Chicago Truck Accident Lawyers

Chicago Truck Accidents, Injuries & Damages

Whether it was a semi-truck, an 18-wheeler, or some other large commercial truck vehicle, crashes occur for many reasons and often result in severe injuries. Sometimes establishing responsibility is obvious. Other times, it takes an investigation to determine if a truck driver was distracted, poorly trained by their employer, or negligently love their required hours of service.

What Caused Your Truck Accident?

• Driver error
• Driver fatigue
• Impaired driving
• Distracted driving
• Poor truck maintenance
• Limited driver training
• Driving too fast for conditions
• Mechanical failures
• Poor weather conditions

We Handle a Wide Range of Truck Accidents

The type of vehicle crash you suffer determines the injuries you suffer and their severity. Common types of crashes include:

• Truck vs. car accidents
• Rollovers occur when a truck driver loses control of the vehicle and it rolls onto its side
• Jackknife accidents happen when the cab and trailer make a 90-degree angle, causing the truck to slide
• Tire blowouts often cause a truck to swerve uncontrollably, putting drivers in all lanes at risk
• Blindspot accidents typically happen when a trucker changes lanes and a vehicle is in the driver’s blind spot
• Rear-end accidents are common since truckers need much more time to come to a safe stop; rear-end trucking accidents usually cause much more damage than a rear-end motor vehicle accident involving passenger vehicles
• Underride crash happen when a truck stops and a smaller car behind it gets stuck under the truck’s tractor-trailer

Injuries Typical after Truck Accidents

The severity of your injuries after a major truck wreck significantly impacts the value of your insurance claim and possible truck accident lawsuit. It’s important to keep up with medical treatment and document your recovery. This includes medical bills, treatment documents, and insurance info.

Here are some of the most common injuries we see after auto collisions:

• Head and Brain Injuries — These include concussions, internal bleeding, or other traumatic brain injuries.
• Neck and Back Injuries — This involves Whiplash, bulging discs, or spinal cord injuries.
• Burn Injuries — These injuries can range from minor to major, and could require serious surgery to recover.
• Soft Tissue Injuries — These injuries occur when muscles or ligaments tear during an accident, causing substantial pain.
• Broken Bones — Broken bones often require surgery to recover fully and could take a while to completely heal.
• Spinal Injuries – Spinal cord damage could result in permanent loss of movement in the lower body, requiring the use of a wheelchair.

Truck Accident Damages & Losses

When someone causes your truck injuries and subsequent financial harm, you have the right to pursue compensation. This could be from a reckless truck driver, their trucking company employer, or a third-party company that loaded the truck incorrectly.

Regardless of the party at fault, a full truck accident settlement should consider all the ways your life has been impacted, including monetary and non-monetary damages like pain and suffering.

Financial records like medical bills could help prove monetary damages. These damages include the following:

• Lost wages
• Diminished earning capacity
• Childcare expenses
• Household maintenance fees
• Medical expenses

Non-monetary damages could be difficult to value but are just as important. These include:

• Loss of consortium
• Diminished quality of life
• Physical pain andsuffering
• Mental anguish
• Reputational damage
• Disfigurement and scarring

Punitive damages might also apply to your case in extreme cases, but only if the trucker’s behavior or the actions of the trucking company were particularly egregious. Reckless and drunk driving are common examples.

Negligence, Fault, & Liability after a Truck Crash

Most large truck crashes in Chicago happen because of negligence. This means that another driver or some other party acted unreasonably or failed to act and caused you else harm.

Evidence & Documentation after a Truck Accident

While proving a truck driver or their employer’s negligence caused a collision sounds easy, especially if you believe they were speeding, distracted, or tired, the reality is much different.

Common examples of evidence in a truck accident claim are black box data from the truck itself, police and medical reports, truck deconstructionist data, and corporate documents.

The burden of proof is based on a preponderance of the evidence – you need enough evidence to demonstrate that the other party is more than likely responsible for your injuries. This includes photos, medical records, and other documentation.

Proving Truck Accident Liability & Fault

Someone must be held financially responsible for your injuries. Your injuries alone aren’t enough. This is usually the driver or their employer. This is referred to as the ‘liabile party.’ Liability is determined by establishing the four elements of negligence. This essentially means that someone owed you a duty of care, they breached that duty and therefore caused your injuries that resulted in the need for monetary compensation.

Illinois is an at-fault state for car accidents. You will most likely file a third-party claim with the liable party’s insurance company or their employer if they were working at the time.

However, insurance companies are reluctant to give you what you’re owed. It’s vital to retain a truck accident lawyer to represent you.

Trucking Industry Regulations

The trucking industry has an array of state and federal laws in place for the safety of truckers and other drivers. At Staver, we stay up to date on all of them and how they play a role in your case.

Illinois & Federal Truck Safety Rules

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Illinois Department of Transportation have a number of regulations in place to protect truck drivers and others on the road.

More on State & Federal Trucking Regulations.

Time Limits, Insurance Info & Truck Accident Defenses

A Chicago truck accident claim can get complicated fast. Truck companies and big insurance companies will be on the scene fast to protect their drivers and themselves. They will also likely diminish your injuries, suggest that you’re to blame, and use stall tactics so you accept less.

Truck Claims Have a Statute of Limitations

The victim of a trucking accident has two years from the date of the accident to initiate a claim. If their claim only includes property damage, they have five years.

This sounds like plenty of time, but memories and evidence fade quickly. The longer you wait after a truck wreck, the harder it’ll be to recover compensation.

Truck Accident Insurance: Coverage & Policies

The FMCSA requires trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds to have at least $750,000 of insurance coverage. This increases to $5 million if the truck carries hazardous materials.

Because trucks typically have much higher insurance limits than passenger vehicles, payouts tend to be higher.

Statements to Insurance Carriers

It’s important to let your lawyer handle your communication with the insurance companies involved. This is particularly important when multiple carriers play a role in the accident, which is often the case with tractor-trailer and semi-truck crashes.

Remember, anything you say to an insurance adjuster may be used to diminish your pain, cast doubt on who was at fault, and lower your settlement amount.

Truck Insurance Issues

Insurance companies process most claims within a matter of weeks. But truck accidents can be unpredictable. Insurance delays and stall tactics are not unheard of.

• Insurance Subrogation
  Subrogation is when an insurance company recovers money paid out when their policyholder was not at fault, and it could delay or take away from your compensation. Before you receive your settlement, claims from your health insurance or vehicle insurance providers may be paid out.
• Insurance Arbitration
  Arbitration is an alternative to legal action to settle a dispute and an option to consider if the offending insurance companies are unwilling to make a fair offer. While the arbitration process generally favors the company, this often leads to quicker resolutions than taking a case to court.
• Unfair Claim Practices
  While some delays are unavoidable and insurance companies won’t be in a hurry to resolve your case, if the insurer acts in bad faith or engages in negligence, you may have options under Illinois’ Unfair Claims Practices Act.

Denying Fault & Truck Accident Defenses

Aside from using the statute of limitations against you, the trucking company’s insurer and their legal team will want to protect themselves and their profits. They do this by refuting your claims, suggesting that you share blame for a truck accident, and using various defense strategies to reduce or deny your claim.

• The other side may raise certain procedural defenses based on existing law or failure to comply with a statutory rule.
• Factual defenses to truck accident liability usually revolve around you being wholly or partially to blame for the accident, or that you inflated the severity of your injuries.