The Morgantown truck accident attorneys at Manchin Injury Law Group have been helping victims of truck accidents gain full compensation for their injuries for 37 years.
The West Virginia civil court system provides an important avenue of recourse for those involved in truck accidents, but navigating this system requires the assistance of an experienced Morgantown truck accident attorney. If you or a loved one recently suffered harm in a truck accident, you may be wondering who is responsible for your medical bills and lost wages. Our attorneys can help you hold someone accountable and pursue the case results that you need to move forward.
Getting into a truck accident can turn your life upside-down. Unfortunately, a truck company and its insurance provider will not make it easy to recover fair compensation for your injuries and losses. You may struggle to achieve the case outcome that you need to pay for your medical bills – especially if you or a loved one sustained a catastrophic injury that will have future foreseeable medical costs. A Morgantown accident attorney can help you balance the scales.
An attorney can take over negotiations with an insurance provider on your behalf to fight for fair and full case results. Your Morgantown trucking accident lawyer can also step in to investigate your truck accident, preserve evidence such as the truck’s black box, file motions to obtain trucking company records, return to the scene of the collision, speak to your doctors, hire experts and take other steps to build your injury claim. You can trust your Morgantown truck accident lawyer to do what is necessary to obtain the best possible case results.
It is important to contact an attorney about a recent truck accident in Morgantown as soon as possible. Your injury claim must be brought before West Virginia ‘s deadline, which is two years from the date of the accident, in most cases. If you fail to file the required paperwork within two years, you will most likely forfeit the right to seek financial compensation for your truck accident.
Victims of truck accidents may miss long periods of work and incur significant expenses from medical care. Filing a personal injury lawsuit against a trucking company, manufacturer, or driver may result in the reimbursement for several types of damages:
These compensate for things like medical expenses, lost wages, and the cost of ongoing therapy or rehabilitation. In the event of disabling or catastrophic injury, economic damages also cover any loss in earning capacity or future income.
These address the immaterial losses associated with your accident. Examples include pain, suffering, emotional distress, and loss of life quality. In the event of wrongful death, they may also include loss of partnership or consortium.
In rare cases, such as those involving gross negligence, we can pursue punitive damages against the liable party, which punish them for wrongdoing.
An attorney can help you determine how much your case could be worth after a careful review of your injuries and losses. If an insurance company refuses to offer a fair settlement, your lawyer can take your truck accident case to trial in Morgantown.
Trucking companies are often liable, or legally responsible, for truck accidents in Morgantown. Federal law holds common carriers responsible for most accidents involving their trucks and drivers, including independent contractors. A trucking company could be liable for an accident caused by truck driver negligence, as well as careless acts committed by other employees, including a maintenance crew or cargo loaders.
In some cases, however, a third party is liable. For example, a cargo company could be held liable for a truck accident caused by an imbalanced truck or lost cargo load. Another driver on the road could also be at fault for causing an accident that involved you and a large truck. If the truck experienced an equipment breakdown due to a defect, the manufacturer of the defective part could be liable. Finally, the government could be responsible for a crash caused by a road defect or hazard.
Accidents involving commercial motor vehicles can be devastating. Because of their sheer size and weight, truck crashes often involve catastrophic and permanently disabling injury.
Accidents involving commercial motor vehicles have unique considerations. Most drivers with a commercial motor vehicle license, particularly with regard to interstate trucking, must follow strict guidelines set forth by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Commission (FMCSA). The FMCSA sets, among other things, rules regarding breaks, how many hours a trucker can drive each day, routine maintenance, and more.
If an operator of a commercial motor vehicle (or their employer) breaks any of these rules, the company may be guilty of negligence. Successfully proving negligence requires knowledge of FMCSA regulations and the ability to negotiate with large insurers. In addition to federal laws and regulations, truck accident cases also deal with unique forms of evidence. Winning a truck accident case may require evidence such as the black box, electronic data recorders, trucking company compliance histories, employment records and cell phone records.
In West Virginia, the fault-based car accident law requires a claimant to determine who or what caused the crash before filing an injury claim. Truck accidents are often caused by human errors, such as truck driver negligence or a careless maintenance crew member. When we represent truck accident victims, we conduct a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the accident, including:
This is only a sampling of reasons why a truck driver or their employer may be guilty of negligence. Our Morgantown personal injury attorneys investigate every possible scenario to hold the liable parties responsible. Identifying multiple parties can increase the amount of insurance coverage available.
The effects of a trucking accident can last a lifetime, and you shouldn’t have to pay the price for another party’s negligence. The Morgantown truck accident attorneys at the Manchin Injury Law Group are committed to helping victims of trucking accidents gain full compensation for their injuries and suffering. If you believe you suffered harm as the result of someone else’s legal fault, contact us to schedule a free initial consultation.
