Who is Liable for Your Medical Bills After a Truck Crash?

While getting compensation after a crash is never simple, your average car crash claim is a lot simpler than a truck crash claim. Whether a minor fender bender or serious head-on collision, car accidents typically only involve two potentially at-fault individuals and their respective insurance companies. But after a crash involving a truck, you aren’t only dealing with the driver and their insurance, or even just their employer and their insurance. There are a huge number of parties who could have played a part in the crash. It can even seem like you are taking on the trucking industry itself to get the money you need to put your life back together.

The Complexity of Truck Accidents

After a crash involving a truck, you likely need significant, and expensive, medical treatment. You may even be disabled for a long period of time, or even permanently, due to your injuries. You need compensation to cover the vast expenses you’ll face both now and in the future. Commercial truck drivers, companies, and owners are required to carry significantly higher insurance policies than passenger vehicle owners for exactly this purpose. But that doesn’t mean those insurance companies are happy to pay victims the money they deserve. Experienced truck accident attorneys know the laws that commercial truck drivers, owners, and companies must abide by, making it easier to prove your accident was the result of another person’s or party’s negligence, and not your fault. To learn who can be held liable after a truck accident, click the image below to access our free guide to truck accident liability.

Why Truck Accidents Are Unique

While truck drivers have to follow the same traffic laws as drivers of passenger vehicles, including laws regarding speeding, driving while intoxicated, and texting while driving, truck drivers are also required to abide by many additional state and federal laws. Truck drivers are required to carry a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), which must be renewed every six months. These additional laws and licensing requirements are because trucks are significantly heavier, more difficult to control, and harder to bring to a stop. All of which means that when trucks crash or collide with pedestrians, motorcycles, or passenger vehicles, the damage to people and property can be severe, even deadly. These laws are intended to prevent situations that could cause accidents. Road laws surrounding commercial trucks are enforced by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and the Department of Transportation of each state. These laws govern things such as how many hours a trucker can drive in a consecutive stretch, how much weight a tractor trailer can haul, who is qualified to drive a commercial vehicle, and more.

Contact Our Team with Your Questions

Truck accidents are not like car accidents, and not just any auto accident attorney will know how to navigate the complex chain of potential liable parties after a truck accident to prove fault. To ensure you get the total compensation you need to put your life back together after a devastating truck crash, contact the team at Nurenberg Paris today. Our Ohio truck accident attorneys know the trucking industry from the inside out, and we want to help you fight back when negligent trucking companies try to point the finger another way.

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