck accident lawyer before signing any agreement. Your legal representative
will be able to determine what your claim is actually worth.
No comments:
Post a Comment