Tractor Trailor Accidents
We are here for your Richmond truck accident lawyer needs.
When a vehicle collides with a tractor-trailer or a large commercial vehicle, the results can be devastating. Tractor-trailers and other large commercial vehicles can cause serious personal injury or even death when driven by a negligent driver or if not properly maintained. Due to their increased size and weight, tractor trailer accidents have the capacity to cause extensive property damage and serious injuries. Talk to a Richmond truck accident lawyer if you have been in an accident.
These accidents are often the consequence of drivers who are hard-pressed for time and many other reasons:
- Driver fatigue
- Shifting and/or falling cargo
- Speeding
- Illegal maneuvers
- Blind spots
- Distracted driving
- Faulty inspection, maintenance and repair
- Inadequate training
- Alcohol and/or illegal substance abuse
- Tight delivery schedules
A Richmond truck accident lawyer can help you collect evidence for a potential case.
Since trucks are often much larger than the car that is hit, the smaller car often becomes extremely damaged. The driver or passengers of tractor trailer accidents may experience extreme physical harm or even death. 23% of truck accidents resulted in crashes in 2012. Some of the injuries could be:
- Back and neck injuries
- Broken bones
- Head injuries
- Internal injuries
- Lacerations
- Rib and torso injuries
- Seat belt injuries
- Spinal cord injuries and paralysis
- Wrongful death
Even if a victim survives a tractor trailer accident, the injuries could be long lasting and decrease an individual’s quality of life. It is important that victims take time to try to get compensation to help with medical bills, and further issues down the road.
As a driver, you could avoid being a victim of serious tractor trailer accidents by taking a few simple precautionary steps.
- Keep a safe distance behind or in front of a tractor trailer. If you have to stop suddenly, you always want the truck behind you to have sufficient stopping space to avoid a rear-end collision.
- Do not change lanes quickly in front of a tractor trailer. Tractor trailers need sufficient time for stopping.
- Avoid blind spots. Blind spots are spaces that cannot be seen by the truck’s driver in the rear or side view mirrors. The three main blind spots for a tractor-trailer is around the right front, left rear, and the back of the trailer. When a vehicle moves into a truck’s blind spot, the truck cannot see that vehicle.
According to The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the most frequent causes of tractor trailer accidents occur when:
- The driver of the tractor-trailer moves outside his lane of travel into another lane or off the road
- The driver of the tractor-trailer loses control of his vehicle due to traveling too fast for conditions, cargo shift, vehicle systems failure, poor road conditions, or other reasons
- The driver of the tractor-trailer collides with the rear end of another vehicle in the truck’s travel lane
Truck accidents can be serious. Contact a Richmond truck accident lawyer if you have been injured as a result of a tractor trailer accident.
You May Ask Why do I Need an Experienced Personal Injury Law Firm for My Case?
Personal injury cases involving tractor-trailers or other large commercial vehicles can be challenging to handle on your own. Vehicle damage, skid marks, debris, data accumulation systems on the truck, as well as driver logs are evidence that is necessary to obtain to prove negligence of the truck driver. In order to present this evidence in a manner that a jury will understand, you need a successfully law firm that has handled these type of cases.
Talk to experts
The attorneys at The Gee Law Firm, P.C., as well as, assistants, and investigators are here to work on your behalf in order to obtain the results you deserve. We often utilize accident reconstructionists and outside experts in an effort to build the strongest possible case for our clients. Let us serve as your Richmond truck accident lawyer.
If you or a loved one have been injured as a result of a tractor-trailer or large commercial vehicle, please give us a call at (804) 226-4111.