When someone gets into an accident with a commercial truck, it’s almost always the smaller vehicle that comes out worse. These trucks are massive and generate far more damage compared to other kinds of vehicles.
That’s why drivers and their employers are required to carry larger insurance policies.If you’ve been a victim of a truck accident, we can help you. The Melbourne truck accident lawyers of SKG can get you compensation for the injuries, lost wages, and other damages you’ve suffered because of a trucker’s negligent driving.
Reach out today to learn more about how our personal injury lawyers in Melbourne can help.
Why You Need an Experienced Truck Accident Lawyer on Your Side
While any motor vehicle accident can result in severe injuries and complex legal cases, collisions involving large commercial trucks tend to be particularly devastating. Due to the massive size and weight of semi-trucks, the damage they can inflict on smaller passenger vehicles is catastrophic.
Truck accident cases also introduce additional legal complexities that make having an experienced trucking accident attorney necessary, including:
Complex Trucking Regulations
The trucking industry is governed by a web of state and federal regulations related to things like:
- Hours of service
- Maintenance
- Cargo loads
- Licensing
- Inspections
Trucking companies and drivers who violate these rules can be held liable. Our attorneys know these regulations inside and out.
Dealing With Liability Issues
When a truck driver causes an accident, not only are they potentially liable, but so is the trucking company that employed them under the legal doctrine of vicarious liability. Other parties can also be held responsible. These may include:
- Cargo loaders
- Other motorists
- Maintenance providers
- Truck manufacturers
Your Melbourne truck accident lawyer can identify all responsible parties. This allows truck accident victims to pursue compensation from the company’s higher insurance policy limits.
Overcoming Strong Opposition
Trucking companies and their insurers are motivated to avoid accountability and minimize payouts at all costs after a serious crash. They have vast resources to fight even legitimate claims. You need an equally fierce legal advocate to stand up against their tactics.
Conducting Thorough Investigations
To build a strong case, your personal injury attorney needs to perform an exhaustive investigation, gathering evidence often only available for a short period, such as data from the truck’s black box (EDR Data), driver’s logs, dashcam footage, company safety records, and more. This requires experience and resources.
Pursuing the Maximum Compensation
The physical and financial impacts of truck accident injuries like brain trauma, spinal cord injuries, amputations and more are devastating and permanent.
Valuing this harm accurately requires accounting for a lifetime of diminished quality of life, disabilities, loss of earnings, future care costs, and more.
Your truck accident attorney in Melbourne can evaluate these losses thoroughly and build a claim backed by evidence to prove your losses. This complex calculation ensures you receive appropriate compensation.
Level the Playing Field
The reality is that trucking companies and their insurers have an army of attorneys working relentlessly to protect their bottom lines.
You need an equally persistent and knowledgeable legal team fighting tirelessly for your rights as the victim. Never attempt to take on these massive companies alone – the stakes are too high.
More people choose The Schiller Kessler Group because they know that we’re a cut above other personal injury law firms.
Florida’s No-Fault Insurance and Truck Accidents
Florida is a no-fault insurance state. In these states, the first place to turn after any vehicle accident is your own insurance company. Your PIP coverage will pay for some of the damages you’ve suffered, but it may not be enough because of how damaging truck accidents can be.
Florida’s PIP coverage is unique because it will only pay up to 80% of your medical costs. You must cover the other 20%. Your health insurance may cover it, or it might not. There are also limits to how much you can receive in lost wages.
One more unique thing about Florida insurance is that you must have sustained a permanent injury to pursue a personal injury case for a car accident. If you haven’t suffered a permanent injury, you won’t have grounds to sue the negligent party.
No matter what time of day it is, you can contact The Schiller Kessler Group to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation.
How Do I Prove Negligence in a Truck Accident Claim?
With the help of a Melbourne truck accident lawyer, you will need to prove four things to win a truck accident claim or lawsuit. The first three prove that someone else harmed you, and the last proves how much they should pay you so you can get justice.
Duty of Care
The duty of care is the reasonable care we owe other people when we’re interacting with them. Reasonable drivers want to avoid getting hurt in a collision, so they’ll follow the traffic laws and don’t act recklessly. All drivers have an automatic legal duty of care toward everyone else on the road.
Therefore, it’s simply proving who was driving the truck that hit you. If they were on the clock, their employer may also be liable since employers are responsible for their employee’s actions.
Breach of Duty
The second thing to prove is that whoever had the duty broke it and put others in danger. Breaking traffic laws is an obvious breach, but it can also be things like poor vehicle maintenance or an employer forcing unsafe work practices on their workers.
Police reports, time sheets, dash cams, and even black box recorders can give our lawyers evidence to prove a breach of duty happened and put you in danger.
Causation
We’ve all done negligent things while on the road, but not all of them cause an accident. They just have the potential to do that. The third thing we must show is that the breach of duty caused your accident. If these three things are proven, then negligence happened and we can hold the defendant liable.
Damages
What are they liable for? The costs you’ve suffered because of your accident are called damages. These are both economic, like your medical bills, and non-economic, like your pain and suffering. Along with proving negligence, part of our job as your Melbourne truck accident attorney is calculating the true costs of your damages.
What Can I Get Compensated For After a Truck Accident?
Victims of truck accidents face incredible amounts of pain and disruption to their lives. They also take an enormous financial hit. Medical bills, car replacement, and lost time at work can deplete a family’s savings quickly. Compensation pays for these costs, known as damages in legal speak.
You can get paid for both economic and non-economic damages through a personal injury lawsuit. Adding up the value of all of your damages is an important part of your lawyer’s job. Once they know how much your case is worth, they can begin negotiating with the insurance company for a fair settlement amount.
Damages in a truck accident claim can include:
- Medical expenses
- Property damage
- Lost wages
- Loss of enjoyment
- Loss of consortium
- Pain and suffering
If the insurance company decides they won’t want to pay what you’re owed, we’ll take them to court and let a judge and jury decide. Without the threat of court, insurance companies would force victims to take much smaller settlements. Hiring a Melbourne truck accident attorney is the surest way to get the most from your accident.
Is Hiring a Truck Accident Attorney in Melbourne Expensive?
Anyone can hire help from a truck accident lawyer in Melbourne even if they have no income. How is this possible? It’s because of our contingency fee system. You only pay us if you win your case and we only get paid from your settlement or award.
We take a percentage of whatever you win. The amount is based on the difficulty of your case.
That may seem like a lot, but any competent lawyer can explain to you how they’ll get you more money than you would on your own even after the fee. No lawyer wants to leave their client with less than they deserve, and no lawyer deserves a fee if they cannot win.
Contact a Melbourne Truck Accident Law Firm for a Free Consultation
Our attorneys know how hard truck insurance companies fight back against claims. You need aggressive legal advocacy on your side. To get started, contact the Schiller Kessler Group for a free case evaluation and consultation.
We’ll explain your legal options and how we can help you. There is no obligation to use our services if you call us for a consultation. Let us give you the information to make a smart choice about how to proceed after your truck accident. Call us now.
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