There are two truck routes that go straight through Gainesville. This can lead to fatigued or reckless truck drivers sharing the road with unsuspecting Gainesvillians. If you were injured in a truck crash, our Gainesville personal injury lawyers can help you recover the compensation you need.
Call the Parrish Law Firm, PLLC today for a FREE claim review.
What Can a Gainesville Truck Accident Attorney Do for Me?
Truck accidents often leave victims physically, financially, and emotionally devastated. While you may be eligible to recover compensation, it is easier said than done. A truck accident lawyer in Gainesville, VA can help you. The team at the Parrish Law Firm, PLLC can help you with the following:
- Dealing with immediate needs such as obtaining follow-up care and keeping bill collectors at bay
- Addressing the “dos and don’ts” of speaking with insurance company representatives
- Analyzing the proximate cause of the accident, recreating the scene if needed
- Collecting federally- and state-mandated data from commercial carriers
- Researching and consulting with medical experts concerning physical injuries
- Researching and consulting with economic experts concerning financial losses
- Helping surviving family members pursue wrongful death claims
- Offering insight into insurance company practices and the civil litigation process
For more about what the Parrish Law Firm, PLLC can do for you and your case, call and schedule your FREE claim review with our Gainesville truck accident attorneys.
What Compensation Can I Recover for My Truck Accident Injuries?
If a negligent truck driver or trucking company caused your injuries, you may be entitled to compensation for accident-related damages, such as:
- Medical bills
- Medically-related travel and transportation
- Facility-based care
- Home health care services
- Medical equipment
- Accessibility accommodations to home or vehicle
- Emotional distress
- “Pain and suffering” and inconvenience
- Lost wages
- Lost profits (if self-employed)
- The financial impact of the accident on future earnings (both active and passive)
- Funeral and burial expenses
The Parrish Law Firm, PLLC has helped victims recover compensation for traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and wrongful death. Jim Parrish can help you determine what you can expect to recover given your injuries and other related losses.
How Do I Afford Legal Help for a Truck Accident Case?
Our team handles cases on a contingency-fee basis. This means you don’t pay anything upfront and only pay us if and when we recover compensation for you.
We also offer a FREE claim review, so you can determine whether you have a case with no financial risk to you.
Who Pays for Truck Accident Injuries?
In most cases, the trucking company will be responsible for your injuries. This is true even if the truck driver was 100 percent at fault for the accident. You typically also hold the trucking company liable because of a law known as respondeat superior, or vicarious liability. This doctrine holds that employers are liable for their employees’ actions so long as the employee acted within the scope of his employment.
A trucking company can also be directly negligent if it requires a driver to break laws (e.g., operating a truck past legally mandated hours) or for negligent hiring or retention. If defective brakes or tires caused the accident, then the brake manufacturer could be liable. If routine or proper maintenance would have revealed a defect, then the trucking company or maintenance company could be liable.
How Can I Prove Fault in a Truck Accident Case?
To recover the compensation you need, we must prove the truck driver or trucking company was negligent. This involves establishing the following four elements:
- Duty of care: The at-fault party had a duty to you to do or not do something. For example, the truck driver has a duty to behave responsibly behind the wheel. The trucking company has a duty to hire competent drivers.
- Breach of duty: The at-fault party breached that duty, e.g., the driver operated his truck while fatigued, the trucking company allowed or required its drivers to operate past legally mandated hours.
- Causation: The breach led to your accident and injuries, e.g., the truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into your car. You sustained a traumatic brain injury.
- Damages: You suffered damages in the accident, e.g., medical bills or lost wages.
We Know What Evidence to Look For
Establishing these four elements requires careful investigation of trucking company data that government agencies require a company to maintain.
For example, truck drivers are only allowed to remain on the road for a certain number of hours, per hours-of-service regulations. Drivers must log these hours in a logbook or electronic logging device (ELD).
We Will Draft and Send a Spoliation Letter
However, gaining access to them and other evidence is not as straightforward as it should be.
Most of the evidence we require (e.g., hours of service logs, personnel files, accident reports, drug and alcohol test results, data from the EDR, and the truck itself) is in the hands of the trucking company. And the trucking company can destroy this evidence after a certain period.
We will send a spoliation letter immediately to preserve what we need.
We Obtain Expert Witness Testimony
We might also require opinions from expert witnesses. A truck accident lawyer in Gainesville, VA may speak with accident reconstructionists to recreate the scene of an accident and render an opinion as to how it occurred. Safety experts sometimes testify about the standards which certain truck components must meet, and whether negligent design or manufacture caused the accident.
Rarely is it ever straightforward when it comes to proving liability. Having a legal team on your side that anticipates the arguments the other party (or parties) will make is crucial.
Jim Parrish used to defend insurance companies. This means he anticipates these arguments and knows how to defend against them.
What to Do After a Gainesville Truck Accident
There are a few things you can do after a truck accident to protect yourself:
- Call 9-1-1 if you are able. Have the dispatcher send law enforcement and paramedics to the scene.
- Allow paramedics to examine you at the scene.
- Don’t apologize to the truck driver, even if you think that you caused or contributed to the accident.
- Get the truck driver’s insurance information.
- If you don’t get medical care at the scene, go to a local emergency room:
- UVA Health Haymarket Medical Center
- NH UVA Haymarket Medical Center
- Continue with your medical care.
- Get a copy of the police report.
- Remember that you can negotiate a settlement with the insurance company. Do not accept the first offer before running it by our team.
- Consult a Gainesville truck accident lawyer.
There’s one more thing that’s very important to remember after a truck accident:
Be very careful what you say to the insurance company. The insurer does not want to pay your claim, especially if your truck accident was especially severe. This means it will do what it can to deny or devalue your claim. One of the tactics an insurance adjuster will use to deny or devalue a claim is to get you to say something incriminating during a recorded statement.
Jim Parrish worked with insurance providers before opening his personal injury firm, so he knows these tactics and how to protect you against them. This is why we recommend that you don’t engage with the insurance company and instead address any questions to us.
Common Causes of Truck Accidents in Gainesville, VA
As truck accident attorneys, we have seen all types of truck crashes and all types of causes, such as:
- Fatigued driving: Truck drivers are often behind the wheel for hours and hours at a time. To prevent fatigued driving, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) created hours-of-service regulations that limit how long they can drive without breaks and how long they can work without sleeping. Fatigued drivers may be unable to make split-second decisions to prevent an accident.
- Distracted driving: Distracted driving can be deadly, especially when the distracted driver is behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound machine. To prevent distracted driving, truck drivers are not legally allowed to text and drive or make a phone call that requires pressing more than one button.
- Intoxicated driving: Intoxicated people have problems with judgment and making quick decisions. This can be deadly, especially when operating a big rig. For this reason, the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit is half of the federal limit of 0.08.
- Speeding/driving too fast for conditions: Trucks take much longer to stop than the average passenger vehicle. Commercial truck drivers need to ensure they are driving at an appropriate speed for the roadway and conditions.
Common Injuries We See In Gainesville Truck Crashes
Truck accidents often cause severe or catastrophic injuries. In many cases, these injuries can be deadly. Injuries we’ve helped clients recover compensation for include:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Amputations
- Broken bones
- Lacerations
- Internal bleeding
- Crush injuries
- Facial injuries
- Organ damage
Schedule Your Truck Accident Lawyer in Gainesville, VA FREE Consultation
An insurance company that knows you are handling your case alone may try to take advantage of you. Given the seriousness of a truck accident case, you owe it to yourself and your family to have a truck accident attorney in Gainesville, VA thoroughly review your claim prior to speaking or negotiating with an insurance adjuster.
There are caveats involved even in speaking with your own insurance company, as your statements become part of a permanent case file. Though it is best to begin working with an attorney as soon as possible following a truck accident, it is not necessarily ever too late to do so.
The Parrish Law Firm, PLLC has an award-winning history of supporting, guiding, and advocating for clients who found themselves in situations similar to yours. The goal of the Parrish Law Firm, PLLC is to use our advocacy skills to provide as much relief to suffering victims as possible. There is no cost to get the answers you need. Call today to schedule a consultation.
