It is almost impossible to drive anywhere in the Shorewood area and not encounter a large commercial vehicle. That said, delivery vans, construction vehicles, and tractor-trailers are all massive hazards on the road and can potentially cause serious injuries when their drivers are negligent. A collision involving a truck can cause life-altering injuries that affect not just your physical health but also your emotional well-being and ability to support your family.
Even with this concept in mind, the law never presumes fault for a tractor-trailer crash. Instead, you will need to show that a truck driver’s poor decisions were the primary cause of a wreck. A Shorewood truck accident lawyer could help you demonstrate this vital concept. Skilled personal injury attorneys are prepared to take the lead to investigate the crash, measure your losses, and demand proper payments through insurance settlements and lawsuits.
Collisions between commercial vehicles and other cars are common in the Shorewood area. Many tractor-trailer crashes result from a violation of local or federal laws. For example, a trucker may cause a crash by not yielding when appropriate, exceeding the maximum daily drive times, carrying too much weight in their trailers, or being drunk while behind the wheel.
People seeking compensation for their resulting injuries must be able to prove that a trucker was to blame for a crash. Demonstrating fault is especially important since courts often use modified comparative negligence to assign responsibility in these cases. According to 735 ILCS 2/1116, if a victim is more than half to blame for an incident, they cannot collect compensation for their injuries.
However, a skilled attorney can explain the laws that govern safe trucker behavior in Shorewood and work to prove that negligent behavior was the sole cause of a collision.
Collisions with commercial trucks in Shorewood can have a devastating impact on a person’s life. Most pressing are the physical injuries that can threaten an individual’s health or jeopardize their ability to return to normal. Truck crashes can break bones, separate joints, sever spinal cords, or cause traumatic brain injuries. A negligent trucker, their insurance company, and their employer must provide payments to cover the costs of all necessary medical care, including past, present, and future treatment.
However, a comprehensive claim must also evaluate how the incident has affected the plaintiff’s overall quality of life. Physical injuries will often result in significant pain, and a claim for damages should attempt to put a dollar amount on this suffering. Additionally, the incident may leave a person with emotional traumas that may cause nightmares, an inability to leave the house, or PTSD.
Lastly, many claims demand economic compensation. If an accident forces a person to miss time on the job to seek treatment or to make a recovery, defendants are liable to provide reimbursement. More severe injuries may affect a person’s ability to hold a position or to provide for their family. In these cases, a plaintiff can demand payments for all future loss of income. A knowledgeable attorney can form demand packages that seek fair compensation for injured victims.
The drivers of commercial vehicles have a duty under the law to protect other people on or near the road. These motorists must adhere to all relevant traffic laws and ensure that they are in a fit state to drive. Failures to meet these standards can result in life-altering collisions.
A Shorewood truck accident lawyer could help you collect the payments needed to make things right. A legal representative could investigate the crash, determine how it has impacted your life, and demand restitution through lawsuits and insurance settlements. Contact us now to get started.