Truck Accidents
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South Carolina Truck Accident Lawyers
Accidents involving commercial trucks are legally complex, and trucking and insurance companies will try to take advantage of that to deny you compensation. We won’t let them.
For a free case review, call us at 843-720-2800.
Representing Injured People Since 1927
Truck Accident Lawyers in South Carolina
After a truck accident, you must take time to focus on recovery for yourself and your family.
Being involved in any type of automobile accident can be a horrible experience for all involved. But a crash caused by an 80,000-pound semi-truck is horrific and leads to serious damages and injury. The usual causes of accidents involving 18-wheelers or semi-trucks vary, but often they involve the truck driver being negligent or reckless.
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Answering Your Questions
Assessing liability for a truck accident is not always as simple as it may seem for an accident victim.
Who may be liable in a semi-truck accident?
A variety of people and entities may be liable for truck accident injuries. In addition to the truck driver, the trucking company, the truck manufacturer, and those in charge of truck maintenance may also bear responsibility. Additionally, if poor or dangerous road conditions contributed to an accident, you may be able to sue some government departments.
How a Truck Injury Law Firm Can Help You
The truck crash lawyers at the Steinberg Law Firm have handled many complicated cases.
We will start protecting your rights and start working on the case immediately. Large trucking companies and insurance companies have armies of lawyers on their side; you should have an experienced team working for your benefit so that you can receive the fair compensation you deserve.
After a crash with a semi-truck, there are many things that have to be done as quickly as possible to preserve evidence so that the cause of the crash can be recreated. With a serious big rig crash where one or more people have been seriously injured or killed, the trucking company will immediately send a team of investigators to the crash site in order to either gather evidence that will hurt you or even attempt to destroy or conceal evidence. Therefore, it is important that your team is on your side as quickly as possible.
South Carolina Truck Accident Lawyers Serving Charleston, Goose Creek, Summerville and all of South Carolina
These are only some of things the lawyers and staff will accomplish when you hire the Steinberg Law Firm:
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Examine the crash scene
Take detailed photographs and measurements at the scene of the crash, noting the lengths of any skid marks and locations of the vehicles.
Collect evidence
Collect and maintain any evidence at the scene of the accident and ensure the “chain of custody” so that it can be used in court without claims of evidence tampering.
Obtain trucking company records
Obtain records from the trucking company about the driver of the semi including their driving log notes which are required to be kept by Federal law.
Hire experts
If necessary, hire our own crash reconstruction expert to look at all the evidence and give an expert opinion on what caused the collision and how the crash occurred.
Obtain police records
Acquire the police accident investigation report and any documentation, photos or measurements taken by the police while investigating the crash.
Collect witness statements
Find all witnesses and get recorded statements as soon as possible so that the information provided is the most accurate and no one forgets important facts.
Get the black box
Obtain the truck’s “black box” and preserve the data. Like airplanes, 18-wheelers have a black box that records all data about the truck in real time, including speed, direction and breaking action.
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Common Semi-Truck Accident Injuries
Due to the size of these trucks, the injuries that are caused by a truck crash can be, on average, much more severe than in car accidents. Moreover, semi-truck accidents cause multi-vehicle collisions, affecting more people than just a car fender bender. Here are some of the common semi-truck crash injuries:
- Brain injuries: Brain injuries are common in crashes. Although newer vehicles are equipped with more and better airbags, there is still a chance of brain injury in a truck crash.
- Back injuries: Injuries to the spine and back are common in many types of accidents with all types and sizes of vehicles. However, due to the size of tractor-trailers, accidents involving 18-wheelers are more violent, causing more spinal cord injuries.
- Loss of limbs (amputations): When a smaller vehicle is struck by a speeding semi-truck often the smaller vehicle flips in the air. When this happens, the driver and passengers in the smaller vehicle are thrown out of the car, and in the process have arms and legs severed.
- Burns and death by fire: In most crashes, cars do not catch on fire. But due to the impact of a crash caused by an 18-wheeler, this can ignite the gas tank or fuel lines, causing vehicles to catch fire.
- Fatal truck crashes: Again, due to the size of these machines and the speed at which they travel down the highway, there is a higher percentage of fatalities when semi-trucks are involved.
In recent years, truck crashes accounted for 67 of the 1,030 vehicles involved in fatal South Carolina auto crashes, accounting for 6.5 percent of fatal accidents in the state. These semi-truck crashes took the lives of 49 occupants of other vehicles, 10 truckers, and 6 pedestrians.
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What Should You Do at The Scene of a Semi-Truck Crash
There are many things that people at the scene of a semi-truck crash can do that will help their case or the cases of friends and family that were also in the vehicle.
Get to safety
The first thing is to make sure you are not putting yourself further into harm’s way — for example, if your vehicle is on fire then get out of it immediately.
Call 911
Next, assuming you are able, call 911 as soon as possible so that help can arrive for anyone that is injured, including yourself. The quicker an ambulance arrives the better chances the injured will have to survive. Also, the quicker police arrive the better they can direct traffic to help prevent subsequent accidents. The other reason that you want the police there is to be able to investigate the crash by interviewing witnesses and taking pictures. Once an accident report is generated, that document can be used later by the attorneys to determine who was at fault if a lawsuit is necessary.
Note the truck driver's behavior
Note if the truck driver is acting intoxicated. Check for the following: slurred speech and stumbling/falling over. Note if the truck driver is attempting to destroy evidence of being intoxicated by throwing away bottles or cans of alcohol from the truck cab.
Document the scene
Attempt to get the names, addresses, and phone numbers of everyone involved including anyone who could potentially be a witness.
If you have a smartphone take pictures so that you can record what the scene of the crash was like right after the crash. Take photos of the entire area so that, if necessary, your future personal injury lawyer will be able to get a good sense of the roadway and how the crash happened. We can not emphasize how important these photos will be going forward.
Cooperate
Be cooperative and honest with the investigating police officer when they ask you to provide a statement of what happened. Do not exaggerate anything but also do not leave any facts out, even if you think they might not matter.
Free Truck Accident Injury Consultations
In the aftermath of an injury-causing 18-wheeler accident, there are numerous damages for which you may seek compensation.
We understand injuries can prevent you from supporting yourself and your family, and we have the legal knowledge and skill to help you pursue financial compensation from the person responsible for your unnecessary pain and suffering. If you have been the victim of such an accident in South Carolina, our attorneys are ready to help you understand the scope of your legal options.
Potential Causes of Tractor Trailer Accidents
Every motor vehicle crash usually has one or more causes. The most likely cause of motor vehicle crashes is driver negligence, and truck accidents are no different. Negligence includes actions like distracted driving or driving too closely behind another vehicle and not being able to stop in time, or reckless driving such as sudden lane changes. However, due to the specific nature of tractor-trailers, their size, and the regulations that control drivers’ actions, the causes of truck crashes can be many. Here are some of the main causes of semi-truck crashes:
If you are seriously injured due to the negligence of a semi-truck or pickup truck driver, then you have the right to be compensated for your injuries. These types of crashes can cause devastating injuries that can rip a family apart. You should contact an attorney that has experience handling large truck accident cases so that, if necessary, a civil lawsuit can be filed against the driver and the trucking company.
Charleston, South Carolina Truck Accident Lawyers
Recovering Compensation After a Truck Accident
The economic damages that can be recovered may include the following:
- Property damage to your car and any items you may have had in the vehicle
- Unpaid medical bills and expenses related to your treatment and recovery
- Lost wages due to an inability to work while healing from your injuries
- Future lost wages due to a long term disability affecting your future earning capacity
Non-economic damages that you would be able to recover are more difficult to discern because your lawyer is not just adding up numbers. Non-economic damages include the following:
- Pain and suffering from your injuries
- Emotional distress, post-traumatic stress disorder, and mental suffering
- Humiliation and damage to your reputation
- Loss of enjoyment of life and relationships
Get the Compensation You Deserve
Punitive Damages
Unlike semi-truck crashes that involve driver negligence, if the driver was intoxicated, you may be able to seek punitive damages from the drunk truck driver and the trucking company. Punitive damages can be awarded to the injured plaintiff not to compensate the plaintiff for any injuries, but to punish the drunk driver and the trucking company for their outrageous and reckless behavior.
This is why contacting an experienced semi-truck crash lawyer is very important in order to protect your rights. If you have been injured by a collision with a large truck, please do not hesitate to contact the lawyers at Steinberg Law firm at (843) 720-2800. We can answer your questions and help you recover the damages to compensate you for your injuries. The initial consultation is free.
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Contact a South Carolina Truck Accident Attorney
Talk to a Truck Accident Attorney in South Carolina at The Steinberg Law Firm
For a free review of your case, call us at 843-720-2800.
If you have been injured or otherwise harmed in a truck accident, we can help. Contact the truck accident attorneys at the Steinberg Law Firm today by calling us at 843-720-2800 to learn more about how we can put our extensive experience fighting for truck accident victims to work for you.
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