Commercial trucks, semis, and rigs are known for their sheer size and weight. Often, these large vehicles are involved in accidents that result in devastating consequences. If you or a loved one was hurt in a truck accident in the Bronx, our attorneys can help.
We will begin by identifying the cause of your accident and the liable parties. This may include the individual truck driver as well as the company that employs them. To file a truck accident claim in the Bronx, your injuries must meet New York’s serious injury threshold. Furthermore, all truck accident lawsuits must be filed within three years of the date of the crash. Proving fault requires meeting four crucial elements, supported by evidence such as eyewitness testimony and photographs. If your claim is successful, you may recover compensation for all medical expenses related to your injuries, along with damages for pain and suffering.
Call (718) 841-0083 to have our truck accident lawyers assess your case today.
Compensation for Injured Victims in Bronx Truck Accidents
Truck accidents often lead to serious physical, emotional, and financial challenges. Collisions with 18-wheelers, 16-wheelers, big rigs, or garbage trucks can result in injuries that prevent victims from working, require expensive surgery, and involve long recovery periods. Fortunately, if your injuries meet New York’s serious injury threshold and your lawsuit is filed within the statute of limitations, you may be entitled to compensation.
While every case is unique, our attorneys can help you understand the potential value of your claim based on your injuries, the circumstances of the crash, and the available insurance policies. We’ll review the details of your situation to provide an estimated compensation range.
Economic Losses
Economic damages include all quantifiable financial losses, such as medical expenses, lost income, and property damage.
Non-Economic Losses
Non-economic damages compensate for emotional and psychological suffering. This can include PTSD, depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues that may require professional treatment.
Factors to Determine the Value of Your Truck Accident Case
Truck accident cases can pay for a range of damages after your crash:
- Medical bills
- Physical therapy costs
- Lost pay
- Future lost earnings
- Auto repair costs
- Pain and suffering.
Our attorneys can help you calculate the damages in your case. Never rely on the insurance company’s valuation.
For many of the economic damages, your bills and invoices will list the values. However, future lost earnings can be difficult to predict, and we may need to use financial experts.
Pain and suffering and other non-economic damages are higher for more serious injury cases. We can typically apply a multiplier, chosen based on your overall severity, to the other damages in your case. Otherwise, a per-day value for pain and suffering can be calculated.
Filing a Lawsuit After a Truck Accident
Some truck drivers engage in negligent behavior that leads to catastrophic accidents. When this happens, victims may be entitled to pursue compensation from the responsible parties.
Depending on the circumstances, you or your family may file a claim to recover economic and non-economic damages. This legal action can help you regain financial stability and access the resources needed for recovery.
Do You Sue a Trucking Company or the Driver for a Truck Accident?
When you are hit by a truck driver, the driver might seem to be the obvious target for your lawsuit. However, trucking companies might also share or even take full responsibility.
Trucking companies can be held liable if they did something wrong. Many cases involve these and other issues, which are the trucking company’s direct fault:
- Dangerous vehicles and equipment
- Skipped or delayed maintenance
- Negligent hiring
- Negligent retention of drivers
- Overscheduling and overworking drivers
- Overloading trucks
- Regulatory violations.
On top of this, a trucking company can be held vicariously liable as the driver’s employer. Companies and businesses only act through the people who work for the company, so the company can be held liable when its employees make mistakes.
This often allows us to sue trucking companies when their drivers cause accidents. However, some truckers are self-employed, so the buck stops with them.
The Statute of Limitations for Truck Accidents in the Bronx
You typically have three years from the date of a truck accident to file a lawsuit in the Bronx. However, waiting too long can jeopardize your case.
Acting quickly helps preserve evidence, identify all liable parties, and build a strong case. Our attorneys will ensure your claim is filed well within the legal timeframe to avoid the risk of being barred from recovery.
Assigning Liability in Bronx Truck Accident Cases
Due to vicarious liability, both truck drivers and trucking companies may be held responsible for the actions of their drivers. This can increase the amount of compensation available to victims.
Even if a truck driver was directly at fault, their employer may share liability. Employers are typically responsible for their workers’ actions if those actions occur during the scope of employment.
If the accident was caused by a mechanical failure, the trucking company could also be liable for negligent maintenance. In such cases, victims may even be eligible for punitive damages if gross negligence can be proven.
Some drivers operate as independent contractors. In these cases, the trucking company may avoid liability, but you can still bring a claim against the individual driver. Our attorneys can identify the correct parties to sue.
Proving Fault in a Bronx Truck Accident
To recover damages, you must prove that another party’s negligence caused your injuries. This requires satisfying the following legal elements:
Duty of Care
We must show that the truck driver or company owed you a duty of care. This is typically straightforward and involves placing the driver at the scene and proving they were operating the vehicle.
Breach of Duty
Next, we must demonstrate that this duty was breached. Examples include speeding, distracted driving, or failing to inspect a vehicle. Evidence such as incident reports, camera footage, and witness statements can establish this.
Causation
You must prove the negligent act caused your injuries. Immediate photos of your injuries and witness testimony can help establish this connection.
Damages
Finally, you need to show that you suffered losses due to the accident. Keep medical bills, wage loss documentation, and other financial records to support your claim.
Truck Accidents and New York’s “Serious Injury Threshold” (I.S.C. Law § 5102(d))
The impact of a truck accident can cause life-altering injuries. These injuries often warrant litigation in the Bronx.
Common injuries include broken bones, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, burns, eye injuries, whiplash, internal injuries, and more. Brain and spinal injuries can be particularly devastating and may lead to permanent disability. Even seemingly minor injuries like whiplash may require medical treatments such as physical therapy. Diagnosis often involves expensive testing and imaging. When combined with treatment costs, victims may face serious financial hardship.
Because truck accident injuries are typically severe, victims often meet the serious injury threshold required for filing lawsuits in New York. Under I.S.C. Law § 5102(d), victims may only sue a negligent driver if their injuries meet the statutory criteria. Otherwise, compensation must be sought through personal injury protection (PIP) insurance or the negligent driver’s liability coverage.
Do You Need a Lawyer for a Bronx Truck Accident Case?
You should always work with a lawyer for any injury case. Insurance companies will often do what they can to take advantage of unrepresented parties, and our lawyers can stand up to them. We can also use our experience to help with your case.
It can be hard to know what your case is worth, and insurance companies will often drastically undervalue your claim. This means any settlement offers they make will be too low for your needs.
Our truck accident attorneys can…
- Help you see what your case is truly worth
- Gather evidence to support your claim
- Use strong legal arguments with a track record of success
- Negotiate for better settlements
- Use our experience to know when a settlement is fair
- Take the case to trial if a settlement cannot be reached.
Types of Truck Accidents We Handle
Whether you were injured near a construction site, on trash day, or along a shipping route, we can handle accident cases with any of these trucks:
- 18-wheelers/tractor-trailers/semi trucks
- Dump trucks
- Garbage trucks
- Box trucks
- Rental trucks
- Tow trucks
- Flatbed trucks
- Tanker trucks
- Delivery trucks.
Depending on the circumstances, who owns the truck, and who was driving, there may be a company operating the truck that we can also sue.
For example, garbage trucks and construction vehicles are almost certainly operated by a company. However, delivery drivers and long-haul truckers might be self-employed contractors. In those cases, their commercial driver’s insurance should still cover your injuries.
How Does Your Lawyer Get Paid in a Truck Accident Claim?
Many people are afraid to work with a lawyer because they fear up-front costs and expensive services. Our lawyers typically work on a contingency fee basis with truck accident cases, meaning we get paid from your winnings.
With this arrangement, we will only get paid if we win your case. Plus, paying from the winnings ensures you can afford a lawyer.
We will take only a percentage of your damages, and some cases can even involve punitive damages and other awards to cover attorney’s fees.
When Should I Call a Lawyer for a Truck Accident?
It is important to know when your case is serious enough to call a lawyer and when during the process you should call us.
Is My Case Worth Getting a Lawyer?
Any case involving serious injuries, lost earnings, or medical expenses is usually serious enough to get a lawyer involved.
It can be difficult to know what your case is worth, and getting insurance companies to pay for your full damages is hard. When you work with a lawyer, we can take care of all of this for you.
When to Call
In general, you should call a lawyer as soon as you can. This does not mean you have to call us from the scene of the crash or the second you wake up in the hospital. However, calling us within the first day or two after the accident is ideal.
There is a time limit to file your case but getting us involved in the first few days is important because we can help track down evidence like security camera footage. From there, we can continue building your case and file well before any deadlines could interfere.
How Long Does a Bronx Truck Accident Case Take?
From the day you get hurt to the day you get compensation, it could be weeks or months. There truly is no way of telling without examining the facts of your case how long it will take.
Even then, there are factors we can look at, but nothing is definitive. Cases often take longer when they involve more serious injuries, more expensive damages, and reluctant insurance companies. However, strong evidence and witness statements can push them to settle faster.
If the facts are on your side and the truck driver’s fault is quite obvious, we may be able to settle with the insurance company within a few months. However, they often like to drag out cases and hope you will give up, potentially lengthening your case.
Ultimately, trials themselves only take a few days in most cases, but it could be more than 6 months before your case gets to trial. Settling is almost always faster, but you should never settle without having our lawyers review the offer and negotiate for a fair deal.
Our Bronx Truck Accident Lawyers Can Help
Call The Carrion Law Firm at (718) 841-0083 for a free case review with an experienced truck accident attorney.
