Back Your Assertions of Liability With Truck Accident Evidence
Your initial complaint must include evidence to back your claim of liability. While you can elaborate on this evidence later down the line, you need to present enough of a correlation between your losses and a particular party to convince a county clerk to carry your case forward. There are different kinds of evidence that are considered admissible in a truck accident case. These include:
- Logbooks
- Black box/computer data
- Documents detailing the load of the truck
- Details regarding previous deliveries
- Tractor-trailer inspections
- Recreations of the scene of the accident
- Training information
We’ll also work with the bystanders present at the scene of your accident and secure witnesses for future testimony. The more information we’re able to provide in your initial complaint, the more straightforward the rest of your case may be.
Zanes Law Fights for Your Maximum Compensation
What is the most compensation you can get after a truck accident? The damages you can request will vary depending on the severity of your accident. In most cases, though, a Phoenix, AZ, truck accident lawyer can request:
- Reimbursement of both your current medical expenses and future medical needs
- Compensation for your pain and suffering
- Reimbursement of your lost wages
- Compensation for any lost earning capacity
- Money for any permanent injuries
- Wrongful death
If you choose to carry your case to trial, a judge may also choose to award you punitive damages. Judges most often apply these damages to cases involving gross negligence or excessive recklessness.
File Truck Accident Complaints Within State Deadlines to Go to Negotiations or Trial
If you want Phoenix courts to consider the losses you faced in a truck accident, you must file a complaint within the state’s deadline. The statute of limitations for personal injury, which truck accidents fall under, is outlined by A.R.S. § 12-542. According to this statute, you have two years from the day your accident takes place to bring your complaint forward. As noted, your complaint needs to identify:
- The party you want to hold liable for your losses
- Correlation between a breached duty of care and your injuries
- Evidence of both of the above
- An estimate of your possible compensation
Submitting a complaint within this deadline does not commit you to a civil trial. Instead, if a court moves your case forward, you can choose how to approach your losses. You can summon an allegedly-liable party to negotiations or a trial. Negotiations can secure your financial support in a shorter period of time. Trials, however, can help you avoid compromising on your losses.
Let’s Find the Best Truck Accident Attorney for You
Truck accidents leave you up close and personal with vehicles significantly larger than your own. The damage you may be left to contend with after a truck accident can leave you apprehensive about your family’s financial well-being. Fortunately, our team knows how to contest your losses and fight for the financial support you need to recover. Let a Phoenix truck accident attorney at Zanes Law Injury Lawyers help you and your family get back on their feet. You can contact us to learn more about our services and schedule a case consultation.
Where Do Truck Collisions Happen in Phoenix?
Truck collisions can occur anywhere in Phoenix. That said, there are some roads and intersections that have worse reputations than others. The roads that most commonly see smaller vehicles and other vulnerable parties interact with commercial trucks include:
- Interstate 10
- Interstate 17
- U.S. Route 60
You may also see grocery, delivery, and garbage trucks in Paradise Valley, Arcadia, and North Scottsdale. While you should always be aware of your surroundings on the road, you can be particularly cautious of trucks when passing through these areas.
What Injuries Can a Truck Accident Cause?
The injuries you endure in a truck accident can range in severity. Some of the most common include:
- Traumatic brain and head injuries
- Soft tissue contusions (sprains and strains)
- Lacerations and abrasions
- Internal organ injuries
- Broken bones
- Amputations and crush injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
Whiplash, too, may not have as significant of an impact on your lifelong comfort, but it can make your day-to-day responsibility less comfortable throughout your recovery. There are also often psychological effects, such as PTSD, that many accident victims suffer. You have the right to seek our medical care and physical therapy if you’ve endured a truck accident injury. We can include the cost of those essential expenses in the complaint you file with a Phoenix civil court. Similarly, we can estimate the economic value of a lifelong or temporary disability, depending on the degree to which it impacts your day-to-day life.
Who Is Liable for a Phoenix Truck Accident?
Individual truck drivers are rarely liable for your truck accident losses. Instead, truck drivers who are on duty at the time an accident occurs can benefit from the protection of their parent company. With this in mind, you’ll often name a trucking company as a liable party in your complaint, not the person behind the wheel. That said, there are other parties that can be liable for your losses in a truck accident, too. These include:
- The team that loaded the truck
- The truck’s mechanic
- The truck’s manufacturer
- Government officials who failed to uphold local road safety
- Construction teams
Before you name a liable party, make sure you have the evidence to support your claim. Our attorneys can help you build up a body of evidence to submit with your complaint.
How do You Support Your Assertion of Liability?
When you name someone liable for your losses in a truck accident, you need to support your claim with evidence. The scene of a truck accident can be stressful, though, and it’s easy to lose track of the details when you’re concerned about a personal injury. That’s where we step in. Our team can recreate the scene of an accident and identify evidence that can help establish liability. We do this with the help of:
- Video footage
- Photos
- Skid marks and physical evidence
- Eyewitness testimony
- Professional witness accounts from medics, police officers, and accident reconstructionists
We can then present our findings alongside your initial complaint. If your case moves forward, we can elaborate on these findings during either negotiations or a civil trial.
What Damages Can a Truck Accident Entitle Me to?
While there’s no universal average that you can apply to your estimated truck accident compensation, the truck accident damages that you can list in your complaint may have appeared in previous cases. For example, most truck accident complaints touch on:
- The cost of medical care needed after an accident
- Property damage, repair, and essential replacements
- Wrongful death and emotional trauma
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of wages or loss of opportunities for work
When you first come to our office for a case consultation, we can sit down and discuss what kind of losses you endured in your accident. From there, we can label those losses and look to state precedent to determine what financial support you may qualify for.
How Much does a Phoenix Truck Accident Lawyer Charge for Legal Representation?
The attorneys at Zanes Law do not give you a bill after your first consultation. In fact, you won’t be charged for services rendered while your case is ongoing. Instead, Zanes Law operates on contingency. When you first come and speak with one of our team members, we’ll discuss your case’s contingency fee. This fee represents what percentage of your settlement we’ll be entitled to if we win your case. Should you receive a settlement from negotiations or a trial, we’ll take this percentage without you ever having to sign a check. What’s more, you only share your settlement with us if we win your case. If we can’t appeal a court’s decision or fight for your cause, you won’t pay a dime for our representation.
Experienced Phoenix Truck Accident Attorneys
Have you been injured in a truck accident and need the help of a trucking accident lawyer in Phoenix? Are you tired of insurance companies pushing you around? Well, look no further. There are many personal injury attorneys in Phoenix, but only one law firm that stands out from the rest. The Phoenix truck accident attorneys at Zanes Law have the know-how to help you with your legal needs. There is a difference between how Zanes Law and other Phoenix truck accident attorneys deal with various accident scenarios. Each trucking accident lawyer at Zanes Law recognizes that these accidents can be life-changing. When compared to motorcycle and car accidents, truck accidents are the most severe kind of crash. A truck is heavier and takes up more space on the highway. When a truck is involved in an accident, it can take out a number of cars. The truck’s weight is hazardous in and of itself. If a truck overturns on a car, it can crush it, killing whoever is in the car. The severity of truck accidents makes choosing experienced Phoenix truck accident attorneys a necessity.
Having an Experienced Trucking Accident Lawyer Matters!
There are many factors that can cause truck accidents, and at Zanes Law, every trucking accident lawyer examines the circumstances surrounding each accident. Our Phoenix truck accident attorneys regularly see the following causes of these devastating accidents:
Commercial Truck Driver Fatigue
Driver fatigue is one of the main causes of truck accidents. Drivers of semi trucks are required by law to drive for a only certain number of hours for their own safety and that of others on the road. A trucking accident lawyer regularly sees truck drivers choose to exceed their time limits in order to complete their hauls. These hours are kept in a logbook, and Zanes Law will make sure to track that logbook down. There are many other factors that can contribute to a truck driving accident, some intentional and some not.
Driving Under The Influence
Some truck drivers get behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol or other types of drugs. Our Phoenix truck accident attorneys find it hard to believe that anyone would do this, but it does happen often. After an truck accident, you need an experienced trucking accident lawyer to investigate this.
Overloaded Trucks & Improper Maintenance
Overloaded and improperly loaded trucks can also contribute to crashes. Sometimes an accident is not the driver’s fault at all, but is due to equipment failure. Trucks are machines that are built to endure, but they are still susceptible to breaking down. Trucking companies are required to follow a maintenance schedule and keep a logbook of their repairs. Our Phoenix truck accident attorneys will make sure to obtain these records in the event of an accident so that we can obtain the best possible evidence for our clients’ cases.
Poor Driver Training
Poor training is another factor that an experienced trucking accident lawyer regularly sees. Inexperienced or improperly trained truck drivers are extremely hazardous and result in a lot of motorists being hurt or killed. Those seeking out training as truck drivers should make sure the programs they are looking at have good reputations and solid references.
Dangerous Weather Conditions
Something else that can cause horrific truck accidents, many of which involve cars, is dangerous weather. Again, these types of crashes are especially damaging because of the sheer size and weight of the trucks. Big rig trucks travel at almost the same speeds as passenger cars, but with three to four times the weight and five times the stopping distance. So you can imagine how much harm these trucks can do. Many modern trucks carry a black box that records the notable events that occur in an accident. A reputable law firm such as Zanes Law and our Phoenix truck accident attorneys will obtain this information in order to develop and win a personal injury case for you.
In A Truck Accident? Here’s What You Do Next
Truck accidents can be horrific events and it is important to know exactly what to do if you are involved in one. As Phoenix truck accident attorneys we recommend that you do the following if you are involved in an accident with an 18-wheeler or other commercial truck.
Get Immediate Medical Care
Unfortunately, most accident victims who are involved in a truck accident end up with some kind of injury. That is why these events are so life changing. Commercial trucks can weigh as much as 80,000 pounds, which is about ten-times heaver than a normal passenger vehicle. Because of their size, even low speed accidents with commercial vehicles can cause significant injuries. Therefore, always seek medical care even if you think that you may be fine. This is important because people involved in these accidents realize later that they are hurt. These injuries that are initially unknown consist of head injuries like concussions and spinal injuries like herniated disks. So do not make the mistake of simply trying to work through the pain and get past the injury. The longer it takes you to see a doctor the better the insurance company’s case against you will be. It is important to see a doctor, get your injuries documents, and get the medical treatment that you need to get better. If you don’t have medical insurance and are unable to obtain the medical care that you need, our Phoenix truck accident attorneys will assist and advise you regarding your medical options.
Documenting The Truck Accident
After an accident, it is important that you gather all evidence. Many times law enforcement will be extremely helpful with this process. They will be the first on scene and will most likely do an accident investigation. We will then get the photos of the accident scene, the vehicles involved, and the black-box data from the semi-truck. Our Phoenix truck accident attorneys at will respond quickly to investigate these serious injuries or wrongful death trucking cases. We will retain accident experts to thoroughly investigate the accident. This is important because while we are doing this, the insurance carriers will be doing the same. Our experts will begin with a thorough examination of the scene itself. They will use the information collected by las enforcement, which will include measurements and photographs. Our experts will reconstruct the accident in order to fill in any gaps in the original investigation. If you are able to take photos of the vehicles and the scene on your cell phone that information can be helpful as well. Make sure that you get photographs of any skid marks and debris in the road. It is important that you understand that the insurance companies will hire an accident reconstruction expert because they want to put the blame for the accident on you. Your photographs can be instrumental in winning this fight. Finally, in a severe injury case it is important to keep your vehicle even though it is no longer drivable. This will allow you to pursue a case against the vehicle’s manufacturer if a defect in your vehicle was directly related to the severity of the injuries. Make sure that you speak with our Phoenix truck accident attorneys before your vehicle is totaled out or repaired if injuries were involved.
What Compensation Will Zanes Law Get You?
Each Zanes Law trucking accident lawyer will fight to get you the following legal damages:
- Reimbursement of both your current medical expenses and future medical needs
- Compensation for your pain and suffering
- Reimbursement of your lost wages
- Compensation for any lost earning capacity
- Money for any permanent injuries
- Punitive damages if appropriate
- Wrongful death – damages to any surviving family members
Our Phoenix truck accident lawyers are experienced. We know that Federal law dictates what rules commercial truck drivers are expected to follow. It lays out the the amount of time a commercial driver may actually drive his truck before the driver is legally required to stop and rest.
- 14-hour duty limit (minimum 10 hours of rest after 14 hours on duty)
- 11-hour driving limit (minimum 10 hours rest after 11 total driving hours)
- 60/70-hour duty limit
Unfortunately, commercial drivers are often pushed by their employers to violate these regulations in order to deliver their cargo more quickly. This creates situations involving driver fatigue and driver drug use in order to stay awake, which leads to horrific accidents. When you hire an experienced trucking accident lawyer at Zanes Law we will properly investigate driver fatigue and violations of the federal regulations.
What Will a Trucking Accident Lawyer Do for You?
After a serious truck accident, our Phoenix truck accident lawyers collect the following evidence:
- Logbooks
- Black box/computer data
- Documents evidencing the load and prior deliveries
- Inspection of the tractor-trailer
- We will Inspect the accident scene
- Training information
Many semi-truck drivers have a commercial drivers license and are simply turned loose on the highways to deliver their loads. At Zanes Law, our Phoenix truck accident attorneys believe that this is dangerous. All drivers need to have significant safety training before getting behind the wheel of an 80,000 pound truck. Trucking companies have a duty to provide both initial and on-going safety training to their drivers.
Beware of Dangerous Equipment
Commercial carriers are required to properly maintain their trucks and to make sure that their trucks are mechanically safe on the roads. A commercial truck driver is required to inspect their trucks, trailers, and loads each day. They need to make sure that their trucks and trailers are in good working condition and that their loads are properly secured. In fact, the federal regulations dictate that a driver must inspect the following items at the beginning of every trip:
- The truck’s air lines and compressor
- All of the truck’s Brakes
- The truck’s fuel system
- Every light on the truck
- The truck’s steering
- All safety equipment
- The truck’s axles
- All of the truck’s coupling devices
- The truck’s wheels and tires
Then at the end of the trip, all of these items must again be inspected. The driver must log any dangerous conditions and defects, and the driver must report these to the trucking company before beginning the next trip. After an accident, this information will be an important part of an 18 wheeler accident lawsuit by our Phoenix truck accident attorneys.
Trucking Accident Lawyer Doug Zanes Is The Right Choice
Trucking companies carry insurance policies in order to protect themselves and their driver against claims for personal injury or wrongful death. These insurance policies generally carry seven-figure liability coverage amounts and so the stakes are substantial for the insurance carrier. This exposure makes the insurance carrier fight harder to try to protect their money and pay as little as possible on the claim. You are going to need the experienced Phoenix truck accident attorneys at Zanes Law who know how to beat the trucking companies.
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