What’s the Difference Between Car Accident and Truck Accident Attorneys?
If you are ever involved in an accident with a commercial truck or 18-wheeler, you might be tempted to call the car accident lawyer you’ve seen on those memorable TV commercials. It may seem like car and truck crashes are handled the same way from a legal perspective, but in fact truck crashes are unique, highly specialized lawsuits.
Truck Accidents are Often More Complex and Serious
We’ll start with the obvious—commercial trucks are bigger (often weighing 20 to 30 times more than the average passenger vehicle), so there’s a good chance more damage will be done in an accident. The impact of a truck is much greater than that of a car and can cause very serious injuries, including:
- Head injuries, including traumatic brain injuries
- Neck and back injuries
- Broken bones
- Spinal cord injuries and paralysis
- Internal injuries
- Lacerations
- Amputated limbs or extremities
- Burns
- Torso and rib injuries
- Seatbelt and airbag injuries
What truly differentiates a truck accident is the complexity of who is involved with the lawsuit. In a car crash, you’re dealing with an individual—in a truck accident, you’re also suing the trucking company and dealing with their insurance company, as well as potentially the truck manufacturer. Plus, trucking and insurance companies often have highly trained lawyers representing them, who are skilled in having their clients avoid paying out large settlements in accidents.
An Intense Investigation
In car accidents, the cause is usually driver negligence. Meanwhile, determining the cause of a truck accident can be a tricky task.
The cause of the accident may be:
- Truck design flaws
- Failed truck parts
- Negligent hiring process or supervision
- Negligent drivers (including driver distraction or inattention, speeding, fatigue, impairment and driver miscalculations)
- Poor truck maintenance leading to malfunctions
- Unreasonable or unsafe delivery requirements
Because of this, the investigation phase is very involved. From inspecting the truck, to interviewing witnesses, to examining the trucking company’s records, there are many necessary steps in ensuring the true cause is determined.
You’ve Got Strength In Your Corner
Whether you’re in a car and truck accident, the team at Slack Davis Sanger is experienced in both. We have special tools that differentiate us from many catastrophic accident lawyers—for example, drone footage of the crash, satellite data from the truck’s on-board computer and security footage and data from the impacted vehicle. This data can find skid marks on the road, discover speed limits before impact and other key details in discovering the cause of the incident.
Additionally, whereas many car accident attorneys are focused on getting a quick settlement, the knowledgeable attorneys at Slack Davis Sanger are willing to seek out the best possible compensation for their clients—even if that means going to trial. While landing on a settlement may be the easiest path, Slack Davis Sanger is experienced in recognizing the multiple avenues of a lawsuit that could result in a much more lucrative ruling.
The firm handles cases involving catastrophic personal injuries and deaths. Our work spans three decades of handling airplane and helicopter crashes, truck and car accidents, oilfield and construction accidents, and other devastating accidents. We try lawsuits throughout the country in both federal and state courts and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for our clients. To date, we have handled or tried cases in 47 states, read more about our attorneys and firm.