Roads connect the entire United States, from the interstate highways to city roads to smaller country roads and neighborhoods, but the unfortunate truth is that sometimes, accidents will happen on the roads, and people may get injured or even killed in a car crash or when a truck slips and crashes. Vehicles big and small may lose control for one reason or another and cause bodily harm, and when this happens, such as in trucking accidents, personal injury attorneys may be called upon to settle the case and get settlement money from the at-fault party’s insurance company, or workers’ compensation. Trucking accidents can happen in good weather conditions or bad, and car accidents are tragically common. What can be done to prevent them, and what should a victim do after the accident?
Dangers of the Road
Car drivers, truck drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians are all potential victims of a roadside accident, and sometimes, heavy trucks going out of control can cause serious damage in trucking accidents. Sometimes, distracted driving is the culprit of these auto accidents; using cell phones (such as texting or Internet browsing), or using the car’s dashboard features can constitute distracted driving, it can be just as dangerous as drunk driving. It has been determined that at any daytime moment across the United States, some 660,000 drivers are operating their vehicles while distracted by cell phones or similar electronic devices. And of course, drunk drivers continue to be a problem on today’s roads. Alcohol-related car accidents caused 31% of car accident deaths in the United States in 2014, as opposed to distracted driving causing 10% of deaths. What is more, even if a driver is clean, the weather itself can aggravate the odds of an accident; heavy rain or snow can minimize vision and can make the roads slick, and this problem can be even worse at night. Trucking accidents could easily happen if a truck slips on rain-slick roads, especially if the truck’s tires are worn out and don’t have proper grip. Semi truck accidents can still happen by means of drunk or distracted driving, however. But if a serious truck accident happens due to an engine or brake malfunction or bad weather, the driver may try to pursue workers’ compensation if possible.
Trucking Accidents, Car Crashes and the Law
When a case of drunk, distracted, or reckless driving results in a car accident that injures another party, that party may want to pursue litigation against the at-fault party to get settlement money from their insurance company, although such cases are settled pre-trial 95-96% of the time, since it is costly and labor intensive to take such a case to court. Why should the injured party choose to hire personal injury lawyers after an auto accident? There are several good reasons to take this route.
For one thing, the victim of a car or trucking accident is mentally aggravated and riled, and is probably highly emotional about their injuries and property damage, and is not thinking rationally or objectively, which can hamper their performance in litigation. Instead, if the litigation work is handed over to a personal injury lawyer, that professional can handle the work objectively and with a detached mindset, allowing them to see things clearly.
If an auto accident victim’s injuries are serious enough, he or she may be rendered unable to perform paying work for their rest of their lives, which will have a massive financial impact on them that can be difficult for anyone but an injury lawyer to calculate, so such a lawyer can factor that in to the case when pursuing litigation. The victim’s medical bills will also be factored into the case. And during litigation or a trial, if the at-fault party’s insurance company refuses to give all or even any of the settlement money, acting in bad faith, then this could stonewall a victim acting alone, but a lawyer will know how to handle such a problem and move the case forward. And if there are multiple parties involved, assigning blame and distributing settlement money can become complicated, something that an attorney will best know how to handle.