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Milwaukee Truck Accident Lawyer
A wreck with a semi-truck can leave you permanently disabled and facing a mountain of medical debt and repair bills. To get full compensation from the negligent party, work with a Milwaukee commercial truck accident lawyer.
Large commercial trucks, such as semis and dump trucks, are responsible for thousands of accidents every year, leaving many people tragically killed and seriously injured. Because of the convoluted nature of truck crash liability, it can be difficult for crash victims to receive fair and full settlements for what they’ve been through.
The catastrophic injuries of an 18-wheeler accident can drastically alter the course of your life and drain your finances dry in no time. If you have been injured or a loved one has died as a result of a collision with a large truck, the services of a Milwaukee truck accident lawyer from the Law Offices of Gary Greenberg can help enable you to receive a full settlement from the parties responsible.
Wisconsin’s Personal Injury Statute of Limitations
A statute of limitations is the time period that you have in which to file a claim seeking financial damages for an accident or injury. In Wisconsin, you have three years, which might seem like adequate time, but in the midst of a serious injury and its recovery, that deadline can easily slip by.
After a semi-truck wreck, you need to immediately contact a Milwaukee semi accident lawyer to discuss your case and the possibility of filing a personal injury lawsuit. Keep in mind that many injuries may not immediately present themselves or seem serious until months or years later, but it is much easier for your legal team to collect evidence and interview witnesses immediately after the crash.
Who Was at Fault for Your Semi-Truck Crash?
As mentioned, the shipping industry and accidents related to 18-wheelers and other large trucks can be very complicated. One reason for this is the sheer number of entities involved with any given commercial vehicle.
We have to consider the roles of the truck driver, the trucking company, the truck’s owner, the manufacturer of the truck and its parts, the loaders of the cargo, the maintenance company, and potentially even the government. Any one—or even many—of these entities may bear part of the blame for what happened.
While it may have seemed that the truck driver may have caused the accident, it’s not always so simple. Because the truck driver was trained and put to work by their employer, their employer is liable for the actions of their employees. While there are exceptions, such as injuries caused by unrelated criminal activities, you’ll likely need to look beyond the driver.
If there are multiple parties that should be held liable, it is important to identify them and name them in your lawsuit, as doing so will maximize your potential compensation.
Causes of Commercial Truck Wrecks
While most truck drivers are responsible motorists, others are not. Factors such as distance quotas and speed bonuses may encourage unsafe behavior. This can include driving while drowsy, while intoxicated, or while distracted, or driving recklessly fast.
When you’re dealing with a truck crash claim, finding the cause of your crash can help you determine who’s liable for your claim, too. For example, negligent actions by the truck driver might be the responsibility of the driver or their employer. However, an accident caused by faulty brakes isn’t the fault of the driver. Instead, it may be the fault of the brakes manufacturer.
Your Milwaukee truck wreck lawyer will investigate your collision and determine whether any of the following factors were at play:
- Tight schedules can encourage speeding, driving while fatigued, and even stimulant use. We can evaluate the driver’s logbook to verify or disprove the amount of time a driver has spent on the road and determine whether the logbook has been falsified.
- Distracted truck drivers cause just as many accidents as distracted drivers of other vehicles.
- Driving while intoxicated or under the influence of any controlled substance is much more deadly while behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer.
- Driving aggressively can take the form of tailgating, swerving across the center line, intentionally blocking paths, or throwing objects.
- Improper maintenance or defective parts can lead to a breakdown, shortly followed by a collision.
- Unbalanced, overloaded, and otherwise improperly loaded trucks can lead to tire blowouts and lost loads at the worst possible times.
- Negligent hiring due to inadequate background checks or drug screenings can make the trucking company partially at fault.
Injuries Common to 18-Wheeler Wrecks
From head, neck, and back injuries to broken bones and internal damage, any motor vehicle accident, such as with a car or motorcycle, can cause you serious harm, but a collision involving a semi-truck is much more likely to.
A major cause of these serious injuries is the sheer size of a commercial truck. These semi-trucks may be several times the size of your own vehicle, and the force of that impact may be more serious than a collision with a car or motorcycle, for example.
Keep in mind, too, that many of these 18-wheelers are carrying hazardous materials, like gasoline. When an accident involving these hazardous substances happens, you’re also at an increased risk for related injuries. Gasoline can catch fire, for instance, and cause burns during the truck wreck.
Your Milwaukee truck accident attorney will work closely with your doctors to determine the extent of your injuries, how long your recovery will take, any possible long-term effects, and what your treatments will cost. Listed below are just a few of the injuries that you may have experienced:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spine and neck injuries
- Amputated limbs
- Damage to internal organs
- Broken and fractured bones
- Severe burns
How Much Are My Truck Crash Injuries Worth?
Your Milwaukee truck accident attorney will help you uncover all of the ways that your injury and accident will impact your life and finances. Your injuries may affect your professional and personal relationships for the rest of your life. This can mean dramatic changes to your future earnings, and the medical expenses could easily bury you in debt in the meantime.
One of your first concerns will likely be the bills that are piling up because of your accident. The financial costs of your accident, or economic damages, can grow quickly. You’ll need medical care, of course, but you’ll also need compensation for your vehicle, which likely sustained serious damage. When dealing with a truck accident, it can be easy to be overwhelmed and forget some of your expenses.
Your non-economic damages, unfortunately, won’t be so simple as keeping up with your bills. These damages are intangible, which means that while they didn’t harm you financially, they did impact your quality of life. Your injuries might leave you with severe pain, for example, or the emotional trauma of the wreck might leave you unable to drive.
After your accident, make sure you’re getting the full compensation you deserve by contacting an attorney. They can review your injuries and damages, making sure you’re getting your full compensation. You will be able to claim any of the following that apply to your case:
- Current and future medical expenses, including ambulance rides, medical procedures, hospital stays, specialists, physical therapy, medications, and medical equipment
- Income loss, including a diminished ability to work the same job or the same number of hours
- Modifications made to your home and vehicles for a new disability
- Pain and suffering from the truck accident and injury
- Emotional distress from the crash and its aftermath
- Lost enjoyment of life
Comparative Negligence and Your Claim
Finding your damages is important, but don’t forget to protect them, too. Typically, the responsible party will fight to avoid paying for the high costs of a semi-truck accident, so they may try to shift some of the fault on you. If they succeed, you could lose a portion of your compensation, or worse, you could be left with no compensation.
Let’s say they claim you were on the phone when the accident happened. In that case, you would be driving distracted, and even if the truck driver caused the accident, you may be found partly at fault. If you don’t fight back, you may be found, for example, 15 percent at fault for the accident.
That means that if you don’t fight back, you’ll only receive 85 percent of your compensation. As such, it’s important to contact your attorney and plan for any defenses the at-fault party may make.
Contact a Milwaukee Semi-Truck Crash Attorney
If you were hurt in a collision with a commercial vehicle, you need to begin the process of seeking financial compensation as soon as possible. The trucking company’s insurance will likely try to get you to settle quickly and for far less than what your claim is actually worth. The Law Offices of Gary S. Greenberg will work to make certain that any offer you accept is comprehensive and won’t leave you paying out of pocket sometime in the future.
To schedule a free, no-pressure case evaluation with a Milwaukee truck accident lawyer, call us at 414-271-7007 or simply complete the form at the bottom of this page. Get your questions answered and find out if you have grounds for a personal injury case today.
Our Milwaukee Office
Milwaukee Truck Accident FAQ
It’s perfectly normal to have a number of questions you need answers to after getting hurt in a semi-truck collision. Below, we’ve answered a few of the more common questions we get asked. If you don’t see your question answered, please call our office to speak with a truck accident lawyer in Milwaukee.
What can I do if my family member died in an accident?
If your loved one died in a truck accident that was caused by someone else’s negligence, you might be eligible to file a wrongful death lawsuit. This type of claim will allow you to seek damages similar to a personal injury suit, but also includes compensation for funeral expenses and lost companionship.
Should I accept the settlement offer the company’s insurance made?
Never accept a settlement offer without first having a personal injury attorney review it. The insurance company’s primary goal will often be to get you to settle for as little as possible, so their initial offer is all but guaranteed to be less than what your claim is really worth.
What do I do if I was the victim of a hit-and-run accident?
Sometimes drivers of 18-wheelers don’t realize when they’ve hit someone. Whether this was the case or not, it may be possible to track down the driver who hit you through witness accounts, paint scrapes, and surveillance footage.