Cleveland Truck
Accident Lawyers

What Our Clients Say

Put Experience on Your Side

Our knowledge of industry regulations and driving rules gives us unique insight when handling big truck accident cases—from the perspectives of both truck and car drivers.

Like the entire legal team at Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy, our Cleveland truck accident lawyers are passionate about what we do. We care about our clients, and we’ll do everything we can to find out what caused you or your loved one’s accident and to hold those who caused the accident responsible.

Our legal team has experience with:

• Truck Accident Investigations
• Truck Accident Litigation
• Trial Preparation
• Wrongful Death Cases

Our experienced team of truck accident attorneys includes Jordan Lebovitz, Jamie Lebovitz, and David Paris, all of whom have been recognized by peers in the legal community for the hard work they’ve done for our clients

Who We Represent

Truck accidents don’t just affect car drivers; they also affect families, truck drivers, and even trucking company employees. A Cleveland truck accident lawyer at our firm can help if you are:

• the family member of someone killed in a truck accident,
• a driver or passenger in a car that was involved in a truck accident,
• a driver or passenger in a truck that was involved in a truck accident,
• a trucking company employee who was injured on the job (ex. loading dock accident),
• or are any injured victim (motorcyclist, pedestrian, or a bicyclist).

How We Investigate Ohio Truck Accident Cases

Investigating a truck accident is a time-sensitive matter. Key evidence from the accident can be lost or destroyed if not immediately preserved after the accident. As personal injury lawyers, it’s our job to find out why the accident happened and who is responsible.

At Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy, we have an experienced truck accident investigation team ready to start working on your case. We know what information to look for, where to look for it, and how to legally enforce the preservation of evidence in your case.

Types of Truck Accidents

Truck accidents come in various forms, each with its own causes and potential injuries.

• Jackknife Accidents: Occur when a truck’s cab and trailer fold in on each other, often due to sudden braking or loss of control.
• Rollover Accidents: Involve the truck tipping onto its side or roof, typically resulting from excessive speed, improper cargo loading, or sharp turns.
• Underride Accidents: Occur when a smaller vehicle becomes trapped under the rear or side of a truck, often due to inadequate underride guards.
• Head-on Collisions: Involve the front ends of two vehicles colliding, often resulting from driver fatigue, distraction, or impaired driving.

Critical Steps to Take Following a Truck Accident

After a truck accident, taking prompt and decisive action is crucial. Here are important steps to take after a truck accident:

• Check yourself and others for injuries.
• Immediately call emergency services.
• Notify the police to report the accident and ensure an official record is created.
• Document the scene by taking photographs of vehicle damage, road conditions, and any relevant signage or skid marks.
• Collect contact information from witnesses.
• Exchange details with the truck driver, including insurance information and employer details.
• Seek medical attention promptly, even if injuries seem minor, as some injuries may manifest later.

These steps are essential for ensuring safety, documenting the incident, and protecting your legal rights after a truck accident.

Legal Rights and Compensation

Victims of truck accidents have legal rights that may entitle them to seek compensation for their losses. Types of compensation may include:

• Medical expenses
• Lost wages
• Pain and suffering
• Property damage

The amount of compensation awarded depends on various factors, including the severity of injuries, long-term medical needs, loss of income, and the impact on the victim’s quality of life. An experienced truck accident attorney can guide victims through the legal process, advocate for their rights, and pursue maximum compensation.

Why We Need to Act Now

When performing an accident investigation, we need to act fast. Our truck accident lawyers and team of experts and investigators need to access the truck and other vehicles involved in the collision to ensure key evidence is preserved and collected to support your case.

Rules and regulations dictated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration only require the truck company to preserve evidence from the accident for a short period. The trucking company may destroy this evidence if you don’t have an Ohio truck accident lawyer protecting your rights.

Key Evidence We Collect

To preserve key evidence and best reconstruct the events surrounding the truck accident, our attorneys need access to:

Access to Government Records

All of this evidence can be used to build your case, and after careful analysis of evidence collected in the investigation process, we can pursue the damages you’re owed for your injuries.

If you need a lawyer after an 18-wheeler or commercial vehicle accident, call Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy at (216) 621-2300 or complete a free initial consultation form.

Preparing a Truck Accident Case for Trial

It’s crucial that the investigation begin immediately after an accident. Often, the trucking company sends a defense lawyer to the scene of the accident. The lawyer, Safety Director, and Risk Manager will start collecting evidence even when emergency responders are still actively investigating the scene.

Take action as soon as possible. When you call an Ohio truck accident lawyer at Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy, we will do everything we can to uncover the facts of your case so we can start preparing it for trial.

Your case will likely result in a settlement and a trial won’t be needed. However, we make sure every case is trial-ready so the opposing side knows we’re willing to take it all the way to court if necessary.

Steps Leading to Trial

Once you’ve met with your truck accident lawyer, our legal team will begin preparing your case through:

• Preservation of Evidence: Gathering and documenting evidence is critical to determining how and why an accident occurred. Evidence has been known to be lost or destroyed prematurely. We’ll issue preservation letters—or legal requests that the trucking company halt the destruction of evidence.
  
  
• Written Discovery: We’ll send written requests to the trucking company to obtain key documents, which are vital for deposition (oral testimony) purposes. During written discovery, we’ll also issue subpoenas—or written commands to appear in court—to any appropriate parties.
  
  
• Depositions: Taking oral testimony outside of court is known as a deposition. We’ll interview accident witnesses, crash investigators, enforcement officers, the truck driver (if you are an injured motorist), and trucking company employees, including dispatchers, the human resources manager, the director of maintenance, and the company owner.
  
  
• Mediation: Mediation is a negotiating tool to help resolve your case before trial. During mediation, attorneys from both sides meet to discuss the case. The plaintiff and defendant will also attend. The facts of the case are presented to a neutral person who serves as a mediator.
  
  
• Trial Exhibits: Before trial, we must also prepare trial exhibits to showcase evidence supporting your case to the judge and jury. Trial exhibits can include accident reconstruction animations, document blow-ups, electronic media presentations, and more.
  
  
• Expert Opinion Testimony: Our legal team may also collect reports and depositions from experts, such as accident reconstruction and civil engineers, lighting specialists, and medical professionals. Testimony from these experts can help prove that the other party was at fault in your accident.

We’ll prepare this information as thoroughly as possible to present the strongest portrayal of your case. The judge and jury will respond positively to honesty and credibility. As Ohio truck accident attorneys, it’s our job to educate the judge and jury on the facts of your case.

Frequently Asked Questions About Ohio Truck Accident Cases

Types of Commercial Vehicles

From tow trucks and tanks to garbage trucks and tractor trailers, there are a variety of large trucks that are considered CMVs, including:

• Single-Unit Trucks: Trucks with two, three, or more axles.
• Combination Unit Trucks: Truck tractors (a “bobtail” or tractor-trailer without a trailer), trucks pulling trailers, truck tractors pulling semi-trailers, truck tractors pulling two trailers, and truck tractors pulling three trailers.
• Cargo Trucks: Vans, livestock/auto carriers, flatbed trucks, lowboys, pole/logging trucks, tanks, dump trucks, garbage trucks, cement mixers, and more.

Common Causes of Truck Accidents in Ohio

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and other organizations have regulations in place designed to keep motorists and truckers safe from the common causes of truck accidents. Violation of these regulations can put truckers and other motorists in danger.

Some of these regulations pertain to:

Unsafe Driving

The FMCSA considers driving a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) in a careless or dangerous manner as unsafe. Contributing circumstances to unsafe driving can include:

• Speeding
• Erratic Driving
• Distracted Driving
• Fatigued or drowsy driving
• Improper Vehicle Maintenance
• Safety Management Systems
• Out-of-Service Order

Fatigued Drivers/Hours of Service Requirements (HOS)

Hours-of-Service (HOS) requirements limit the number of hours a CMV driver can drive consecutively. When these regulations are not followed, fatigued drivers can suffer:

• Dull vision
• Impaired judgment
• Inability to communicate
• Memory lapses
• Slow reaction and response time
• and more

To ensure drivers follow HOS regulations, they are required to maintain a Driver’s Logbook, which details the hours driven; however, some drivers have been known to keep false logbook entries. Many motor carriers require their trucks to have electric on-board recording (EOBR) devices, which tally the number of hours driven.

Poor Driver Fitness

To ensure truck drivers are physically qualified to operate CMVs, they must undergo pre-employment medical screening. Drivers also are required to undergo proper training and supervision. Examples of unfit drivers—or those considered a hazard to themselves and other vehicles on the road—include those who:

• Have Poor Vision: The FMCSA requires drivers to have a visual acuity of at least 20/40 in each eye, either without glasses or with correction from lenses; have a horizontal field of vision of no less than a total of 140 degrees; have the ability to distinguish the colors red, green, yellow, and more.
• Use Drugs and Alcohol: No driver should participate in the excessive use of alcohol or be addicted to the use of narcotics or habit-forming drugs.
• Sleep Apnea: Drivers with sleep apnea must undergo proper medical evaluations to ensure that they do not suffer from daytime drowsiness, which may lead to fatigue-related crashes.

Cargo-Related Violations

Hauling cargo that is too heavy for the rig in use or improperly securing cargo can lead to deadly accidents involving other motorists. The FMCSA has regulations in place to prevent:

• Load falling
• Load shifting
• Load spilling
• Overhanging loads
• Overloaded trucks
• Wide loads

No matter what caused your accident, our job as Cleveland semi-truck accident attorneys is to determine what factors contributed to the crash so we can hold the responsible party accountable.

Resources for Trucking Laws and Regulations

Commercial Drivers’ License Handbook

Learn about what commercial truck drivers in Ohio need to do to keep motorists and truck drivers safe and legal.

Department of Transportation (DOT)

Find out how the DOT is doing its part to keep America’s transportation systems fast, efficient, accessible, and convenient.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)

Visit the FMCSA, a division of the DOT, to learn about what it takes to obtain a commercial driver’s license, read data and analysis, seek safety assistance, and more.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

Visit the NHTSA to learn how this agency directs highway safety and consumer programs to prevent crashes.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)

Find out why this independent government agency promotes transportation safety by determining the probable cause of transportation accidents and assisting victims and their families.

Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA)

Learn about how this division of the DOT is responsible for coordinating research and education programs and how it is working to bring advanced technologies into the transportation system.

Local Resources for Trucking Laws

Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles

Find out what you need to operate a vehicle in Ohio legally. Here, you can find information about vehicle licensing, titling, and registration, as well as all the forms and contact information you need to get on the road.

Ohio Department of Public Safety

Keeping Ohio’s roadways safe isn’t just the federal government’s responsibility. Learn how this department provides public protection through education, prevention, technology, and enforcement activities.

Ohio State Highway Patrol

If you’re in an accident, the Ohio State Highway Patrol will likely be there to help. Visit this website to find out who enforces traffic laws promoting safety on Ohio’s highways.

Speak to a Cleveland Truck Accident Lawyer Today

If you’re ready to explore your legal options, we are ready to talk about your case. Contact a Cleveland, Ohio truck accident attorney at Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy to schedule a free, no-obligation case assessment.