If you or a loved one has suffered a serious accident involving a commercial truck, you need an attorney who has the knowledge, experience, and resources to handle a trucking accident claim properly. Rest assured, the insurance and trucking company already has a team of lawyers in place. Don’t try to handle your case alone. Call (706) 863-6600 to request a free consultation with an experienced Augusta truck accident lawyer from Chris Hudson Law Group in Augusta, GA, today.
Complex Trucking Cases Require An Experienced Truck Accident Lawyer
Trucking claims litigation is a highly specialized field of practice for lawyers. Other than the complexities involved with dealing with severe injury or death, there exist numerous other complications in truck accident cases, including:
- the involvement of federal regulations governing tractor-trailers,
- the potential for multiple defendants in trucking cases,
- the extensive documents and records companies who operate tractor-trailers are required to keep,
- the need to examine the vehicle’s Electronic Control Module (the “ECM”), which electronically records data such as speed and brake system operation at the time of the accident, and
- the costs associated with adequately making a claim arising from a trucking accident.
Trucking accidents often result in severe, debilitating, and permanent injuries (and, unfortunately, often deaths). A fully-loaded tractor-trailer may weigh up to 80,000 pounds (40 tons). The average weight of a passenger vehicle is roughly 4,000 pounds. Therefore, serious or deadly results often occur in a car versus truck accident.
Our firm offers tremendous experience with many different kinds of truck accident claims, and we can fight to help you obtain all of the compensation you are entitled to. Call (706) 863-6600 to schedule a free consultation.
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Why You Should Hire a Truck Accident Lawyer
A commercial truck accident can result in catastrophic or fatal injuries and massive property damage. If a driver or trucking company’s negligence harmed you, you should contact an attorney as soon as possible. When you get a truck accident attorney in Augusta involved right away, they can preserve crucial evidence that can help demonstrate that a truck driver was at fault for a crash.
You could find yourself being offered a lump sum settlement by an insurance company, and an agent may say something about how accepting the offer will allow you to keep more money for yourself. Nothing could be further from the truth as most initial settlement offers are completely lowball amounts that do not cover enormous future expenses, which people must pay out of their own pockets.
You will want to have an attorney negotiating the settlement of your case because they will have a far better understanding of what your case is worth. Your lawyer can file a lawsuit if the other side doesn’t offer an acceptable settlement offer.
Another reason to retain legal counsel concerns liability, as truck accidents frequently involve multiple liable parties. Such parties are not likely to declare their negligence, and you may miss out on another avenue for compensation if an attorney does not identify the liable party.
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Why Choose Chris Hudson Law Group To Handle My Case?
Christopher Hudson received the Cali Award for the highest grade in Advanced Legal Writing and the Cali Award for the highest grade in Law Practice Management while attending Mercer University. He has received an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, denoting the highest level of professional excellence.
Amanda S. Morris has been licensed in Georgia since 2008 and has extensive trial experience as a former Assistant Public Defender for the Augusta Judicial Circuit from 2008 until 2017.
Types of Truck Accident Cases We Handle
Commercial truck accidents can vary in severity, depending on multiple factors. No two crashes are ever the same, but some accidents are more common than others.
Some of the most common types of truck accident cases our firm sees include:
Blind Spot Accidents
Truck drivers must deal with significant blind spots on all sides of their vehicles. Failure to adequately check blind spots could result in a devastating collision.
T-Bone Accidents
T-bone collisions involve one vehicle striking the side of another automobile, and commercial trucks often cause devastating injuries when they T-bone passenger vehicles.
Rear-End Accidents
Any rear-end accident involving a commercial truck is far more likely to cause severe damage than a traditional passenger vehicle fender bender.
Jackknife Accidents
These crashes involve trailers swinging out at a 90-degree angle, much like how a jackknife folds.
Wide Turn Accidents
Truck drivers often need to swing their vehicles out to perform certain turns, and such maneuvers can cause collisions when a driver is negligent.
Head-On Collisions
The chances of fatalities are much more significant when a passenger vehicle collides with a commercial truck head-to-head.
Underride and Override Accidents
Underride accidents involve passenger vehicles sliding underneath trailers, while override accidents happen when a trailer runs over a car.
Rollover Accidents
A commercial truck could be at risk of rolling over, possibly multiple times, in some crashes.
Tire Blowouts
If a tire on a commercial truck fails, it causes a sudden lack of control for the driver, often making avoiding accidents impossible.
Lost Load Accidents
Failure to properly secure cargo can result in it falling off a truck, possibly onto other vehicles or into roadways, and causing further accidents.
Types of Trucks
Many different kinds of commercial trucks can also be involved in these accidents. Click to find out more if you were involved in an accident with any of the following types of trucks:
- Tanker Trucks
- Dump Trucks
- Garbage Trucks
- Tow Trucks
- Buses
- Delivery Vehicles
- Construction Vehicles
- Emergency Vehicles
You will want the help of an Augusta truck accident attorney with experience handling truck accident cases and identifying liable parties. Some parties that could be liable in these cases include truck drivers, truck owners, trucking companies, shipping agencies, and possibly other drivers.
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Common Causes of Truck Accidents in Georgia
A vital part of any truck accident case is investigating the cause and who was at fault.
Common causes of truck accident cases we work on include:
- Defective Parts
- Blind Spots
- Unfamiliarity with Roads
- Inclement Weather
- Overloaded Vehicles
- Unsafe Passing
- Failure to Maintain Vehicle
- Poor Road Conditions
- Inadequate Driver Training
- Driver Negligence
- Other Drivers
- Road Construction
Georgia Truck Accident Statistics
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), 166,853 large truck crashes occurred nationwide in 2022. They caused 75,502 injuries and 5,277 fatalities. During the same year in Georgia, 6,673 large truck accidents occurred, leading to 2,912 injuries and 246 deaths.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), 4,714 people nationwide died in accidents involving large trucks in 2021. Only 16 percent were truck occupants, while 68 percent were the occupants of other vehicles. Bicyclists, motorcyclists, and pedestrians represented 15 percent of total fatalities.
In crashes involving a large truck and passenger vehicle, 756 truck occupants died, and 3,217 passenger vehicle occupants died that year.
Fatalities in large truck accidents by road type in 2021 include:
- Freeways and interstates – 1,676 deaths (36 percent)
- Minor roads – 749 deaths (16 percent)
- Other major roads – 2,282 deaths (48 percent)
Statistics for the time of day large truck collisions occurred show most fatal crashes happened between noon and 3 p.m. The percentage of deaths in accidents involving large trucks based on the time of day was:
- Midnight to 3 a.m. – 8%
- 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. – 10%
- 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. – 16%
- 9 a.m. to noon – 16%
- Noon to 3 p.m. – 18%
- 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. – 14%
- 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. – 10%
- 9 p.m. to midnight – 8%
Statistics also found the days with the most commercial truck fatalities were Wednesday and Thursday, with 36 percent of fatal truck accidents occurring on these days. In 2021, 1,695 people died in large truck accidents on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
In multi-vehicle collisions between trucks and passenger vehicles, 14,962 passenger vehicle occupants died in 2021.
The number of deaths based on where the truck crashed into the passenger car includes:
- Front – 1,662 deaths (67%)
- Side – 349686 deaths (27%)
- Rear – 106 deaths (4%)
- Other – 41 deaths (2%)
Contact a Truck Accident Lawyer from The Chris Hudson Law Group in Augusta
Did you sustain catastrophic injuries, or was your loved one killed in a truck accident in Augusta or another community in Richmond County? You deserve justice, and The Chris Hudson Law Group can help you get it.
Our attorneys have a long history of helping clients obtain the compensation they need and deserve.
Call (706) 863-6600 for a free consultation and case review.
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