Baton Rouge Truck Accident Lawyer

Baton Rouge Truck Accident Attorney

Injured In A Truck Accident? Let Us Help You Get The Compensation You Need.

Crashes involving 18-wheelers and semi trucks often lead to permanent injuries that require a lifetime of care, and far too many families have to grieve the loss of loved ones who died due to trucking industry negligence. Luckily, a Baton Rouge truck accident lawyer can assist victims of trucking accidents.

If you or a loved one has suffered injuries in a trucking accident, you may have legal options for obtaining significant compensation for what you have endured, including medical expenses, lost income, and pain and suffering. Let the experienced personal injury attorneys at The Lucky Law Firm help you get the medical and financial recovery you need to move forward.

For a FREE consultation, call our law firm at 225.387.5656 or fill out our contact form. With offices in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, our lawyers represent clients throughout Louisiana and southern Mississippi.

We Can Help You Fight Back Against The Trucking Company

Large trucking companies and their insurance providers hire large teams of expensive lawyers who work extremely hard and do everything legally possible to limit the companies’ losses ― including limiting your compensation after a trucking accident. Although you are the victim of the crash, you are often made to feel like the villain!

Don’t be a victim twice! Contact The Lucky Law Firm to speak with an experienced personal injury attorney who will protect your interests and make sure you get the money you deserve! We don’t get paid unless we win a recovery for you, so you have nothing to lose by contacting us today.

I Just Got Into a Trucking Accident. What Do I Do?

Being involved in a trucking accident can be incredibly frightening. To help treat your injuries and increase the odds of receiving appropriate compensation, it might be helpful to follow these steps:

1. If you’re able to do this without endangering anyone’s safety, move the vehicles involved in the accident away from the road. It can be helpful to turn on emergency flashers and move vehicles to the shoulder. This can prevent further collisions resulting from distracted drivers. However, it might be a better idea to wait for emergency services, especially if there are significant injuries as a result of the accident.
2. Contact emergency services as soon as possible after your accident. This is necessary so that medical professionals can review your injuries. In most cases, you must also notify law enforcement of the accident and the damages it caused. Contacting 911 will usually result in both law enforcement and medical staff arriving at the scene of the accident.
3. Don’t leave the scene of the accident unless you need emergency medical care. Stay at the scene of the accident until emergency personnel arrive. There are additional penalties for leaving an accident prematurely. It can also be helpful to give additional details to law enforcement to include in the police report.
4. If possible, document as much as you can about the accident and where it took place. Take photos and videos of the scene, including the vehicles, the location of the accident, any traffic signs around the site, and the weather conditions and surrounding area. If there were any witnesses present, write down their contact information.
5. One of the most important things to do after a truck accident is to gather the truck driver’s information. This includes their name, their employer, their contact information, and their insurance information. It is also a good idea to document their license plate number to identify the vehicle they were driving.
6. If you did not receive medical attention from emergency personnel immediately after the accident, go to the doctor as soon as possible in the days following the collision. This step is important to create evidence of your injuries and prove the scope of damage to insurance companies.
7. Speak with a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible after your accident. Show them any evidence you have, including what you gathered from the scene of the accident and any medical records. They can inform you of your options and give you personalized advice for your specific situation. The earlier you talk with an attorney, the better chance you have of receiving appropriate compensation for your claim.
8. File a claim with the insurance company to notify them of the accident. While you are doing this, keep the evidence you gathered on hand because they often request it at the time of filing. Most people receive more information from their insurance claim in a couple of weeks. It might be a good idea to have an attorney review any correspondence to ensure that you are treated fairly and respectfully.
9. If any insurance company contacts you for more information about the accident, refer them to your attorney. This is a common tactic that companies use to retrieve information that can be used to deny your claim or offer you a lower sum than what your claim is worth.

If you are having difficulties communicating with your insurance company, an attorney can assist with the process. An experienced personal injury attorney is used to interacting with companies, employers, and adjusters to fight for their clients. They can craft professional responses and provide additional evidence to convince the insurance company of your injuries and enable you to receive compensation.

Common Causes Of Truck Accidents

While trucking accidents can involve a virtually endless list of careless or negligent actions, some of the more common causes include:

• Truck driver fatigue or exhaustion: Although rest breaks for truckers are highly regulated, these regulations are sometimes not followed. Some deliveries might have strict time limits, which could make drivers work longer hours than legally allowed to finish the job. This can lead to truck drivers operating massive vehicles with very little sleep, reducing their reaction time and their ability to avoid an accident.
• Truck drivers who are under the influence of alcohol or drugs: There are frequent drug and alcohol screenings for truck drivers, but this does not stop substance use completely. Just like drunk drivers who operate cars, drunk truck drivers often break common rules of the road and are easy to spot. They might be driving in the wrong lane, swerving from one lane to another, or driving at an excessively fast or slow speed.
• Brake failure due to improper maintenance: Large trucks must be properly maintained to remain compliant and to prevent accidents. If a truck is not repaired frequently enough, there may be severe consequences. One of the most common issues due to neglecting to maintain a large truck is with brakes. Due to a truck’s massive size, if the brakes are not checked frequently, they have an increased chance of failing.
• Failure to properly accommodate for blind spots: A truck has significantly more blind spots than a regular car due to its size on the road. In order to change lanes or turn, a truck driver must make an effort to check their blind spots to prevent endangering other vehicles on the road. Failure to do so can result in encroaching on someone else’s space, leading to collisions, injuries, and damage to vehicles.
• Excessive speed and failure to follow the established laws and guidelines: If a truck driver has an important delivery that must be finished at a certain time, they might be more likely to speed to get the job done. Speeding in any vehicle can lead to an increased likelihood of accidents, but this effect is magnified in trucks. Due to their large size, it is more difficult for them to make sudden stops if they are speeding.
• Overloaded trucks or improperly secured cargo: There are detailed rules and regulations surrounding how a truck should be loaded and secured. If these guidelines are not followed, it could lead to the truck having weight distribution issues, leading to sudden swerving and an increased likelihood of an accident.
• Tire failure or separation: The tires on a large truck are under an enormous amount of pressure. If they are not regularly checked or maintained, it is possible for them to go flat or come off of the truck entirely. Even one tire failing can lead to disastrous consequences for the truck, the driver, and other drivers on the road.

While this is not a comprehensive list of reasons for trucking accidents, these issues happen regularly. If you have been a victim of a trucking accident, it might be possible to recover damages for injuries that occurred due to any one of the above reasons. Don’t wait to act after a trucking accident. Louisiana has strict time limits on filing personal injury claims that could impact the amount of compensation you receive.

The types of safety issues that often lead to trucking accidents include:

• Hours-of-service violations: Trucking companies often pressure drivers to skip breaks, and this can lead to truck driver fatigue and trucking accidents.
• Improper loading: Payloads are sometimes loaded in a way that they are allowed to shift and fall down, causing tip-over accidents.
• Faulty vehicle maintenance: Trucking companies sometimes fail to maintain their vehicles, resulting in dangerous tire blowouts, brake failures, explosions and more.
• Failure to screen truck drivers: Trucking companies may fail to do proper background checks regarding driving records, commercial drivers’ licenses, past DUIs and more.
• Basic traffic violations, including speeding, drunk or drugged driving, fatigued driving, illegal lane changes, tailgating and failure to merge

Depending on the circumstances of your accident, several different parties may be liable for your injuries and damages, including the truck driver or the trucking company. For a FREE consultation regarding your case, call The Lucky Law Firm at 225.387.5656 or fill out our contact form. With offices in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, we represent injury victims throughout Louisiana and southern Mississippi.

Who Can Be Held Liable For A Trucking Accident?

Multiple parties may be at fault for a trucking accident. The most obvious party is the truck driver, but there are others who may owe you financial compensation for your injuries. Depending on the facts of your case, the potential at-fault parties include:

• The truck driver
• The shipper
• The trucking company
• The truck manufacturer
• Third-party negligent drivers
• Any of these parties’ insurance providers

Establishing Truck Accident Liability

Given the size of tractor-trailers and 18-wheelers, it is no secret that accidents involving large trucks are often serious ― and sometimes deadly. In fact, drivers and passengers in smaller vehicles typically have little chance of walking away uninjured if they are hit by a negligent truck driver.

If you or a family member is ever injured in a truck-related accident, you may wonder who is liable for your injuries. Well, in most cases, liability will fall on two parties: either the truck driver or the trucking company, or both.

There are many situations in which you may be able to seek damages and compensation following a trucking accident. For instance, a trucking company and/or its driver may be legally responsible for your injuries if:

• The truck driver was drunk or under the influence of drugs at the time of the accident.
• The truck driver was fatigued or sleepy because he or she was driving longer than permitted by law or he or she was simply not rested.
• The truck driver was speeding or otherwise operating his or her truck in a careless/reckless manner.
• The truck was overloaded or its cargo was improperly secured, and this was a contributing factor to the accident.
• The truck was poorly maintained and not in good working order, including poor brake and tire maintenance.
• The trucking company failed to properly screen or train its drivers, or it hired dangerous or unqualified drivers.

However, it is important to keep in mind that these are merely a few instances in which a truck driver or a trucking company may be liable for your injuries following a trucking accident. It is also worth mentioning that other parties may also be liable, depending on your circumstances, including government agencies who fail to maintain safe roads. In any case, it is always best to contact an experienced personal injury attorney if you have any questions.

What Types Of Compensation Can I Receive After A Truck Accident?

After a collision with a commercial vehicle, you may be owed multiple types of compensation for your injuries. Depending on your specific situation, you may be owed compensation for the following:

• Medical expenses
• Physical therapy and rehabilitation
• In-home accommodations
• Lost income
• Lost earning capacity
• Pain and suffering

At The Lucky Law Firm, we assess the full cost of your injuries and how they will affect your life now and in the future. Before you accept the insurance company’s initial settlement offer, talk to us and find out what you should do if you’ve been injured in a trucking accident in Louisiana. We do not collect an attorney fee unless we win for you!

FAQs:

Q: What Parties Could Be Involved in a Louisiana Truck Accident?

A: Louisiana truck accidents often include multiple parties, including the victim, the truck driver, the company the driver was employed by, and potentially even the company that maintained the truck. If you’re dealing with multiple companies or severe injuries after a large trucking accident, it might be a good idea to hire a personal injury lawyer. They can evaluate the available evidence to prove that other parties caused your injuries.

Q: What Should I Do After a Truck Wreck?

A: After a truck wreck, try to get the damaged vehicles off the road and out of the flow of traffic to prevent further injuries. The next step is to contact emergency services. This will inform the police as well as prompt emergency medical services to assist you. If you can, try to document the scene of the accident by taking photos and videos of the crash and the surrounding environment. After the accident, contact a personal injury attorney.

Q: What Does a Truck Accident Lawyer Do?

A: A truck accident attorney is involved in many different parts of your claim. They can help determine which parties are liable by using evidence from the scene of the accident. If necessary, they can communicate with the trucking company and their insurance company to make sure you receive a fair amount of compensation. Injuries after a truck accident are often severe, but a truck accident lawyer can help facilitate the process so that you can focus on recovery.

Q. Do I Need A Truck Accident Attorney?

A: Yes. To get the maximum available compensation for your injuries, you should have a truck accident lawyer on your side, fighting for you. As soon as a truck accident happens, the trucking company and its insurance provider will start building a case designed to minimize or deny your compensation. It is only fair that you have an experienced personal injury attorney on your side to fight back against the trucking and insurance companies. Don’t let them take advantage of you. Let The Lucky Law Firm help you turn your luck around.

Q: What Are Some of the Causes of Truck Accidents?

A: There are many different causes of truck accidents. One of the most common reasons for accidents is when the truck driver does not take enough rest breaks. The amount of rest drivers are required to take is mandated by law, but large trucking companies sometimes pressure their drivers to take fewer breaks than necessary to finish their jobs faster. Other issues include problems with vehicles that are improperly maintained.

Q. Should I Accept The Insurance Company’s Initial Settlement Offer?

A: No – not before you talk to us. Trucking companies and insurance companies are notorious for making “lowball” settlement offers that come nowhere close to covering the full cost of an injury. The insurance company hopes you will accept the lowest possible offer. Our attorneys can assess the full cost of your injury, negotiate with the insurance company, and help you obtain the full and fair compensation you need to move forward.

Stand Up for Your Rights

Whether you have been injured or lost a loved one in a trucking accident, the lawyers at The Lucky Law Firm can help you seek the damages you deserve. However, you may have a limited amount of time to bring your claim, so you should contact us right away.

Large companies that employ truck drivers and insurance companies are out to make money. This means that they might not take your accident claim seriously or try to give you a low offer to increase profits. Don’t let large companies get out of paying you what your accident is worth. For more information on how The Lucky Law Firm can help you negotiate with insurance companies and employers, schedule a consultation today.