Fort Lauderdale Truck Accident Attorney

Any type of vehicle injury can have devastating consequences. But, due to their size and weight, getting hit by a big rig can be especially devastating. You might be left with months of recovery time and a mountain of hospital bills. The severity of truck accidents has even caused disfigurement and left people disabled. Here’s everything you need to know about the legal process following a big rig collision.

What Should You Do After a  Fort Lauderdale Truck Accident?

A big rig collision is one of the most dangerous types of accidents, with a high potential for severe injuries. Because of this, it’s important to make sure that you are handling the accident properly. Here are some of the steps to take after these accidents:

• Take pictures. This can form essential evidence, helping to verify your version of events. Take pictures of the scene of the accident. Show the damage that your vehicle sustained and any injuries that you had.
• Talk to witnesses. Make sure to get their names and numbers. Your lawyers can ask them to make a deposition, so they’ll be able to verify your version of events.
• Visit a doctor. Even if you don’t think that you were injured, it’s a good idea to talk to a doctor. Sometimes, the adrenaline might be masking the pain of the injury. If you visit your doctor immediately after the accident, it will be easier for your lawyer to link the injuries to your accident.
• Talk to a Broward County truck accident lawyer. It’s best to do this shortly after the accident. This will make it easier to gather supporting evidence, giving your trial the best chance of success.
• Start a journal of your recovery from the accident. Record things like the type of medications you are taking and any side effects they had. Talk about your daily life and how it has been affected. This will help your case, showing the pain and suffering you are going through as you recover. Plus, this type of journal keeping can help you process the emotions associated with your accident.

Who is Liable After a Fort Lauderdale Truck Accident?

One of the first things that your lawyer will need to consider is who will be responsible for your accident.

This will depend on the circumstances around the accident. The truck driver owes a duty of care to other road users. If they breach that duty of care, by driving recklessly and causing an accident, they are liable for the accident.  

Depending on the circumstances, there might be a few people that you can sue for damages. This includes:

• Truck driver. They were directly responsible for causing the crash.
• The employer of the truck driver. This comes through vicarious liability. In this case, it means that you need to show that the truck driver was doing something that they are employed to do. As long as this is the case, their employers might be deemed to have partly contributed to the accident.
• Maintenance company. Sometimes, your lawyer will be able to show that a faulty part, like a malfunctioning brake, caused the accident. In this case, you might be able to sue the truck maintenance company, for failing to check this component.
• Manufacturer of a faulty component. If the part was new, the manufacturer might be held partially liable for the accident.

Your lawyer will investigate to figure out what was responsible for the crash. This helps them decide who you have a claim against.

Suing multiple parties can be a good way of boosting the amount of compensation you receive. But, as you can imagine, it will add a new level of complication to the legal proceedings. Because of this, you’ll need to get a skilled Fort Lauderdale truck accident attorney to take care of the paperwork for you.

What if You Were Partly at Fault?

There is a wide range of reasons why an accident might occur. Sometimes, your actions will have contributed to the accident. It’s important to note that this doesn’t mean that you aren’t eligible for compensation. But it does mean that the potential payout will decrease.

This is under the principle of contributory fault. The court will need to decide what percentage you contributed to the accident. Then, your compensation payment will decrease by this amount.

As an example, let’s imagine that you were awarded damages of $100,000. But the court declares that your actions contributed 30 percent to the accident. In this case, you would only be awarded $70,000.

What Are Some of the Damages You Can Claim?

There are a few types of damages you might be able to claim following the accident. First, you can get economic damages. These are easy to quantify. For example, you will be able to claim for medical expenses, like hospital bills and the costs of medications you had to purchase. You can also claim for the property damage your car sustained. If you had to miss work, you’ll be entitled to the income that you would have made.

If you were left with a disability, you’ll be able to claim for the costs involved with modifying your home. Your lawyer can calculate the ongoing expenses and add them to your claim. If you lost a loved one, you will be entitled to claim the associated funeral expenses.

The next thing to consider is the non-economic damages. It includes things like pain and suffering. You can also claim a loss of enjoyment of life if a disability means that you will be unable to take part in your favorite hobbies. As you can imagine, this will be tougher for your lawyer to put a dollar figure on.

The third type of damage is known as aggravated damages. This will be awarded by the courts if the liable party did something to increase the pain and suffering you were experiencing. For example, the truck driver might have acted recklessly. Whether aggravated damages will be applied is up to the court. The judge will decide how much these damages will be worth.

The good news is that your lawyer will work with you to make sure that you are getting the maximum amount of compensation that you are entitled to.

How Can a Fort Lauderdale Truck Accident Lawyer Help You?

Following a big rig collision, a lot is going through your mind. You’ll need time to physically and mentally recover from the accident. This is why hiring a skilled Fort Lauderdale truck accident attorney is such a good idea.

They’ll be able to take care of the paperwork and legal arguments. This gives you more time to focus on your recovery.

Plus, the trucking company will have a lot of skilled attorneys, each trying to reduce the amount of compensation they need to pay you. If you try to represent yourself, you will likely end up settling for a lowball offer. An experienced attorney will be able to make sure that you don’t get pushed around.

Conclusion

The team at The Injury Firm is dedicated to helping victims of truck accidents get the compensation they deserve. This will allow you to move on with your life. If you want to learn more about how a Broward County personal injury attorney can help you give our friendly team a call. We’d love to offer a free consultation to learn more about your case and give you some legal advice.