Driving near a giant tractor-trailer or a tanker truck can make you feel like you’re in a toy car or SUV. But, of course, it’s no game if that truck driver makes a mistake and forces you into a frightening collision.
One dangerous maneuver truck drivers make every day around Spokane is their long, slow left-hand turns in front of oncoming traffic. Left-hand turns can be a bit scary for normal-sized cars, but for trucks, the hazardous turn lasts even longer and puts their length in the path of vehicles in the opposite lanes for much longer.
These turns lead to dozens of truck accidents every year in Washington and they can lead to severe injuries and even prove fatal in tragic cases.
Left-Hand Turn Truck Hazards in Spokane
Left-hand turns leave motorists to judge the proximity of oncoming cars. This can be stressful in heavy traffic. Drivers can get jumpy looking for enough room to cross several lanes of traffic to complete their turn.
The risks for everyone only multiply when the turning vehicle is a giant truck. Trucks take longer to get up to speed in a turn. Drivers can also realize their vehicles can’t make a turn and must hit the brakes and readjust. It all means more time spent in the path of vehicles approaching from the opposite direction.
When drivers suddenly have a wall of metal in front of them, they must try to brake in time to avoid a collision. If there is no time or room to brake or swerve, a devastating collision can occur.
Who Is Responsible for My Truck Accident?
Once an accident has occurred and you have been treated for your injuries, your should next work towards ensuring you don’t get stuck with the bill for your recovery or your property damage. This will involve filing an accident claim against an insurance company, but what insurance company will be the focus? Perhaps more than one.
Truck drivers who cause accidents may be covered by one of several different insurance policies. They may be self-employed and have their own personal commercial truck insurance coverage. They may work for a local company and the company could be supplying the insurance. That company could be contracting out its drivers to a national corporation and the corporation’s insurance might be called into play. Lawsuits can also involve truck manufacturers when defective parts or faulty designs cause a crash.
Accidents involving truck drivers can be complex. Your personal injury attorney will investigate your accident and determine how many parties share some liability. What’s important is that you get all of your hospital bills and lost wages covered as you heal, no matter how many insurance companies your lawyer must call upon.
Earning Compensation After a Truck Accident
When multiple insurance companies may be involved in your accident it’s important each provider knows exactly what they’ll be held accountable for.
Recoveries after a truck accident can involve traumatic injuries with the potential for permanent disabilities. Trucking Company insurance policies must cover a patient’s recovery no matter how many years into the future that care is necessary.
These are just some of the factors that should be involved in any accident claim:
- Actual Damages: Reimbursement for every economic damage victims and their families absorb. The cost of current medical treatment and those costs expected in the future. Property damage and lost wages while the victim is away from work fall under actual damages. The monthly bills that go unpaid while the victim misses paychecks can also be covered. This includes car payments, rent or mortgage payments, and credit card bills.
- General Damages: The non-economic losses the victim must overcome. They include physical pain and mental anguish. It can be a hard task to put a monetary figure on things like anxiety and depression caused by an accident and a difficult recovery. Victims absolutely should be able to count on compensation for these very real damages. They should also have any psychological counseling that becomes necessary fully paid for.
- Punitive Damages: These damages are awarded to the victim in order to add extra punishment to a judgment against a driver or trucking company. They are involved in accident cases exhibiting extreme negligence or recklessness. The outrageous conduct in punitive damages cases can almost border on the intentional. It’s hoped a stiff financial penalty will discourage the guilty party and future potential offenders from taking such dangerous action ever again.
Wrongful death lawsuits are an available option to family members of the victims tragically killed in truck accidents. The family can ask for help with all medical and emergency response bills involved with the deadly accident or accrued before the deceased passed on.
A wrongful death claim also seeks support for funeral and burial costs. The family left behind will also suffer the loss of the victim’s guidance and support in the years to come and that continued loss should earn support.
Contact a Spokane Truck Accident Lawyer
If you or a loved one are the victims of a serious accident involving a truck, you should speak with a skilled Spokane Truck Accident Attorney at CCD Law. It’s important to know about everything that’s available to you and your family after a truck accident caused by a careless driver.
Contact us for a free, confidential consultation and case evaluation. We help victims in the Spokane area and in Northern Idaho earn the compensation they need to rebuild their lives.
