We see them every day as we travel down the roads, streets, and highways of America: semi-trucks. They seem impossibly huge as they hurtle towards their destinations.
If you or someone you love has been injured or killed in an accident with a semi-truck, trailer truck, big rig, or another large shipping vehicle on the road, call Stracci Law Group today and take the first step to get the money you deserve with the leading truck wreck law firm in Crown Point, IN.
They are the arteries of our country’s food supply and a necessary part of American industry.
But, as with all things that human beings are involved in, there are sometimes errors, whether deliberate or unintentional. A collision with one of these vehicles can result in very serious injury or death that would be far less likely with something smaller. It makes trucking accidents one of the most harrowing possibilities when traveling.
Most Common Causes of Truck Wrecks in Northwest Indiana
The reality on the road is that big rigs present some of the greatest risks to other drivers on the road for a number of reasons:
- Tired, overworked drivers
- Poor mechanical maintenance
- Distracted driving, such as being on a cell phone or adjusting the radio
- Elevated speed
- Improper checking of mirrors
- Poor road conditions
- Inclement weather
And many others. . .
Stracci Law Group is familiar with the sorts of accidents that large trucks can cause. We know the right questions to ask and the right way to get the recovery that you deserve.
Stracci Law Group brings decades of experience to the negotiating table and courtrooms. Cases caused by the negligence of semi-truck or 18-wheel drivers, tractor-trailers, small and large vehicles, or farm equipment. If you are injured in an accident involving one of these types of transportation, please call today. We’ll set an appointment with one of our skilled attorneys to discuss your case and will seek maximum recovery for your injuries to make sure your bills are paid, and you are compensated for your pain, suffering, and inconvenience.
Lake County Different Truck Accidents We Handle
All personal injury and wrongful death cases, including those caused by the negligent conduct of a semi-truck driver, are essentially filed to establish two main things: first, who is responsible for the accident, and second, how much should be awarded to the injured party.
Semi-truck accidents are often more complicated than typical “fender bender” cases because of the addition of multiple variables. For example, the size of the vehicle involved greatly increases the likelihood of more serious injuries, but most people are unaware that modern semi-trucks are required to be equipped with a sophisticated “black box” that can give detailed information about what the truck was doing prior to the accident, can identify mechanical issues, and keep track of things like the status of wheel integrity, the weight of the hauled items, and the number of hours the truck has been in continuous operation.
The insurance companies for the trucking industry would much rather you not be aware of this when you’re involved in an accident with one of their insured vehicles because the less you know, the more desperate you’ll be to quickly and cheaply resolve your case.
We won’t let that happen. We’ll make the truck company preserve the data, provide it to us, and have experts review it for a comprehensive look at why the crash took place. We’ll do this so that you can get the maximum possible recovery for your personal injury or wrongful death case.
These are the types of accidents that can happen when a semi-truck with a trailer is involved:
Roll-Over accidents
When a semi-truck approaches a turn at too high a speed, the truck's top-heavy nature can cause the trailer, or the truck itself, to capsize and cause enormous damage to vehicles underneath or behind it.
Jackknifing
When a truck applies its brakes improperly, this can cause the trailer to “swing out” from behind the semi and create an angled path, which can enter into nearby lanes and push cars off of the road or strike them with incredible force, causing damage and injury.
Rear-End Collisions
As with cars, if a semi-driver is following a vehicle too closely and needs to make an emergency maneuver, sometimes the additional weight makes stopping impossible. These collisions are especially dangerous, as the size of a semi versus a smaller vehicle can cause high levels of damage and can expose drivers to extreme injury or death.
“Under carriage” collision
Also called “under ride” accidents, this happens when a semi shifts lanes and traps a smaller vehicle under the trailer it is hauling. This type of collision is very often serious, and injuries from being trapped underneath a trailer are some of the most serious. This often happens when the driver of a smaller vehicle is passing a semi with a large, heavy load.
Miscellaneous collisions
As with any vehicle on the road, a driver’s behavior can be unpredictable if they are not paying attention to their path and other drivers. Stracci Law Group is prepared to help you with any sort of accident involving a semi-truck or big rig.
Common Truck Accident Injuries
There is nothing at all “common” about trucking accidents (except, perhaps, for how frighteningly often they occur), nor the injuries which result from them. However, certain injuries in semi-truck accidents occur more frequently due to the nature of the impact and the dangers that arise when a larger, heavier vehicle strikes a smaller vehicle. Some examples would be:
- Concussions
- Sprained joints
- Bone breaks
- Cuts (also called “lacerations”)
- Bruising (also called “contusions”)
- Back, neck, or spine injuries, including displaced discs, cracked vertebrae, or whiplash
- Muscle pain or strains
- Organ or torso damage
- Internal bleeding
- Skull crack
- Psychological injuries, like depression, anxiety, or fear of driving
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Death or catastrophic, systemic injury
How Our Crown Point Truck Accident Law Firm Can Help?
Make no mistake about it: Semi-truck accidents can be catastrophic to a person or their family, not only physically but financially and emotionally. The insurance companies that represent semi-truck drivers and the companies that employ them will stop at nothing to give you a rock-bottom resolution to your case and to delay matters as long as possible so as to earn interest on the money they intend to pay you. They know that when one of their drivers has injured you that the clock is working against you. Bills continue to pile up, your credit score drops, and if you do not have some kind of paycheck insurance yourself, you could be out of work and unable to provide for yourself or your family for days, weeks, months, or years. Perhaps never again. And if you have lost a family member to a trucking accident, those same insurance companies are banking on your grief and mental fatigue to drag down your will to fight for a higher judgment.
You can level the playing field by hiring Stracci Law Group. When you hire us, a big part of what we tell our clients is that you are paying us to do the worrying for you. We’ll answer the difficult questions, stop the phone calls, help you find the doctors you need, and get as much of the burden off of you as possible. Our attorneys are trained, experienced, and available when you need them. We believe in honestly assessing your case and telling you upfront what we think we can recover for you, based on the facts of the case and our decades of experience. We understand how the process works, but we also understand that you are a person with feelings and a desire to be heard. You can count on us to be aggressive with the insurance companies and honest, direct, and still compassionate to you. Keep in mind that recoveries for personal injury and wrongful death cases are typically almost three times higher than the recoveries for unrepresented parties. And the recoveries we go after are the best we can get for you. . . not for our office.
Why Choose Stracci Law Group For a Truck Accident Claim?
At Stracci Law Group, we want to deliver the best possible representation we can -- and we will make every effort to accommodate you and your specific needs. Being injured in an accident is a low point in anyone’s life. However, you can count on us to do everything in our power to get you through this difficult time. You can expect that we will be compassionate and available whenever you need us. At the same time, our truck wreck attorney will be relentlessly pursuing your recovery with the insurance companies to see you get the highest possible compensation for your injuries.