Choosing a Tractor-Trailer Crash Attorney: Questions to Ask
Choosing a Tractor-Trailer Crash Attorney: Questions to Ask Choosing a truck accident lawyer is a different task from choosing a lawyer for a minor fender bender. Tractor-trailer claims tend to involve federal safety regulations, electronic evidence and multiple insurance policies, and the trucking company frequently has lawyers and investigators working on the crash from the first days. These questions can make a first consultation more productive. Start with the licens
Who Is Liable in a Car Accident? Most car crash claims start with the other driver, but the driver is not always the only responsible party. An employer, the vehicle owner, a government agency or a parts maker can also play a role. Identifying every party with legal responsibility is an early task for a car accident lawyer, since each responsible party may carry its own insurance. The other driver Negligence asks whether a driver failed to act with reasonable care. Ty
Evidence After a Car Crash: Police Reports and Dashcam Video
Police Reports, Dashcam Video and Car Accident Evidence Evidence from a car crash starts to disappear within hours. Cars are towed and repaired, video gets recorded over and witnesses become harder to find. A car accident lawyer typically starts with the police report, photos, video and the data stored in the vehicles. This article explains how each source fits into a claim. The crash report Officers who respond to a crash usually prepare a crash report, sometimes cal
Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Car Accident? Most car crash claims start with the other driver, but the driver is not always the only responsible party. The vehicle owner, an employer, a government agency or a parts manufacturer may also play a role. Identifying every party with legal responsibility is an early task for a car accident lawyer, because each party may have separate insurance. Claims against the driver Negligence asks whether a driver failed to act wit
What FMCSA and NHTSA Data Show About Large Truck Crashes
Truck Accident Statistics From FMCSA and NHTSA Data Federal crash data gives a national picture of how often large trucks are involved in serious crashes. The figures below come from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and each is labeled with its year. A truck accident attorney might use figures like these for context, but statistics describe patterns across many crashes rather than what ha
Liability in Truck Accident Claims Explained A tractor-trailer crash often involves more than one responsible party. The driver, the trucking company, the trailer owner, the shipper that loaded the freight and the maker of a failed part may all play a role. Identifying every responsible party is an early job for a truck accident lawyer, because each responsible party may have separate insurance. Claims against the driver Most claims start with the driver's conduct, su
The Timeline of a Semi-Truck Crash Claim A truck accident claim moves through stages that can take months or years. Some deadlines belong to the trucking company, such as how long it has to keep certain records, while others belong to the injured person, such as the statute of limitations. A truck accident attorney can explain where a given claim sits in this sequence, although every claim is different. Right after the crash Emergency care comes first, and the records
Driver Fatigue and Hours of Service Rules in Truck Accident Claims
What a Truck Accident Lawyer Checks in a Driver's Logs When a tractor-trailer crash happens late in a long run, one of the first questions is whether the driver had stayed inside the federal hours-of-service limits. Fatigue rarely leaves skid marks, which is why the answer tends to come from records instead of the road itself. A tractor-trailer crash lawyer looking at one of these claims usually starts by comparing the driver's logs against every other record of the trip.