If you’ve been in a tractor trailer collision, your injuries and property damage losses could be devastating. However, if someone else was responsible for the accident, you could have legal options to seek compensation.
A Palm Bay personal injury lawyer can manage your case while you focus on recuperating. You don’t have to deal with your legal challenges on your own. At the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine, we can determine your damages and fight for the fair recovery you deserve.
Palm Bay Tractor-Trailer Accidents
With so many large trucks driving on the highways today, it’s not surprising that there would be numerous accidents involving tractor-trailers. In fact, there are millions of trucks driving on the road in a typical day.
In 2019, there were 5,005 fatal semi-truck wrecks on American roads, per the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). This represents a two percent increase from the previous year’s fatal crash numbers. Additionally, the number of semi-trucks involved in injury crashes increased by six percent in 2019 compared with 2018 data.
Drivers in Palm Bay and across the country are seeing increased numbers of serious accidents related to tractor-trailers, and injury victims can seek compensation for their losses.
Common Injuries and Recoverable Damages in a Tractor-Trailer Accident
Whenever you get into an accident with a large tractor-trailer, the damages and injuries are sure to be substantial. The average weight of a tractor-trailer is 80,000 pounds. All that weight barreling into you could be devastating. Some of the injuries that may occur include:
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- Spinal injury or paralysis
- Amputation of a limb
- Broken bones
- Whiplash or neck injuries
- Burns and lacerations
- Cuts and bruises
These are some of the injuries you may incur, but you could have others as well. When these injuries happen, you will have losses, which are referred to as damages in legal terms. These damages may be economic or non-economic in nature.
Economic damages refer to the monetary losses you incur due to being injured. This would include things like your doctor bills, hospital stays, loss of income from being out of work, and other miscellaneous costs.
Non-economic damages refer to the losses that pertain to your quality of life. These could be pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of pleasure in doing the things you used to do, loss of companionship, and so on. Your attorney will use a special formula to determine how much you can seek for non-economic damages.
Can You Get Punitive Damages?
In addition to the damages listed above, in some instances, you may be able to seek punitive damages. These damages are awarded when a person acted extremely negligently or maliciously, and they are intended to punish the wrongdoer and discourage future misconduct.
Though these damages are rarely awarded in injury cases, you could be able to seek punitive damages if the truck driver’s conduct was especially egregious.
A Lawyer from Our Team Can Handle Your Palm Bay Tractor-Trailer Accident Case
When you’re recovering from major injuries, you may not want to handle your legal case on your own. One of our tractor-trailer accident lawyers serving Palm Bay can handle your case for you. We can:
- Assess your losses and damages
- Investigate your crash and gather crucial evidence
- Demonstrate the other party’s liability
- Handle all communications and negotiations with the other party
- Take your case to jury trial if the liable party doesn’t make a fair offer
In a tractor-trailer accident, you may be facing off against a major trucking company’s insurance representatives—and this can be a complicated legal task.
Our team knows how to handle these complex cases and will not back down in the face of a tough case. When you hire our team, you can rest assured that we will fight tirelessly for what you deserve.
Additionally, our attorneys are personable and will be easy to reach throughout your case. You’ll even have their personal phone number so you can stay updated on your case at all times.
Reasons for Tractor-Trailer Accidents
Why do tractor-trailers get into accidents so often? Several forms of driver error could lead to a large truck crash, including the following:
- Non-Performance: A non-performance cause means that the driver did not perform the duty of driving properly because they either fell asleep or had some other medical or physical emergency that rendered them unable to operate the truck.
- Recognition: This cause relates to not recognizing a dangerous situation outside the truck due to being inattentive or distracted. By failing to recognize the situation, an accident occurred.
- Decision: A wrong decision involves anything from driving too fast for conditions to following too closely behind another vehicle or misjudging the speed of another vehicle.
- Performance: A performance issue occurs when a driver does something like panicking, jerks the vehicle too hard when turning, overcompensates when avoiding something in the road, and so on.
Obviously, there are a multitude of other associated factors that can cause a truck to crash. These include:
- Brake issues
- Traffic flow interruption, such as congestion or a previous crash
- Lack of familiarity with the roads
- Roadway problems
- Cargo load failures
- Other mechanical issues with the vehicle
Our attorneys will investigate your case to build evidence of negligence—either on the part of the driver, the trucking company, or another party. If someone else’s mistake caused your crash, you deserve to seek compensation.
Seek Help From a Palm Bay Tractor-Trailer Accident Lawyer
If you have been in an accident due to a tractor-trailer truck, you have options for reclaiming the damages you’ve incurred. Don’t let another day go by without seeking advice about how you can reclaim your losses. Reach out to the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine and talk to a Palm Bay tractor-trailer accident lawyer’s team. One of our attorneys is ready to advocate for your case.
At the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine, you will receive a free, no-obligation case assessment, and you don’t have to pay anything until the case is won. A responsive team member is ready to answer all your pressing questions. Contact us today.
We Can Help.
