A collision with a commercial truck can leave you facing severe injuries, extensive medical treatment, time away from work, and questions about how you will pay for it all. Unlike an ordinary car accident, a truck crash may involve a driver, trucking company, maintenance contractor, cargo company, manufacturer, or several other potentially responsible parties.
If you were injured or lost a loved one in a commercial truck accident in Henderson, Nevada, DBLF Injury Lawyers can help you understand your legal options and determine who may be responsible for your losses.
Our Henderson truck accident lawyers investigate these cases by examining evidence such as electronic logging device (ELD) records, driver qualification files, vehicle inspection and maintenance records, event data recorder information, photographs, video footage, witness statements, medical records, and law enforcement reports. When appropriate, we may also examine whether violations of federal or Nevada commercial vehicle regulations contributed to the crash.
We understand that a serious truck accident can affect nearly every part of your life. Our goal is to pursue the compensation available under Nevada law while allowing you to focus on your health and recovery.
Contact our Henderson personal injury attorneys for a free, no-obligation consultation.
Commercial truck accident cases tend to be more complicated than collisions involving only passenger vehicles. Large trucking companies often have insurers, investigators, safety personnel, and attorneys prepared to respond shortly after a serious crash.
At the same time, truck accident investigations may involve evidence that does not exist in a typical car accident case.
Important evidence may include:
Some of this evidence may be controlled by the trucking company or another business involved in the shipment. Prompt investigation can therefore be especially important after a commercial vehicle collision.
The size and weight difference between a commercial truck and a passenger vehicle can dramatically increase the forces involved in a collision. A typical interstate tractor-trailer may weigh up to approximately 80,000 pounds when fully loaded, while certain vehicle configurations permitted under Nevada’s size and weight regulations may operate at substantially higher weights.
As a result, occupants of smaller vehicles can suffer life-changing injuries even in crashes that occur at relatively moderate speeds.
Common injuries in Henderson truck accidents include:
Some victims recover within months. Others may require additional surgeries, rehabilitation, assistive devices, modifications to their homes or vehicles, or ongoing medical and personal care.
When an injury affects your ability to work or live independently, determining the full long-term impact of the crash can be an important part of evaluating a truck accident claim.
There is rarely one universal cause of a commercial truck crash. An investigation may uncover negligent actions by the driver, problems within the trucking company’s safety practices, mechanical failures, improperly loaded cargo, or a combination of factors.
Common causes include:
Identifying why the collision occurred is often the first step toward identifying every person or business that may bear responsibility.
One of the most significant differences between a truck accident and an ordinary car crash is the potential number of defendants.
Depending on the evidence, responsible parties could include:
A commercial driver may be responsible when speeding, distracted driving, fatigue, impairment, an unsafe lane change, failure to yield, or another negligent act causes a collision.
The motor carrier may potentially be liable for its driver’s actions or for its own negligent practices. Issues involving hiring, training, supervision, maintenance, scheduling, and compliance with commercial vehicle regulations may all require investigation.
If an outside company improperly inspected or repaired the vehicle and that work contributed to the crash, the maintenance provider could potentially share responsibility.
Overloaded, unbalanced, or improperly secured cargo can cause rollovers, jackknife crashes, lost loads, or handling problems.
A defective tire, brake component, steering system, coupling device, or other vehicle component may create a product-liability issue in addition to a negligence claim.
Determining liability before accepting a settlement is important because an early offer from one insurance company may not account for all potentially responsible parties or the full extent of a victim’s damages.
Many commercial trucking companies and drivers operating in interstate commerce are subject to regulations administered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
Those regulations address subjects such as:
For example, under current federal hours-of-service rules, many property-carrying commercial drivers may drive for a maximum of 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty and generally cannot drive beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty.
A violation does not automatically establish liability for every accident. However, evidence that a driver or motor carrier violated an applicable safety rule can become an important part of determining how and why a crash occurred.
Commercial drivers are subject to stricter alcohol standards while operating commercial motor vehicles than ordinary Nevada motorists.
Under federal commercial vehicle regulations, a commercial motor vehicle driver may face consequences for operating with an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or higher.
When alcohol or drugs may have contributed to a Henderson truck crash, the investigation may include law enforcement records, toxicology results, required employer testing records, witness accounts, and other available evidence.
The amount available in a truck accident case depends on the facts of the crash, the severity and duration of the injuries, available insurance coverage, liability, and other circumstances.
Depending on your case, compensation may include:
If a truck collision results in death, eligible surviving family members and the decedent’s estate may have additional rights under Nevada’s wrongful death laws.
The value of a claim cannot be determined reliably from an online calculator or an average truck accident settlement. A proper evaluation requires looking at the specific evidence, injuries, insurance coverage, and future consequences of the crash.
Being partially responsible for a collision does not necessarily prevent you from recovering compensation in Nevada.
Nevada follows a modified comparative negligence rule. Under NRS 41.141, an injured person may generally recover when their negligence is not greater than the negligence of the defendant or combined defendants. Any compensation awarded may then be reduced according to the injured person’s percentage of fault.
For example, if you were determined to be 20% responsible for a crash, a qualifying recovery could generally be reduced by 20%.
Insurance companies may attempt to shift a greater portion of the blame to an injured motorist. Evidence from the crash can therefore be important when fault is disputed.
Your health should come first. If you are able, several additional steps may also help preserve evidence and protect your ability to pursue a claim:
Nevada generally provides a two-year statute of limitations for lawsuits seeking damages for personal injury or wrongful death caused by another person’s wrongful act or neglect. The rule appears in NRS 11.190.
There can be exceptions and different deadlines depending on the facts, including cases involving government entities or other unusual circumstances.
You should not rely on the statute of limitations as a reason to delay investigating a crash. Important electronic records, surveillance footage, vehicle data, and other evidence may become more difficult to obtain long before the legal filing deadline expires.
A truck accident case may depend heavily on records held by the motor carrier or other companies involved in the shipment.
An attorney investigating the crash may seek to preserve or obtain evidence such as:
A preservation letter may be used to put relevant parties on notice that evidence connected to the collision should be retained. The evidence needed will depend on the specific circumstances of the case.
DBLF Injury Lawyers handles personal injury matters on a contingency fee basis. That means you do not pay an upfront attorney fee to begin your case, and the attorney fee is contingent on obtaining a recovery for you.
We can explain the fee arrangement, potential case expenses, and other details during your consultation so you understand how the process works before deciding whether to hire the firm.
There is no standard settlement amount for a truck accident. Case value depends on factors such as the severity of your injuries, medical expenses, future treatment, lost income, impairment, pain and suffering, available insurance coverage, and the strength of the liability evidence. Severe or permanent injuries can also require analysis of future medical and financial losses.
Learn more about how much your case is worth here.
The timeline varies considerably. A claim involving relatively clear liability and injuries that resolve quickly may progress differently from one involving catastrophic injuries, disputed fault, multiple trucking companies, or litigation. It is often important to understand the extent of future medical treatment and financial losses before resolving a serious injury claim.
Learn more about the length of truck accident settlements here.
Nevada law permits certain surviving heirs and the personal representative of a deceased person's estate to pursue wrongful death claims under qualifying circumstances. Recoverable damages depend on who is bringing the claim and the facts of the case. A Henderson wrongful death attorney can evaluate which claims may be available to your family.
Learn more about compensation you can receive here.
Possibly. Depending on the facts, a trucking company may face liability related to its driver's conduct or its own actions involving hiring, training, supervision, scheduling, maintenance, or other safety practices. Other businesses may also be liable in some cases.
A truck driver's allegation does not decide fault. Attorneys and insurers may examine police reports, photographs, witness testimony, video, vehicle damage, electronic truck data, phone records, accident reconstruction evidence, and other information to determine how the collision occurred. Nevada's comparative-negligence law may also allow recovery when an injured person shares some responsibility for the crash.
Calling a driver an independent contractor does not necessarily resolve who may be legally responsible for a collision. The relationships among the driver, motor carrier, truck owner, shipper, broker, and other businesses may need to be investigated before liability can be determined.
Delivery vehicle cases can involve questions about who employed or contracted with the driver, who owned the vehicle, what insurance policies apply, and whether another company played a role in the delivery operation. The vehicle's branding alone may not establish which company is legally responsible, so the contractual and business relationships may need to be investigated.
You are free to accept a settlement, but signing a release can generally end your ability to seek additional compensation from the parties covered by it. Before resolving a serious injury claim, it is important to understand your diagnosis, expected future treatment, lost-income consequences, and whether other parties or insurance policies may be involved.
Keep photographs and videos, medical records, bills, prescription information, repair estimates, employment and wage records, insurance correspondence, witness information, and any documents provided at the crash scene. Do not discard damaged personal property that may be relevant to the collision without first determining whether it should be preserved.
A commercial truck accident can leave you facing medical bills, lost income, uncertainty about your future, and an insurance company focused on limiting its own financial exposure. You do not have to determine liability or navigate the claims process on your own.
DBLF Injury Lawyers can investigate the collision, identify potentially responsible parties, preserve important evidence, evaluate your damages, negotiate with insurers, and take your case to court when litigation is necessary.
If you or someone you love was injured in a semi-truck, tractor-trailer, delivery truck, or other commercial vehicle accident in Henderson, contact DBLF Injury Lawyers to discuss your options.
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation with a Henderson truck accident lawyer.
