Articles Posted in Trucking Accidents

It is important not to be alone after a trucking accident. Unfortunately, many of the personal injuries which are commonly sustained in trucking accidents – including burn injuries, spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, and other personal injuries – tend to be quite isolating. Many people struggle to cope with their new injuries and may feel out of touch with their regular groups of friends. Some patients have a hard time adjusting to the way they look or the way that they function after trucking accidents, and this can make it hard for them to develop or keep supportive friendships. However, the emotional trauma of a trucking accident requires a strong team of support.

A good, supportive team can answer your questions about your injury, can help you through the difficult times following your accident, and can provide you with the resources you need to recover emotionally and physically from your accident. You should surround yourself with many types of people including:

1) Support groups. Support groups consisting of other accident survivors with similar injuries can be an invaluable source of support. These groups are often organized by local chapters and associations that advocate for accident victims. For example, if you have a spinal cord injury, there is likely an acute spinal cord injury support group in your area. This support group may be organized or associated with a local spinal cord injury association. Joining the support group allows you to meet other people who have the same injury and to learn how to cope with your own injuries through their own experiences. Joining the support group also gives you a place to ask the many questions you likely have about your injury and your life after injury.

Truck accidents claim lives, cause personal injuries, damage roads and property, and create quite a lot of trauma. Millions of families across the US are directly or indirectly affected by trucking accidents and many people today are still struggling with the personal injuries sustained in trucking accidents which occurred decades ago. There are many things that can be done, however, to take a stand against truck accidents. If you have been in a trucking accident or have a loved one who has been seriously injured or killed in a trucking accident, you may be motivated to take a stand. Even if you have no direct experience of trucking accidents, you may still be concerned to take action against preventable trucking accidents. There are many ways to do this:

1) Volunteer your time. There are many support groups for people who have sustained specific types of injuries, such as brain injuries or spinal cord injuries, in car accidents or trucking accidents. You could volunteer your time to help patients these of support groups. These types of local support groups often need volunteers to help set up for events, provide emotional support for patients, and sometimes run errors for patients. Some groups also need help organizing fundraising or awareness-raising campaigns.

2) Join a group dedicated to preventing trucking accidents. There are many such groups around the country, dedicated to changing laws, regulations, and trucking industry standards. Often, these groups are involved in fund-raising, lobbying, and raising awareness about trucking accidents and their effects.

While trucking accidents involving passenger vehicles are often devastating in the fatalities and personal injuries they cause, pedestrian accidents involving trucks are especially disastrous. A pedestrian has simply no chance against a fully loaded commercial truck. The size and force of a truck usually do not just cause spinal cord injuries, head injuries, and other serious injuries. In virtually all cases, such an accident results in fatalities. There are many ways, luckily, that pedestrian accidents involving trucks can be prevented.

A great deal of the onus is on pedestrians. Pedestrians need to ensure that they are not taking undue risks around trucks. In general, since trucks and pedestrians are such a poor mix, pedestrians should steer clear of trucks entirely. Passing in between trucks, walking between trucks, or popping up suddenly in front of a truck is a recipe for disaster.

If you are walking in an area where trucks are present – such as a construction site, or a pedestrian area where trucks are parked — make sure that you make good eye contact with the truck driver. In many cases, truck drivers are focused on other vehicles and may not expect a pedestrian. Keep in mind to that trucks often take longer to brake than passenger vehicles. Wait until a truck driver waves you through in order to pass in front of a truck. A little patience can save your life.

In many cases, trucking accidents on the highways and roads involve a car and a truck. It is an unfortunate situation, because few types of vehicles are more unevenly matched. A fully loaded commercial truck can weigh tens of thousands of pounds and can obliterate or crush a passenger vehicle. While there are many laws and federal regulations to ensure that truck drivers take certain precautions on the road, there are still many things that passenger vehicle drivers can do to ensure that they are never in a car accident with a truck:

1) Always treats trucks as trucks. Many passenger vehicle drivers treat trucks as just another vehicle on the road. Unfortunately, this can be a fatal mistake. It is important to keep in mind that trucks brake, stop, and turn differently than passenger vehicles. It is important to give trucks additional room and to use extra caution when driving around trucks. Keep in mind that truck drivers, for example, cannot see as clearly and have many more blind spots. Avoid following closely behind or in front of a truck. Provide lots of room for yourself to maneuver around track. Never stop suddenly in front of a large commercial truck, as the truck driver will likely not be able to stop in time to prevent rear ending your car.

2) Avoid situations where you are surrounded by trucks. It is easy for your vehicle to become invisible when surrounded by trucks, and being crushed between two trucks almost guarantees serious spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, and fatalities. If you see a large fleet of trucks, drop back and allow them plenty of room. Make sure that the drivers can see you by staying well back or by making eye contact with the drivers as you pass.

After a trucking accident, there are generally a great deal of damages, including personal injuries, property damages, and intangible damages. Due to the sheer size and force of trucks, collisions involving these vehicles tend to be fatal or tend to cause extensive damage. Attorneys and insurance providers alike try to place a dollar value on the damage in order to reach settlements and in order to settle insurance claims. However, determining damages and placing a value on them after trucking accidents can be difficult. A great deal of evidence and property may have been obliterated, making it difficult to reconstruct an accident or determine exactly what happened. As well, attorneys and insurance providers tend to have different ways of evaluating the value of damages. In general, however, damages will include:

1) Property damages. If you have been in a trucking accident, you will want to recover for property damage. This can include the cost of repairing or replacing your car or vehicle, as well as the cost of replacing anything of value inside your vehicle. Property damage may include the loss, for example, of any gadgets, laptops, or digital cameras you may have had in your car at the time of the accident. As well, if a truck has crashed on your property, there may be in damage to structures, walkways, and driveways on your property. In this event, you may wish to recover for the damages not covered by your homeowners insurance policy.

2) Personal injuries. In addition to property damage, almost all trucking accidents cause severe personal injuries. These may include spinal cord injuries, broken bones, amputations, burn injuries, brain injuries, and other serious injuries. If you have been seriously injured in a trucking accident, you will be able to recover for medical costs, the cost of medication, rehabilitation costs, hospital stays, and other costs related to your personal injury.

The time immediately following a truck accident is usually fraught with danger, fear, and severe trauma for the surviving victims. Victims may be unconscious, severely injured, and rushed to an emergency room. Some victims may be declared fatalities at the scene. If you have survived a trucking accident, however, the immediate aftermath of a trucking accident is vitally important. When you’re rushed to a hospital for emergency care, you will often need the very best possible care in order to recover fully. The diagnosis and treatment you are given immediately after an accident can determine your overall recovery. Unfortunately, the hectic pace of an emergency room as well as the rapid emergency treatment usually required after a trucking accident can allow medical errors and misdiagnosis to occur. If you want to avoid a medical malpractice lawsuit and the complications that medical errors can result in, make sure that you:

1) Take good notes. As soon as you are able to after a trucking accident, start documentation. Asked for copies of your medical records, and make sure that you note any diagnoses, treatments, medications, and doctor names that you come into contact with. Make sure that you understand what you are being diagnosed with, your prognosis, the basis for the diagnoses, and the treatments being suggested. If you have any questions or if there seems to be a conflict in the information you are being given from different health-care providers, make sure that you ask. Asking questions is a good way to prevent medical errors.

2) Have a health care advocate. Because you will likely be in poor condition immediately after your trucking accident, it is a good idea to have a health-care advocate by your side. A health-care advocate can be a friend or family member who can be with you during treatment, conversations with healthcare professionals, and who can spend time with you in a hospital. A health-care advocate not only provides you with support, but he or she can also take down details of treatments, medications you’re given, and healthcare professionals you speak to. This can give you a clear record of your treatment and allow you to pinpoint and prevent errors.

In a trucking accident involving a car or another truck, passengers are often thrown about inside their vehicles. Even when seat belts are worn, the trauma caused by this rapid motion in a collision can cause serious spinal cord injuries and head injuries. Head injuries can be especially devastating for a number of reasons:

1) Head injuries may be hard to diagnose. In some cases, patients have few or no symptoms after an accident and symptoms only gradually develop. This can be fatal, unfortunately. Some patients do not seek medical help because they do not have any symptoms after a truck or car accident. It is only a few hours later that symptoms start to manifest themselves, and by this time it may be too late to get medical help, as swelling inside the brain expands rapidly.

2) Head injuries may change a lifestyle substantially. Head injuries may cause problems with concentration as well as severe memory loss and sensory problems. This can make it difficult for a patient to stay employed or enjoy everyday activities. A patient may not even be able to drive after a trucking accident. In many cases, a patient’s life is severely or even permanently altered by a head injury.

After a truck accident, one of the most important members of your support team is often a good Florida personal injury attorney. A good lawyer can negotiate with insurance providers on your behalf to ensure that you receive fair compensation. An attorney can launch an investigation into your accident and can protect your legal rights. In some cases, attorneys even can help patients find resources and medical help. To make the most of your attorney’s help, you need to maintain good communication with your attorney. There are many ways that you can do this:

1) Be upfront with your attorney. Fully share all information your attorney asks for, even if the information is embarrassing or difficult to share. Keeping previous convictions or driving problems from your attorney is not only futile, but makes a good relationship with your attorney very difficult.

2) Contact your attorney as quickly as possible after your accident. Most states have a statute of limitations regarding how long a victim has to bring a suit. As well, the longer you wait to contact your attorney, the more evidence about your accident will likely be lost. The sooner you contact an attorney, the more fully your Florida personal injury attorney can help you. Keep in mind that many attorneys are willing to visit you in your hospital room, at home, or at your office, so you do not have to be well enough to travel to see an attorney.

After trucking accidents, some types of injuries are very easy to spot. Burn injuries, spinal cord injuries, and other types of serious injuries often leave clear symptoms that make diagnosis simple. However, there are also many additional types of injuries which are often more challenging to diagnose and more difficult to quantify. All too often, truck accident victims have a difficult time getting support and compensation for these less-obvious injuries.

For example, many trucking accident victims experience emotional trauma after an accident. They may feel depressed or may experience anxiety or loss of concentration. For some of these patients, returning to work duties and a normal life may be difficult, and this often leads to considerable expenses for the patient. As a result of the emotional trauma, patients may lose income or may need to pay for therapy. Some patients have a hard time feeling comfortable behind the wheel again and may need to pay for transportation services as well. Unfortunately, without a qualified Florida personal injury attorney, many patients have a hard time getting recompensed for these losses and may end up paying these sometimes substantial costs out of pocket.

Another frequently-overlooked loss sustained through trucking injuries involves long-term rehabilitation. Many types of serious injuries sustained through trucking accidents require immediate care but also a long-term recovery time. Burn injuries, head injuries, and spinal cord injuries may all require months or even years of rehabilitation, all of which requires transportation to rehabilitation facilities, rehabilitation costs, and lost income. However, many patients find that insurance companies and providers for trucking companies sometimes underestimate the total costs and duration of rehabilitation, leaving the patient to bear the financial burden of the long-term recovery time.

Mobile water supply apparatus tanker trucks bring water and emergency personnel and water to emergency fire scenes. While these trucks are vital to prevent fatalities, burn injuries, and other serious injuries, these vehicles also have a high accident rate. Some industry experts believe that the very design of these tanker trucks could be contributing to the trucking accidents.

Many emergency use tanker trucks are in fact converted trucks which were once used for another purpose. Many industry experts note that there is a high cost to not creating customized tanker trucks better suited to emergency response. The Safe Operation of Fire Tankers reports that many emergency tanker truck accidents involve trucks which were converted after being used as fuel tankers. In many cases, experts note that the chassis of the trucks cannot hold the amount of water emergency tanker trucks need to carry, and this excessive pressure can contribute to accidents.

In fact, emergency tanker trucks are unusually heavy and place a great burden on any vehicle design not created exclusively for water. Gasoline weighs 5.6 pounds per gallon, while oil (fuel) weighs 7.12 pounds per gallon. In contrast, water weighs 8.33 pounds per gallon. This means that a water tanker converted from a gasoline tanker is expected to carry about 23, 324 pounds of water (for a 2,800-gallon tanker) when the truck was designed to carry 15, 680 of gasoline. In addition, emergency water tanker trucks also often carry additional life saving equipment, pumps, and emergency personnel, increasing the weight even more.