Truck accidents often result in catastrophic injuries or fatalities. If you or a loved one has been injured in a truck accident, you are likely concerned about loss of income, how you are going to afford the medical bills and about your financial future. Because truck accidents can have a lasting impact on your physical and financial well-being, it is important that you seek the counsel of an experienced New York truck accident lawyer who will help you secure maximum compensation for your injuries, damages and losses.
Who is Liable in a Truck Accident?
In a truck accident case, it is important to identify who is at fault and who can be held liable. Typically, there are multiple parties who may potentially be held liable in commercial vehicle accidents and those involving large trucks.
In addition to the truck driver, the other parties that can be held liable or be required to compensate you in a truck accident injury case may include the trucking company, the truck owner, the company that may be leasing the truck or trailer, the truck parts manufacturer, the shipping or loading company, etc. The answer to who can be held liable in a truck accident usually depends on the facts and circumstances of the case.
A trucking company and its insurer will attempt to get you to settle quickly before you can contact a lawyer. It is in your best interest here to get legal representation and not handle the case on your own. Your attorney will carefully list all the damages from your accident including any expenses you may face in the future so you can be fully and fairly compensated.
How Settlement Amounts are Determined
Truck accidents tend to result in major losses for victims. This is particularly true if the victims have suffered severe or catastrophic injuries that prevent them from going back to work. The value or worth of a truck accident lawsuit/settlement depends on the severity of injuries suffered and the extent of negligence (carelessness) involved.
Here are some of the types of compensation that victims may be able to seek in a New York truck accident case:
Medical expenses: These include past, present and future medical expenses. This is crucial in serious injury cases because while victims may have present medical needs including surgery, medications and doctor visits, they may also need more care in the future in the form of additional surgeries, treatments and rehabilitative therapies.
Lost income and Benefits: If you have been injured in a truck accident, you may not be able to work for a significant period of time. Compensation for this may cover all the income you lost as a result of your accident injuries and for the duration of the lawsuit. In some cases, you may also be able to seek compensation of loss of earning capacity, especially if you have suffered catastrophic injuries and lifelong disabilities that prevent you from going back to work.
Pain and suffering: These are non-economic damages to compensate you for the toll your injuries take on your quality of life. The term “pain and suffering” refers to the physical pain and discomfort you are suffering as well as the emotional toll the injuries take on your well-being. Many victims also suffer psychological effects such as depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.
Loss of consortium: These damages include the benefits that one’s spouse or partner is entitled to receive from the other such as companionship, cooperation, affection, sexual relations and tasks around the house that the victim did prior to the accident, but is unable to perform now.
Punitive damages: These are damages meant to punish the responsible parties who are at fault for the crash. These are awarded in cases where there has been a blatant or an egregious amount of carelessness exhibited by the defendants.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you or a loved one has been injured in a truck accident, or if you have lost a loved one in a motor vehicle accident caused by a negligent or careless driver, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you.
For nearly 50 years, our skilled accident attorneys have established a proven track record of helping injured victims. Our law firm recently recovered $5,600,000 for a bicyclist who was hit by a van, and $2,550,000 for another victim of a truck accident, and $3,000,000 for a pedestrian who was hit by a car, and the full $1,000,000 insurance policy for a pedestrian who was hit by a truck, and $4,625,000 for a driver who was in a car and was hit by a van, and $2,500,000 for a man who fell through an improperly secured hole. Also, one of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury and/or medical malpractice cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Please visit us at: www.WORK4YOULAW.com