Tractor-trailers are vital to the economy and are the industry that fuels the US economy. These large vehicles transport billions of dollars’ worth of goods all over the country, driving millions of miles every day.
While large trucks are vital for many businesses, they are also inherently more dangerous than other, smaller vehicles due to their size. When truck accidents occur, the resulting injuries and damages can be substantial. The Raleigh personal injury lawyers at Riddle & Brantley can help Raleigh drivers after a truck accident, which could result from driver error, a faulty vehicle, a defective part, negligent maintenance, or a third party. If you or a loved one suffered injuries in any type of truck accident, the right attorney can make a tremendous difference in your recovery.
Have you or a loved one been injured in a truck accident? If so, you may be entitled to compensation. Call an experienced truck accident lawyer today.
Injured in Raleigh? Contact Us Today!
How Our Raleigh Truck Accident Attorneys Can Help:
- We take calls 24 hours a day, 6 days a week.
- Collectively, we have recovered millions of dollars for our clients.
- Our attorneys are knowledgeable, dedicated and attentive.
- Our firm was founded by attorney Gene Riddle an experienced professional and North Carolina native who is always getting involved in local charities and local fundraisers.
Why Is It Important to Hire an Attorney After a Truck Accident?
Most truck accident claims will fall under the purview of personal injury law. While everyone has the right to represent his or her own interests in court, the reality is that the average person probably does not know the law well enough to successfully handle a personal injury lawsuit without legal counsel.
Missing a required filing deadline, overlooking crucial evidence and avenues of compensation, or failing to interpret the law in such a way to strengthen the plaintiff’s position are all possible without an attorney. Instead of risking your chances of securing compensation by attempting to avoid the expense of hiring a lawyer, consider that you will have a much better chance of winning your case with professional legal representation.
Your attorney will help gather the evidence you will need to prove the extent of your losses in court.
Traffic camera data, eyewitness statements, and police reports may also come into play to help prove the at-fault driver’s negligence.
Your attorney can also manage correspondence with insurance companies and help with workers’ compensation claims in the event of job-related truck accidents.
Raleigh Trucking Statistics
Each year, more than $600 billion in goods are shipped to and from sites in North Carolina; 86 percent is shipped by truck.
Raleigh, the capital city of North Carolina and the county seat of Wake County, sees a large percentage of the truck traffic in North Carolina. The Raleigh metro area has well over one million people. The larger Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill (Research Triangle Park) area has over two million people.
The city is served by several major highways and interstates that are popular trucking routes, including:
- I-40
- I-440
- I-540
- I-87
- US – 70
- US 401
- US – 1
- US 64
According to accident statistics from the North Carolina Department of Transportation, in 2019 there were 17,812 crashes involving trucks and buses. Of those crashes, 160 were fatal.
Types of Truck Accidents
Truck accidents occur in many ways, and it’s important to know the causes and potential effects of each type of accident.
Some of the most common types of truck accidents include:
- Single-vehicle crashes - In which a tractor-trailer veers off the road or collides with a surface instead of another vehicle. These accidents mostly occur due to driver error or vehicle defects.
- Multi-vehicle crashes. These involve multiple vehicles including the tractor-trailer. Since tractor-trailers are very long, a crashed tractor-trailer may cover several lanes of traffic or collide with multiple vehicles before coming to a halt.
- Jackknife accidents. The trailer portion of a tractor-trailer is separate from the cab where the driver sits, and a sudden turn or momentum shift could cause the cab to go one way and the trailer to go another. A jackknifing truck can form an “L” shape as it moves, covering several lanes of traffic.
- Rollover accidents. Tractor-trailers have higher centers of gravity than smaller passenger vehicles. When a large truck tips over from an unbalanced load, a turn at too high a speed, or strong winds, the trailer can roll over and crush other vehicles.
- Cargo-related accidents. Many tractor-trailers carry heavy cargo inside their trailers, and some trailers have special hauling attachments for certain types of cargo like lumber or smaller passenger cars. When a tractor-trailer’s load is unbalanced, a sharp turn can cause locks and straps to fail, potentially releasing cargo into the road or tipping the trailer on its side.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, fatal accidents involving a truck and smaller passenger vehicles result in passenger vehicle occupant death in 97% of cases. Only 3% of truck accident fatalities are truck occupants. About 11% of all fatal vehicle accidents in 2016 involved large trucks.
Common Injuries in Truck Accidents
Even though commercial truck accidents are less common than others, it is crucial to understand the injuries are often far more severe. These vehicles are significantly larger than the average passenger car. They are often more than 20 times heavier than other vehicles on the road. This difference in size can impact everyone. Some of the most common injuries in these truck accidents include the following:
Traumatic brain injuries
While any injury involving the human brain should be taken seriously, the worst are traumatic brain injuries (TBI). Concussions are the most common and often the least serious — but that is no reason to ignore them. Sudden trauma to the head can jolt the brain hard enough to cause damage. It can lead to severe headaches, sleep disruption, insomnia, and even personality changes.
Keep in mind that many TBIs are not immediately apparent. It is critical that you seek medical attention after an accident if you think you may have suffered any type of injury — even if you don’t yet have symptoms associated a “delayed onset” injury.
Other common types of traumatic brain injuries include:
- Brain contusions
- Hemorrhage
- Hematoma
- Coup-contrecoup injuries
- Diffuse axonal injuries
Bone fractures
Bone fractures are usually the most common serious injuries stemming from a truck crash. Depending on the nature of the accident, virtually any bone in the body could be broken. Many accidents result in fractures to the arms, legs, or wrists. While these can require extensive treatment, fully recovering from these fractures is generally possible.
The most serious types of broken bones involve the head, neck, and back. Skull fractures are dangerous and often come with brain injuries. Fractures to the neck or back could result in paralysis or fatality.
Burns
There are highly combustible substances in most motor vehicles, which means the threat of fire is always present. Collisions with commercial trucks frequently result in significant fires. In these accidents, the risk of severe burns is substantial.
There are four different categories of burn injuries. Each type is determined by its severity.
- First-degree burns require little to no medical treatment. While painful, they generally heal on their own after several days.
- Second-degree burns involve the epidermis and part of the dermis layer of skin. They can cause blistering and lead to infection, often necessitating treatment.
- Third-degree burns are serious injuries that require medical intervention. This type of burn damages every layer of a person’s skin. It typically results in permanent scarring and can lead to amputation.
- Fourth-degree burns are the most severe of the group. These burns destroy not only the skin but also reach the muscle and bone underneath. Amputation is often required in these cases, as well.
Accident victims who survive a collision with an 80,000-pound truck are often left with these severe and debilitating injuries that undermine mobility, health, and quality of life. We could help you recover the damages you need to rebuild your life.
For a FREE, no-obligation case review with an experienced truck accident attorney at Riddle & Brantley, call 1-800-525-7111 or complete the fast and easy form below. There are never any upfront costs, and we don’t get paid unless you do.
Justice Counts.
Liability for Accidents
Accidents involving trucks happen for many reasons. Depending on how a truck accident occurs, one or more parties could be held liable for the resulting damages.
In most truck accident cases, a truck driver, the driver’s employer, the truck manufacturer, the company that hired the truck, or third-party drivers absorb liability, and it’s possible that a plaintiff may face multiple defendants in court. Sometimes the road construction crew is partially liable for an accident involving a truck.
Trucking companies must ensure their drivers have the experience and training necessary to operate these large, dangerous vehicles. They must also ensure the vehicles they use undergo proper inspections to ensure safe operation. This includes proper background checks on employees, thorough vehicle maintenance checks, and compliance with all applicable federal regulations concerning driver hours.
If a truck driver causes a tractor-trailer accident due to negligence, the driver will likely absorb liability for the accident. If the truck driver’s employer hired the driver on a contract basis as an independent driver, then the employer will likely deny any liability for accidents the independent contractor causes. If the truck driver is an employee of the trucking company, the employer may face vicarious liability for the actions of its employee.
Some truck accidents may result from the actions of a third party, such as an aggressive driver or a defective product manufacturer. Some claims may involve multiple parties sharing fault for a serious accident, and some plaintiffs may not be able to recover damages due to the state’s contributory negligence laws.
Vicarious Liability
An employer’s liability for the actions of its employees is called “vicarious liability.” Although the employer may not have any direct involvement with an incident with one of its employees, the law may consider the employer partially liable for the resulting damages due to negligent hiring practices, negligent background checks, poor training, or failure to adhere to necessary regulations.
If a driver’s behavior fell outside the scope of his or her job duties, or the truck driver engaged in the illegal or intentionally dangerous behavior, and the employer followed all applicable laws and regulations in the hiring and employment of the driver, the driver would likely absorb liability for the resulting damages.
Product Liability Claims
Some truck accidents occur due to defective vehicles or faulty parts. Product manufacturers have a legal obligation to ensure their products perform as advertised and pose no threat to users through normal use. If a product defect causes a truck accident, injured victims can seek compensation for their damages by filing product liability claims against the manufacturers. The plaintiff will need to prove that the product in question malfunctioned or was defective, resulting in the plaintiff’s damages. The plaintiff does not necessarily need to prove the manufacturer was negligent, but the burden of proof may shift to the defendant in some product liability claims, compelling the manufacturer to prove it was not negligent in the design, production, or marketing of the product in question.
Damages in Truck Accident Lawsuits
Truck accidents often cause significant economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages include:
- Property damage. This can include the costs of repairing or replacing vehicles damaged in the accident as well as the cost of destroyed cargo or personal belongings and any public and private property damaged in the accident. This may also apply to the cost of renting a car while the plaintiff’s car undergoes repairs or replacement.
- Medical expenses. Plaintiffs can claim any costs related to medical treatment as damages in a civil claim. This can include hospital expenses, emergency transportation fees for ambulance or airlift, prescription medication costs, and any other financial expenses related to medical care necessary after the truck accident. It’s important to note that a plaintiff may only claim the costs of medical expenses that directly result from the defendant’s negligence and not some other unrelated or preexisting cause.
- Lost income. Anyone injured in a truck accident may need to spend time out of work to recover. The plaintiff may claim the income lost during this recovery time in a personal injury claim. If a truck accident results in a permanent disability that prevents work in the future, a plaintiff may seek damages for the future income he or she would have reasonably expected to earn.
- Permanent injuries and scarring. People are entitled to recover for all injuries that are permanent such as paralysis or loss of use of a body part.
Economic damages are straightforward, but it’s essential for plaintiffs in truck accident cases to save all their records related to their accidents. This should include hospital bills, invoices, receipts, and any correspondence related to your damages.
Non-economic damages are a bit more complex. Plaintiffs can claim compensation for their physical pain, emotional anguish, and mental distress resulting from a traumatic accident. Since it is difficult to quantify these damages in monetary amounts, a jury will consider testimony from relevant experts to determine an appropriate amount. Pain and suffering damages will be considerably larger for serious injuries, injuries resulting in permanent disabilities, and fatal injuries.
North Carolina Negligence Laws
If your truck accident claim falls under personal injury law, you’ll need to prove the defendant in your case was negligent.
Under North Carolina’s contributory negligence law, a plaintiff cannot recover damages if he or she was even partially at fault for the truck accident in question. A potential plaintiff with a truck accident claim must not have had any fault in the accident to recover damages. Many truck accident cases can grow into complex legal battles with several parties, and plaintiffs need legal counsel they can trust to secure satisfactory results. Whether you expect to file a personal injury claim, a product liability claim, or any other type of legal action after a truck accident, hiring the right attorney for you can make a tremendous difference in the outcome.
Contact a Raleigh Truck Accident Lawyer
The personal injury attorneys at Riddle & Brantley, have more than 160 years of combined experience handling civil claims, and we are confident in our ability to handle the toughest truck accident claims. If you or a loved one recently suffered injuries in a truck accident, contact our team to schedule a free case evaluation.
We can help you determine who is to blame for your damages and what types of compensation you can seek. If you live outside Raleigh, we also serve communities across the great state of North Carolina.