Differences Between Car and Truck Crashes

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Crashes involving large commercial trucks are different than crashes involving passenger vehicle accidents. Commercial truck accidents often involve catastrophic injuries, many times fatal ones.

One reason for this difference is because of the difference in sizes between these vehicles. Commercial trucks are approximately 30 times heavier than a passenger vehicle, causing massive injuries upon crash impact. Trucks are also higher off the ground than other vehicles – often high enough for the smaller vehicle to slide underneath the truck. Debilitating injuries and death can also happen in truck accidents that occur at slow speeds.

The often-severe injuries truck accident victims suffer often require long-term medical care and rehabilitation and frequently leave them permanently disabled. The extent of the physical and financial losses is usually much greater in truck accidents than they are in passenger vehicle crashes.

There are other ways that truck accident cases differ from vehicle accident cases. Truck accidents are often more complex because of the federal and state laws that may have been broken. It is critical for a personal injury attorney to be knowledgeable and well versed in these regulations in order to build a solid case against the liable parties.

There is often more than one liable party in a truck accident case, as well. Before determining who the liable parties are, a trucking accident attorney will first determine what caused the accident. Did the accident happen because of some action or behavior of the truck driver, such as speeding, fatigued, driving under the influence? Or was it because the truck was overweight or improperly loaded? Were there mechanical issues that resulted in the crash or some kind of defective part in the truck?

Once a Virginia truck accident attorney has determined that cause of the accident, he or she will then determine who the at-fault party or parties are. Truck accident lawsuits often have more than one party named as the liable party. For example, if the truck driver was fatigued at the time of the crash because he had been driving more than the number of hours the federal government allows trying to meet an impossible delivery schedule set for him, that trucking company would also be held liable for crash losses.

Call Shapiro & Appleton for Help

Truck accidents are more complex than other types of vehicle accidents and often have more than one at-fault party. Victims of truck accidents should consider retaining the services of an experienced Virginia personal injury attorney who will conduct a thorough investigation of the crash, including obtaining the driving and employment record of the truck driver, maintenance records, and other critical information which will help determine the cause of the crash and which parties are responsible.

If you or a family member has been injured in a truck accident, or if you have lost a loved one in a crash, contact a seasoned Virginia truck accident attorney to discuss what legal recourse you may have. Even if it is not entirely clear who is the at-fault party, a Va. injury attorney will be able to determine which party or parties are liable. At Shapiro, Appleton & Washburn, our injury attorneys have represented numerous truck accident victims and have the legal expertise to handle these complex cases with positive results.

 

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