Truck accidents can be devastating events, potentially causing property damage, life-changing injuries, and fatalities. These incidents present numerous legal challenges due to complex regulations, life-altering ramifications, and the involvement of multiple parties, but thanks to technological developments, legal knowledge and skills, and case experience, attorneys are finding ways of overcoming these obstacles. Learn the legal trends and challenges for truck accident lawyers, and discover how a knowledgeable Missouri personal injury lawyer can assist truck accident victims with their legal queries; contact the legal team at Steelman Gaunt Crowley today by calling (573) 341-8336.
Understanding Truck Accidents
Trucks are logistically significant since they play a vital role in goods distribution and delivery, but despite this, they can cause substantial damage in an accident in terms of injuries and property damage due to their weight and size, which can exacerbate the severity of these incidents; according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), 4,588 fatalities involving large buses and trucks in the United States occurred in 2020, with most of these deaths being the occupants of passenger vehicles, per the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Several factors contribute to these events, including driver fatigue, distracted driving, overloaded vehicles, human error, adverse weather conditions, and mechanical failures.
In addition to causing severe injuries and fatalities, truck accidents have other consequences extending beyond physical harm. These range from emotional and financial to societal impacts, such as raising insurance premiums, causing direct financial costs to victims, requiring lengthy negotiations and court cases to resolve, and clogging traffic systems.
Legal Challenges of Truck Accidents
Pursuing a truck accident claim presents many legal challenges. Below is a list of these difficulties and tips for overcoming them.
Multiple Party Involvement
Truck collisions can potentially involve several parties, such as trucking companies, truck drivers, cargo companies, other drivers, government entities, and truck manufacturers, leading to complex liability determinations and legal proceedings. Victims of trucking accidents may want to think about hiring an attorney well-versed in cases where there are potentially multiple liable parties. Some of these complications are as follows:
- Involvement of specialist witnesses providing technical and scientific evidence, ranging from accident reconstruction professionals and doctors to law enforcement officials, accident statisticians, and truck mechanics
- Increased chances of litigation due to one or more parties refusing to settle, contesting liability percentages, underpaying or rejecting claims, denying liability, and delaying payouts
- Possibility of liable parties filing cross-claims against one another to offset potential damages paid to the victim; these range from blaming other parties for the incident, demanding other liable parties contribute more compensation, and counterclaims to these cross-complaints
- Complicated process due to collecting evidence from multiple, diverse parties and simultaneous negotiations with several individuals and entities, as well as heightened bureaucracy if the case involves dealing with state entities and large corporations
- Complex insurance issues because of the involvement of multiple insurers with different policies, insufficient coverage thresholds, and negotiations with several insurers at the same time
- Involvement of multiple lawyers all trying to limit their client’s liability, reduce payouts, and contest allegations, resulting in adversarial legal proceedings and tactics designed to suppress claims
- Application of liability legal principles, such as several and joint liability (the former involves multiple parties paying an allocated liability percentage, whereas the latter is when an injured party recovers damages from the multiple parties individually or collectively, irrespective of partial culpability), can lead to compensation disputes regarding liability allocation
Federal Regulations
Many regulations apply to the trucking industry aiming to facilitate safe driving, including the FMCSA’s federal regulations, governing truck maintenance, safety standards, and driver hours. To effectively determine whether a truck driver or trucking company violated these regulations, and that this violation contributed to a trucking collision, a thorough understanding of federal trucking regulations is necessary.
Explore the legal trends and challenges associated with truck accidents in more detail, and find out how truck accident lawyers can help individuals injured in one of these incidents. Reach out to Steelman Gaunt Crowley today to schedule a consultation with an experienced Missouri personal injury attorney.
Insurer Tactics
To reduce insurance payouts, some insurers of trucking companies may adopt certain tactics, such as denying responsibility, submitting low settlement offers, and claiming the injuries of the victim are less serious than they are. Trucking accident victims may want to consider hiring an attorney to overcome this hurdle; they can predict these strategies and effectively negotiate on their client’s behalf to obtain a favorable settlement reflecting the victim’s damages in terms of lost wages, property damage, pain and suffering, and medical expenses, and if settling is not a possibility, resulting in taking the case to court, they can assist with case preparation and legal representation.
Evidence Collation and Preservation
Truck accident claims can be challenging to prove, requiring consistent evidence collation and preservation to improve the chances of success. However, by efficiently performing trucking record checks, reconstructing accidents, inspecting vehicles, reviewing driver log books, traffic violations, training history, accident reports, and vehicles’ electronic logging devices (ELDs), analyzing weather conditions, and gathering witness statements, it is possible to obtain the necessary evidence before it becomes lost or unusable.
Utilizing Technology in Truck Accident Claims
The ways of handling truck accident claims are evolving because of modern technology, such as GPS tracking, virtual courtrooms, and high-resolution cameras, improving the accessibility and efficiency of legal processes, case management, and evidence collection. Here is an overview of these considerations.
Digital Evidence Gathering
Lawyers can effectively capture detailed and accurate truck accident-related data with technology, such as accident scene imagery and vehicle data from GPS tracking, telematics systems, and high-resolution cameras. This type of digital evidence-gathering can help make investigations more thorough and strengthen legal claims.
Forensics and Data Analysis
Data analytics and forensic tools enable attorneys to reconstruct accident scenarios, analyze collision data, and identify patterns. Moreover, the software allows lawyers to forensically examine digital records, like vehicle telemetry and driving logs, assisting with liability determinations and damage assessments, which can help them gain greater insight into the incident and support their legal arguments.
Case Management
Case management applications help attorneys track deadlines, effectively manage communications, and organize documents and evidence, and these packages often include automated systems that streamline document handling and scheduling. This software improves workflow and minimizes administrative burdens, which leads to improved case management and client outcomes.
Legal Research
Modern technology has also improved legal research; for example, online legal research tools and databases provide immediate access to legal precedents and statutes, and advanced analytical tools and search functions enable attorneys to perform detailed and efficient legal research. This helps attorneys to develop sound legal strategies, allowing them to effectively handle complicated truck accident claims.
Virtual Mediation and Courtroom
Remote mediations and court hearings are now possible thanks to technological advancements, improving efficiency and access to justice. Clients and their attorneys can participate in these events from anywhere, which reduces costs and saves time, and because of virtual platforms, communication is smoother, helping to speed up case resolution.
Client Accessibility and Support
Technology use can also improve client accessibility and support in cases involving trucking accidents. For instance, communication tools and online platforms help clients stay up-to-date with their cases’ progress and facilitate attorney-to-client engagement, while secure portals and virtual consultations boost legal service access. In addition, technology usage ensures clients can receive prompt support even when they cannot visit their attorneys in person.
Challenges with Technology Use
Despite its benefits, the increasing use of technology in truck accident cases presents several challenges, such as cybersecurity risks, costing the global economy billions of dollars a year, and data privacy. Moreover, effectively managing these tools requires technology literacy and attorneys must take steps to safeguard evidence’s confidentiality and integrity.
Arrange a Consultation With a Knowledgeable Missouri Personal Injury Attorney Today
Motor vehicle accidents in general can be complex and devastating, and this becomes more so when they involve trucks, presenting unique challenges ranging from convoluted federal regulations, insurer negotiations, and the involvement of expert witnesses to liability disputes. Attorneys can help overcome these challenges by utilizing technology, as well as their skills, knowledge, and experience in litigation, negotiation, relevant laws, investigation, and determining liable parties. Find out more concerning the legal challenges and trends of truck accidents, and learn about the legal options available to truck accident victims; call a knowledgeable Missouri personal injury attorney from Steelman Gaunt Crowley today at (573) 341-8336.
