If you or a loved one was injured in a truck accident, you will need qualified legal representation to take on a big trucking company. Our truck accident lawyers understand the rules and guidelines truck drivers and the trucking industry must follow by law.
At SMT Legal, you can rely on an aggressive and experienced Pittsburgh truck accident attorney to help you build a strong case to fight for the compensation you deserve.
Car wrecks can be dangerous, but they rarely measure up to the major injuries and severe damage caused by a commercial truck accident. These large, heavy vehicles can crush cars, SUVs, and pickups in a rollover or head-on collision. Because of their massive size, these crashes often involve many other drivers at once.
Occupants in passenger cars who are involved in trucking accidents more commonly experience catastrophic injuries and fatalities than large truck occupants. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, IIHS, 4,014 people driving in smaller vehicles died in truck accidents in 2020 alone.
In addition to experiencing significant property damage to a passenger vehicle, you are likely to suffer severe bodily injury, such as:
Because of the extreme forces at play when a truck weighing 80,000 pounds impacts a smaller vehicle, fatalities often occur immediately or soon after a crash. On-site medical treatment can often stabilize a victim, but many still pass away in the hospital or on the way there.
Several parties could be held legally responsible for causing a truck or commercial vehicle accident. Understanding who is liable and how much fault they bear takes an experienced legal team to get to the source of the problem. Depending on the cause of the truck accident, any of the following parties could be found responsible:
Every potentially responsible party will have its own insurance company that must be notified. Each will try hard to minimize its part in the crash and try to push the blame onto anyone else, including you. This is why having the experienced and aggressive personal injury attorneys from SMT Legal on your side is critical.
Proving that a truck driver was at fault for causing your accident can be more challenging than you think. To hold a truck driver accountable for your injury, you and your Pittsburgh truck accident lawyer will have to collect sufficient evidence proving one or several of the following:
This is only a small list of factors and types of evidence that can prove a truck driver’s fault in a truck crash. When you have a qualified truck accident lawyer in Pittsburgh from SMT Legal by your side, you can rely on our background and skill to develop a strong legal case.
We will investigate your circumstances thoroughly to establish the negligence or carelessness of the truck driver, the trucking company, and any other responsible parties so you can obtain the compensation you need to recover.
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), truck accidents are the fault of negligent truck drivers more often than other factors, such as poor weather or road conditions. In addition, in accidents caused by a negligent truck driver, 44 percent involved a trucker who was taking over-the-counter drugs or prescription medication.
Understanding the cause of your truck accident is critical to developing a solid case. The stronger the evidence we can assemble, the more powerful your claim will be against insurance companies and/or defense lawyers. SMT Legal will conduct a thorough review of your case to see if driver fatigue and/or other factors caused the truck accident.
Common contributing factors in truck accidents include:
There are a variety of situations that make a trucking company responsible for a truck accident. When the hired or contracted driver contributes to a crash, the driver can be held liable, but the greater blame usually lies with their employer.
In Pennsylvania, trucking companies have a duty to thoroughly screen their drivers prior to hiring them. The screening process includes performing a criminal background check to determine if the driver has a past history of arrests or convictions. Companies will also review the driver’s traffic tickets and violations, as well as confirm that the individual has the correct and valid licenses needed to operate large trucks.
Unfortunately, screening is not the only phase in which trucking companies cut corners, putting the lives of their drivers and other parties on the road at risk of injury or death. Besides failing to adequately assess truck drivers, trucking companies can be held liable for truck accidents if they fail to:
Many other circumstances make trucking companies liable for truck accidents caused by their drivers. However, many trucking companies escape liability by raising the “independent contractor” defense. When this happens, only an experienced truck accident lawyer in Pittsburgh can guide you dependably. The trial attorneys of SMT Legal will be able to fight against this defense and find evidence proving that the accident occurred “within the course and scope of employment.”
When the bills begin to pile up after a truck accident, you may be worried about paying them before your claim is settled. Insurance companies know this and they will want you to close out the claim quickly. The at-fault trucker’s trucking company or insurance company will often make a low initial settlement offer, but these are intended to prevent you from recovering a much larger sum in a personal injury lawsuit.
Signing documents to accept a settlement offer prevents you from suing the at-fault parties for the truck accident. If your injury happens to be more serious than anticipated or initially diagnosed, you may be left with a financial crisis. Once a claim is closed, you will not be able to recover more money to cover the ever-mounting medical bills and expenses for the years or decades to come.
Commercial trucking companies typically carry a minimum of $1 million in liability coverage for their drivers, which means with the help of an experienced truck accident attorney by your side, you may be able to receive a higher level of compensation than you would in most other types of motor vehicle crashes.
Demonstrating liability and who shares what percentage of the blame can be difficult. While it may seem like your recovery will only involve a simple case of telling your story to insurance adjusters who will then pay you what you need for your damages, insurance companies are not very interested in paying your claim. They prefer keeping their money and saying you are at fault.
At SMT Legal, our attorneys know truck accident cases can be very complicated. We know how to investigate and present evidence that demonstrates the four elements of negligence against any defendant:
1. The defendant owed you and others on the road a duty of care.
2. They failed to uphold that duty.
3. You experienced injuries and property damage as a direct result of their failure.
4. You have expenses related to your damages that must be repaid.
Proving negligence is key to successfully securing compensation for your losses from the responsible parties. We demonstrate the four elements using evidence such as training records, maintenance records, cell phone and GPS device information, video and photos from the scene, and other documentation.
In addition to holding the driver accountable, we examine every individual and company who could be held liable, including:
Many large companies in the trucking industry have teams of attorneys on call and very deep pockets to pay them. They will fight hard against any claims of their liability to protect their reputations and to avoid paying you. Despite this, a Pittsburgh truck accident lawyer from SMT Legal will litigate aggressively to obtain the maximum financial recovery available for you.
Examining your legal options for compensation can take time. However, if you delay in engaging legal representation with a reputable truck accident lawyer, you can risk losing your chance to pursue compensation. When you are hurting from your injuries, it can be challenging to face filing an insurance claim or lawsuit.
Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations requires that you file your case within two years of the date of the accident. Instead of trying to meet this short deadline on your own, you should speak with a personal injury lawyer at SMT Legal and let us handle the legal burdens of your truck accident case for you. We will ensure you do not miss the window of opportunity, that your paperwork is filed on time, and that everything is correct.
Your Pittsburgh Truck Accident Claim Could Be Worth Millions
With catastrophic injuries and extensive property damage, your truck accident claim could be worth quite a lot. Each case is unique, and your SMT Legal truck accident attorney in Pittsburgh will need to properly evaluate your case to estimate your compensation.
Your vehicle may be completely destroyed, and you could end up spending weeks in the hospital or a rehabilitation facility after a crash with a commercial truck. Your injuries may continue to plague you for the rest of your life. If you are younger and lose your ability to earn a living or care for yourself, you will have a lifetime of expenses that must be covered.
Damages that have a fixed monetary value fall under the category of economic losses. Non-economic damages are those that account for how your life has been affected by your accident and the resulting injuries and other losses. For example, common damages that our attorneys help victims recover include:
Our lawyers will file claims against the appropriate insurance companies. These companies will try very hard to avoid paying you what you deserve. Our legal team will push back against their underhanded tactics until we negotiate a fair settlement. If they do not meet our demands, we are ready to take your case to trial. We will not back down when facing off against large trucking companies and their insurers.
Suffering astronomical expenses and injuries due to a driver’s negligence or the negligence of a trucking company should not be your responsibility.
If you have been injured in an 18-wheeler, semi-truck, or other commercial truck accident accident, contact SMT Legal for a free case evaluation with a skilled Pittsburgh truck accident attorney today.
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