Accidents between large trucks and cars can cause serious injuries and complex legal claims. If you find yourself in a truck wreck, it is important that you understand the situation you are in and what to do next. If possible, having a dedicated truck wreck lawyer on your side to fight on your behalf can help tremendously. As the attorneys at Sansone, Sumner & Lauber, a firm of truck wreck lawyers of Missouri explain, having good legal representation can be the difference between a denied claim and generous settlement.
The most common types of trucks involved in crashes are: box trucks, tanker trucks, delivery trucks, dump trucks, flat beds, garbage trucks, and car carriers. Any of these trucks can cause devastating damage, serious injuries, or even fatalities. There are several kinds of crashes that trucks can cause, and these different kinds of crashes can present different dangers.
A few of the most common types of truck accidents are:
- Rear-end accidents: A rear-ender happens when a truck doesn’t slow or stop to avoid hitting a vehicle. Heavy trucks need more time than passenger cars to slow down. If the driver of the truck is distracted or drowsy, he or she can fail to stop in time, causing a crash.
- Sideswipe accidents: In a sideswipe accident, the side of a truck hits the side of a vehicle next to it. Truck drivers can cause sideswipe accidents when they fail to see a vehicle in the next lane when trying to merge. These accidents can also happen if a truck is making a sharp turn and hits the car in the next lane.
- Side-impact crashes: This type of crash happens when the front of a truck hits the side of another vehicle. This type of crash may also be described as a side-impact crash, angle crash, or a T-bone collision. This type of crash can be very dangerous, as the truck can directly hit the area where a driver or passenger is sitting.
- Underrides: The undercarriage of a commercial truck sits high enough on the road that passenger cars can sometimes be pushed under the truck during a collision. This kind of accident is also extremely dangerous and often results in injuries or death.
- Head-on-collisions: As Virginia Beach car accident lawyer Robert Haddad explains, a head-on accident is the type of an accident in which the front of the two vehicles collide directly with one another. It is one of the deadliest kinds of accidents, because the weight and the speed of both vehicles contribute to the force of the collision
If you get into a crash with a truck, it is likely that you will find yourself dealing with some kind of injury. If the injury is serious and causes you to not be able to work or buries you in medical bills you cannot pay, you may need to get legal counsel. As Howard Spiva, a truck accident attorney in Georgia explains, the steps of filing a truck accident claim are complicated, and it is easy to make mistakes.
As Tim Tate and Chris Rehmet, expert truck accident lawyers in Texas explain, when you get an attorney to take over the process of filing your claim for you, it enables you to relax and heal from your injuries, without worrying about legal settlements or having enough money to pay for your medical bills. Personal injury lawyers generally offer free consultations before taking on cases, so you really have nothing to lose from talking to an attorney to see if you have a case.