A Harrisburg Law Firm Without The Ego: Truck Accident Law Firm Harrisburg, PA
Are you looking for a Truck Accident Law Firm in Harrisburg, PA? If you were involved in a commercial truck accident that was not your fault, you’ve come to the right place.
Truck Accidents occur on a regular basis, leaving many drivers and passengers seriously injured and in need of a truck accident injury lawyer. An accident with a large truck, like an 18-wheeler, can be devastating, leaving you with significant bodily injury and emotional trauma.
If you were involved in a commercial truck accident that was caused by a negligent driver, the accident attorneys at Compass Personal Injury truck accident law firm, located in Harrisburg, PA can help with your case! Compass Personal Injury has a team of experts, both medical and accident reconstruction, to quickly preserve evidence and protect your rights.
When To Hire A Truck Accident Attorney
When a commercial vehicle or truck is at fault, you might assume that the company would ultimately be responsible for paying all damages caused by its driver. 
Unfortunately, trucking companies oftentimes employ a number of strategies to avoid and minimize their responsibility. As a result, contacting a truck accident injury lawyer immediately after an accident is crucial to protect your rights and maximize your recovery.
Compass Personal Injury’s experienced accident attorneys will help you understand the details of your commercial truck or vehicle accident claim and help to put your mind at ease. Contact our Personal Injury Attorneys near Harrisburg for a consultation!
Trucking Accidents Across Pennsylvania
In this article, you will learn…
- What the common causes of trucking accidents are,
- What some common injuries sustained in trucking accidents are, and
- What damages one may be able to recover from trucking accidents.
What Are The Most Common Causes Of Trucking Commercial Vehicles, Semi-Truck Accidents Across Southern And Central Pennsylvania?
The most common causes of trucking accidents across Southern and Central Pennsylvania are when truckers are…
- Changing lanes,
- Not able to stop in time,
- Inattentive,
- Not attentive to Icy road conditions, and
- Inexperienced truck drivers.
What Are The Common Serious Injuries That Result In Semi Accidents That Occur In Pennsylvania?
The common serious injuries that result in semi-truck accidents are…
- Broken bones,
- Disfigurement,
- Head injuries,
- Spinal injuries,
- Cuts,
- Bruises,
- Abrasions, and
- Death.
Who’s At Fault For My Serious Injuries For Taking To A Trucking Accident Case?
Typically, both the driver and the trucking company will be at fault for the injuries. Both the driver and the company are typically insured under the trucking company’s liability policy.
What If Your Client Is At Fault?
If our client is at fault, we have to look at the degree to which they are at fault. The determination of fault would typically be made by a jury at the end of a case, but you can get a sense of it as you look at how the facts unfold. Was our client speeding or inattentive? Did their actions contribute to the accident in any way, or was the negligence of the truck driver the primary cause? If the client is at fault, it does not necessarily mean they cannot recover damages, but there may be reduction in damages.
What Damages May I Be Able To Recover From My Severe Injuries That Result From A Semi-Truck Driver In Pennsylvania?
Some of the damages you may be able to recover from your severe injuries can include…
- Past, present, and future medical expenses for as long as you need treatment,
- Past and future lost wages or loss of earning capacity,
- Pain and suffering,
- Loss of enjoyment of life’s pleasures, and
- Loss of consortium.
You will be able to recover economic damages pertaining to medical expenses and lost wages, but if you have what is called “full tort” insurance coverage, you will also be able to recover for non-economic damages. In Pennsylvania, your spouse may also bring a claim for loss of consortium damages, which means a certain degree of companionship or household services associated with that spousal relationship has been diminished or eliminated as a result of the spouse’s injury
Do Your Spouse And You Both Combined Get The Compensation Of This? Or This Compensation Is A Sum Total Of All The Recovery From All The Damages You Just Mentioned?
The spouse is entitled to the loss of consortium damages, which is a separate claim. This claim is brought in the same lawsuit as the regular lawsuit but is separate from the damages flowing to the injured person described above.
In Pennsylvania, you may also be able to recover punitive damages if there is intentional or reckless conduct. Reckless conduct is when somebody knows there’s the likelihood of harm, but they undertake the activity anyway and bring about the harm. A textbook example of reckless conduct would be if a truck driver knows that speeding on an icy road, given the weight of the tractor-trailer truck and the volume of traffic, is likely to cause harm and they speed anyway.
Punitive damages are not linked to any type of formula. It’s an amount that a jury can select that it believes will be sufficient to punish the defendant(s) for the reckless behavior and also to deter that behavior from occurring in the future. These can be awarded against both the driver and the trucking company if the facts warrant it.
A classic case of punitive damages was the Ford Pinto case, of Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Company, Cal. App. 3d 757, 134 Cal. Reptr. 348 (1981) which involved a car with an exploding gas tank. In that case, the plaintiff vehicle, a Ford Pinto, was struck from behind and caught on fire, killing the driver and two passengers. The Court found that evidence showed the tank was located closer to the rear of the car, which when combined with other factors, increased the likelihood that the gas tank would explode upon impact from the rear. Evidence showed that Ford had several failed safety tests with the vehicle but opted not to undertake redesign of the gas tank. There was evidence to suggest that this was an economic decision. The victims were awarded $127.8 million, of which $125 million was punitive damages. Punitive damages are specifically awarded for this reason, to punish and deter behavior from going forward.
The same principle may be applicable to trucking companies. If they are failing to properly train their drivers or engaging in conduct that’s considered to be reckless, you can ask for punitive damages.
What Makes Your Firm Uniquely Qualified To Handle My Trucking Accident In South Central Pennsylvania?
Our firm is located in close proximity to a couple of major highways, so we are right here in a way that allows us to know the courts where the accidents occcur. We have experience handling trucking accidents and know how to get the cases resolved in a way that’s beneficial to the client.
Our firm also has reliable experts in trucking who analyze data from truck and car accidents. This allows the experts to figure out exactly what happened from a data perspective leading up to and during the accident. Our experts can retrieve the data from the truck in a prompt fashion before it can be destroyed.
The data from the truck allows them to understand the answers to the following questions:
- Did the driver try to brake before the accident?
- Did the driver swerve before the accident?
- What was the truck’s speed at the time or prior to the collision?
Having a team of experts both on the liability side for analyzing how the accident occurred and on the medical side as to how the client has and will suffer from his or her injuries is invaluable to the client and the outcome of their claim.
Is There A Recent Case That You Can Remember Of A Client That Was In A Very Tight Position, Could Be A Personal Injury Claim, And Their Damages Were Extreme, But You Managed To Go Through The Case And Come Out With A Positive Outcome? Is There Such An Incident That You Could Tell Me About?
There was a truck accident case where our client was actually a pedestrian in a parking lot of a gas station convenience store that catered to passenger vehicles and trucks. They have a separate side that sells diesel fuel for trucks. As our client was walking through the parking lot, he was hit by a truck and killed. It was, unfortunately, a very gruesome death.
We brought the suit against the trucking company and its driver for being inattentive. The driver had his truck idling in the walkway and failed to notice our client walking in front of him. The driver pulled forward and killed him.
We also brought suit against the convenience store, because they set up a dangerous situation on their premises. A premises liability claim holds the property owner liable for creating or allowing a dangerous condition to occur on its property. In this case, the convenience store created a dangerous situation by allowing tractor-trailer trucks to park and idle right in the pathway where customers were constantly walking back and forth. Trucks have blind spots and they have idling trucks that can get into gear and go without any indication of them even starting up. It creates a hazard and a liability.
We were able to recover a maximum amount from the trucking company and a sizable recovery from the convenience store. For more information on Causes Of Trucking Accidents Across PA an initial consultation is your next best step.
Navigating Legality
Being involved in a commercial truck or vehicle accident can leave you uncertain of what you should or should not do. Understanding some of the initial steps and knowing when you should contact a truck accident injury attorney can assist in maximizing your settlement. The following FAQ can help answer some of these more common questions.
More Information
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