Truck Accident Attorneys in Washington DC
Driving alongside a semi-truck or 18-wheeler can be intimidating, and for good reason: the enormous difference in size and weight between a passenger vehicle and a commercial truck is remarkable, and the potential damage in a crash involving these massive vehicles can be catastrophic. This is one reason why commercial drivers are required to have a CDL, or Commercial Drivers License, as well as a number of specific certifications depending on the type of vehicle, the type of cargo, and more. These certifications, however, do not guarantee that a truck driver is immune to accidents.
If you have been involved in an accident with a commercial truck, working with a personal injury attorney is an important step towards getting the money you deserve. Your top priority must be your medical care, but at the same time, you will need to make sure that your insurance claim goes smoothly. This is why hiring a truck accident lawyer in Washington DC is such an important step — you can prioritize your recovery without pulling back on your insurance claim.
Contact Balkin & Mausner Injury Lawyers LLP For a Free Consultation After a DC Truck Accident
We offer a free initial consultation and case evaluation to victims of truck accidents. Trying to make sense of your situation on your own can be overwhelming, and when paired with serious injuries, can feel impossible. During our consultation, we will discuss the specifics of your accident and can give you a better sense of how you can benefit from working with an experienced Washington DC truck accident attorney.
If you have been in a truck accident that a reckless or negligent trucker is responsible for, then you are entitled to compensation for a range of damages, including your medical bills and lost wages, but going far beyond these basic damages the insurance company will try to focus on. The trauma of a crash with such a massive vehicle, the pain and suffering of your injuries, and many other economic and non-economic damages are equally as important to your settlement, and we will help you identify them and fight for a fair payment.
The sooner you contact us, the sooner we can take your case and start representing you throughout your insurance claim (and beyond, if we decide to file a lawsuit).
United States Trucking Statistics
In 2018, 3.6 million registered truck drivers traveled 304.9 billion miles with all registered trucks, and 184.2 billion miles by semi-trucks alone. These miles seem significant but pale in comparison to the 1.4 trillion miles traveled by passenger vehicles — almost 8x more; however, there are roughly 225 million passenger vehicle drivers (62x more) registered in the US, and the average driver travels a distance of 13,500 miles per year, which is less than the 80,000 to 120,000 miles a truck driver travels each year. In 2018, there were roughly 499,000 truck accidents reported, including 4,415 fatal crashes and 107,000 accidents that caused injuries (21%). There were a total of more than 6 million reported car crashes, and 36,560 fatal car accidents in the same year, more than 8x more than trucking accidents
These statistics certainly indicate that there is a higher likelihood of being hurt or killed in a passenger vehicle crash, but these statistics do not guarantee that you or your loved ones will not be involved in the many trucking accidents across the country every year. This is why it is so important to know how to reach a Washington DC truck accident attorney.
Filing a Claim After a Washington DC Truck Accident
Truck drivers carry commercial insurance policies, which are both more complicated and of higher value than the average passenger vehicle policy. Oftentimes, truck drivers have policy limits of $1 million or more, though unfortunately, this does not mean that you are more likely to get the money you actually deserve without putting up a fight. One of the benefits of a claim after a truck accident is that there are extensive data and paperwork available that can help paint a clear picture of the lead-up to the crash, although this information is found in a range of places and requires an understanding of commercial trucking to make sense of it. Again, this is where a truck accident attorney comes in handy.
Determining Fault
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration referred to as the FMCSA, is in charge of setting many of the regulations for the trucking industry to ensure safety for truckers and others on the road alike. These regulations include things like the Hours of Service — a set of standards that regulates the hours a driver can operate their vehicle on any given day, consecutive days, or weeks in order to reduce the serious threat of driver fatigue. In addition to logging their hours driven, they must maintain a meticulous maintenance log, ledgers about their cargo, and much more. In addition to this manual record-keeping, there are onboard computers that can provide plenty of information about the vehicle in the moments before the crash.
All of this information may help paint a clear picture of what happened leading up to the accident, but there are countless other variables that go into determining fault and liability — before even getting to the damages themselves.
Calculating Damages
Once the matter of liability is established, the next issue is to calculate the damages you have suffered. However, calculating your economic and non-economic damages is only the start, because your attorney will then need to go through a series of negotiations in order to reach a settlement agreement. If negotiations fail, the next step may be to file a lawsuit in the Washington DC courts.
Economic damages seek repayment for some of the most obvious losses and expenses of your accident, including your medical bills and lost wages, but include a wide range of other impacts that are the direct or indirect results of the crash and your resulting injuries. Non-economic damages seek compensation for impacts that do not have dollar values associated with them, such as the pain and suffering of your injuries and the emotional impact of such a terrifying experience. As you can imagine, it is harder to calculate the money you are owed for pain and suffering than tallying up receipts and invoices, but an experienced personal injury attorney can handle this process on your behalf.
Contact Balkin & Mausner Injury Lawyers LLP Today
If you are looking for a proven, experienced personal injury attorney to help you after a Washington DC truck accident, contact us as soon as possible to get started on your case today. Take advantage of our free consultation to speak directly with a legal professional about your unique situation and get an idea of how you can move forward with our representation.