Truck Accident Lawyers Nearby Toledo Ohio
If you or a loved one have been injured in a truck accident, our family of lawyers is here to help. We have recovered millions of dollars for victims of injury accidents – so call us today at 419-900-0955 to speak to one of of personal injury lawyers today. All initial consultations are completely free – so don’t hesitate to protect your rights and get the justice you deserve.
PERSONAL INJURY PRACTICE AREAS
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Protect Yourself in a Truck Accident
Did you know that when a truck accident occurs, federal regulation only requires that certain evidence be maintained for a very limited amount of time? For instance, the truck driver’s log may be destroyed after six months if an attorney does not obtain a court order or take other immediate action. This can mean that without a competent Attorney overseeing your claim, you may lose critical evidence necessary to proving your case. Another critical piece of information for any victim of a truck or automobile accident to know is that the insurance company begins the process of protecting their insured, the truck driver, immediately. A claims adjuster is employed promptly to gather evidence, steer you away from legal counsel and illicit legally binding statements from you. This is all calculated to minimize the amount of legal exposure the insurance company is responsible for, not to protect your right to recovery. As a result, it is absolutely critical that you employ an experienced and intelligent Truck Accident Attorney quickly to act as a counterweight to the often cold and calculating interests of the insurance company.A claims adjuster is employed promptly to gather evidence, steer you away from legal counsel and illicit legally binding statements from you. This is all calculated to minimize the amount of legal exposure the insurance company is responsible for, not to protect your right to recovery. As a result, it is absolutely critical that you employ an experienced and intelligent Attorney quickly to act as a counterweight to the often cold and calculating interests of the insurance company.
Accountability Matters
Depending on a variety of factors, Federal Regulation requires a patchwork of often confusing insurance coverage considerations for truck drivers. As a result, trucking, hauling, and leasing companies frequently argue over which insurance company is responsible for compensating the victim in a truck collision. This convoluted regulatory framework is one of the main reasons that you should contact our team of qualified and experienced Ohio Truck Accident Attorneys to help sort out who is legally responsible for your injury. If you or a loved one have been seriously injured in a truck accident, the law holds that it is your responsibility to prove that the truck driver caused the accident – as well as your injuries. In some cases, this endeavor can be much harder than you may think. In situations involving serious injury accidents, it is often your word against the truck drivers. When facing serious repercussions, it’s common for at fault truck drivers to attempt to minimize their role or act out of self-preservation.
Making things even more complicated, the cause of the truck accident is sometime due to a third party – such as the carrier failing to complete routine maintenance or a defective part from the truck manufacturer. In these circumstances, you may need to gather evidence from a distant – and often unhelpful – third party. Because of these complexities, it is always best to consult with a qualified truck accident lawyer.
At Sawan & Sawan, our family of truck accident lawyers have experience helping victims of serious injury accident. For over 30 combined years, our team has been helping injury victims put the pieces of their lives back together. We have collected millions of dollars for injured victims – so if you need help, call Sawan & Sawan today at 419-900-0955 or toll free at 1-866-INJURY-0 (ZERO) and speak to a lawyer today.
Top Causes of Truck Accidents
Looking for information about the common causes of truck accidents? Every year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration reviews thousands of truck accidents and gleans valuable data from them to determine their causes. For every truck accident, the FMCSA collects data on over 1,000 causes of truck accidents, including things like the behavior of the truck driver before the crash, during the crash, weather conditions, road conditions and more. During this review, the FMCSA also looked at each crash to identify a critical event, which is defined as the event that put the truck:
As truck accident attorneys, we know that the simplicity of this definition fails to capture the complexity of the legal issues. As truck accident lawyers, we know that included in this assessment are major contributing factors such as driver error, equipment failure or weather conditions. At Sawan & Sawan, our family of truck accident attorneys has reviewed this data in an effort to better understand the most common causes of truck accidents. Let’s take a look at some of the most common causes of truck accidents in America.
The first category of most common truck accidents are collisions that occur because a truck left their lane of travel and went into another lane or off the road. Over one third of all truck accidents involved the truck leaving it’s lane of travel. As truck accident lawyers, we point this out many times for purposes of preventing truck accidents. If you are driving on the road with trucks, always keep a safe and assured distance. With your knowledge of lane shifting as one of the major causes of truck accidents, be alert for trucks switching lanes or drifting outside their lanes and take safety precautions to avoid an accident. In almost 33% of truck accidents a lane shift is partly or entirely at fault, so being on the lookout for this specific truck maneuver could keep you safe out there. If you do get into a truck accident, call us now for a free consultation.
We think the most surprising cause of truck accidents on this list is rear end collisions. It seems reasonable to assume that a truck driver fully being able to see a vehicle in front of it would reduce the times it hit someone from behind. But this assumption is not borne out by the data. The third most common cause of truck accidents are tractor trailers that rear end the vehicle in front of them. Rear end collisions can be the worst type of collision due to the particularly surprising nature of this type of accident. That’s why we recommend drivers watch out behind them and if a truck is in traffic behind you, to safely switch lanes or take a detour to avoid this risk.
Unfortunately, 23 percent of all truck accidents were caused by distracted truck drivers. This includes distractions both inside and outside of the truck – such as cell phones, radios and other accidents. While it is true that some distractions are unavoidable, this category still troubles us the most because most distractions are avoidable. Given the dangers of driving a truck and the tremendous hardship caused by truck accidents, we think any avoidable distraction that causes an accident is one that should have never happened. Nonetheless, watch out for distracted drivers and if you see one, safely avoid them even if it increases the travel time.
It is no secret that there is a prescription drug epidemic in the United States affecting many areas of society in a negative way but would it surprise you to know that prescription drugs are one of the major causes of truck accidents? In fact, 17 percent of all truck accidents involved over the counter drugs that affected truck driver’s ability to remain focused and drive safely. We think it is incredibly important for drivers to make sure they understand any prescription medications and consult with a medical professional to determine its safety for use driving a truck.
The Road to Recovery
After suffering injuries in a trucking accident, the most typical claim against an insurance company or a truck driver is one that is based in negligence. Negligence is a legal term that is roughly synonymous with carelessness. A negligence claim has four distinct and important parts to it that must all be proven to recover. These parts are:
- The Truck Driver (or trucking company, manufacturer, etc.) owed you a duty of care;
- That party breached that duty of care by failing to act a a reasonably prudent person would under the same or similar circumstances; and
- The other party’s breach of it’s duty caused your injuries;
- You suffered actual injuries that you can be compensated for.
In a typical truck accident case, the first element – Duty – is often relatively easy to prove. This is because there are several laws applicable to all vehicles on the roads, as well as specific federal laws regarding trucks. It’s also often the case that truck drivers are cited for a violation of the law after a serious truck accident.
The second element – breach – can be on of the harder elements to prove. To show breach, you must show an insurance company or a court that the truck driver did something wrong. Further, you must be able to successfully argue that the truck driver should be held responsible for that wrong.
Damages can be the most important, and often most complicated to show. The key in any damages calculation is to ensure that you have a good handle on the medical issues presented, as well as any potential future effect. Often times, after serious truck accident injuries, our team will rely on experts to assist in determining the amount of damages present.
Proving Your Truck Accident Case
When trying to prove your claim and obtain fair compensation for your injures, you don’t have to fight alone. You don’t need to – and shouldn’t – attempt to collect evidence and present it to an insurance company, judge or jury by yourself. At Sawan & Sawan, our family of truck accident lawyers knows what it’s like to be in your position, and has combined decades of experience succeeding for victims of truck and car accidents by collecting and presenting a variety of evidence including:
Our team is quick and resourceful and identifying any potential video sources – and aggressively pursuing video evidence before it disappears. Many highways have monitoring cameras, and identifying them quickly is the key to successfully gathering this type of digital evidence.
Witness statements can be some of the most important aspects of a successful truck accident claim. These statements can come from you, a passenger in your car, someone in another vehicle, or a pedestrian. A thorough review of the police report is critical in determining if there are any eyewitnesses that need to be interviewed or deposed.
Often times, after an accident, the at fault driver is cited by authorities. At Sawan & Sawan, we know the importance of closely monitoring criminal proceedings surrounding a truck accident – and interfacing with the prosecuting Attorney as necessary. Charges or convictions may not necessarily prove your case – they provide strong support to help you win your truck accident case.
At Sawan & Sawan, we have access to a large body of experts in both the medical and reconstructionist fields. Experts can help paint a picture for the insurance company or courtroom that helps prove the specific elements of the case. They also add credibility and support to your position and view of the case.
About the Authors: Sawan & Sawan is a Toledo, Ohio based law firm representing clients in the areas of Personal Injury, Truck Accidents, and Car Accidents with lawyers licensed to practice in Ohio, Michigan and Georgia.
Dennis P. Sawan
Licensed in Ohio and Georgia
Christopher A. Sawan
Licensed in Ohio and Michigan
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March 21, 2023
