Being injured in a collision with a truck while driving or riding in a passenger car is often the start of a long, painful ordeal. Truck or tractor-trailer accidents can cause extensive damage and serious, life-altering injury. On top of injuries, commercial trucking companies behind most truck accidents have the resources and the will to deny responsibility and payments to the injured.
Being injured in a collision with a truck while driving or riding in a passenger car is often the start of a long, painful ordeal. Truck or tractor-trailer accidents can cause extensive damage and serious, life-altering injury. On top of injuries, commercial trucking companies behind most truck accidents have the resources and the will to deny responsibility and payments to the injured.The Bronx truck accident attorneys at Zlotolow & Associates fight to protect crash victims from negligent truckers, abusive trucking companies (or “motor carriers”), and their insurers. For more than 20 years, we have been aggressively and successfully pursuing full compensation for truck accident victims. We will go toe-to-toe with the motor carrier responsible for the truck that hit you, as well as the insurance company. You don’t have to face them alone.
Depending on the circumstances of your case, we may demand compensation that:
- Pays medical bills, including for future medical care
- Replaces lost income, including future loss due to disabling injury
- Pays for repairing or replacing your vehicle
- Acknowledges your physical and emotional pain and suffering
- Provides punitive damages from an egregiously reckless trucker or motor carrier that acted with wanton or malicious conduct
Commercial truck accidents are typically more complex than passenger car crashes. Zlotolow & Associates can manage your truck accident claim from start to finish, so that you may focus on medical care and recovery.
Contact our Bronx truck accident attorneys today for a free legal consultation. We work on a contingency-fee basis, which means we don’t charge fees until we recover compensation for you.
Our Lawyers Will Identify All Parties Responsible for Your Truck Accident
There are typically multiple factors and actors in a serious accident involving a commercial truck (tractor-trailers, tankers, transfer trucks, dump trucks, etc.). This makes it important to obtain help quickly if you’ve been in a truck accident that will have lasting consequences for you and/or your family.
Very soon after a truck accident, you may find yourself dealing with parties intent on stopping you from obtaining compensation you are truly due for your injuries, property damage, and other losses. The trucking industry is big business, and those involved have a lot to protect.
A truck accident may involve a:
- Truck driver: In most cases, the driver, or trucker, is primarily responsible for a commercial truck accident. Truckers responsible for accidents in the past have been found to have acted with negligence, such as:
- Speeding
- Distracted driving
- Fatigued (drowsy) driving
- Driving while impaired (primarily by illicit, prescribed, or OTC drugs)
- Recklessness, i.e., making an unsafe or illegal maneuver
It is not unusual for a trucker to deny he or she has done anything wrong and, instead, blame the driver who has been hit or someone or something else.
- Trucking company: A trucker’s employer, known as a “motor carrier,” is responsible for the drivers and trucks it puts on the road. It must ensure its truckers are licensed and trained, and that they follow rules of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and New York State. It must ensure the company’s trucks are maintained and loaded with cargo according to FMCSA requirements. A motor carrier has a huge investment in its fleet of trucks and personnel. It has ample incentive to keep anyone injured in an accident from obtaining a full insurance payout.
- Problems with the truck: A full-size long-haul transfer truck or a commercial dump truck weighs 10,000 pounds or more empty and up to 80,000 pounds fully loaded with cargo. This size and weight helps to make truck crashes more damaging. It also means there is far more physical evidence to examine after a wreck. A commercial truck has multiple parts and systems, like brake systems, tires, power trains, wheels, coupling systems and lighting, which can contribute to a crash if they fail. Often truck systems fail due to cutting corners on maintenance to save money. In some cases, the manufacturer or distributor of the truck, truck parts, etc., may be responsible for a product that was faulty from the start.
- Cargo load: It is not unusual for a cargo shift or cargo spill to accompany or cause a truck accident. If cargo is not properly loaded and/or not secured and suddenly moves, it can change the truck’s center of gravity and cause a crash. You may have been hit by cargo that spilled from a truck, or you may have hit spilled cargo and crashed. The FMCSA regulates cargo and how it is loaded and secured. The motor carrier, trucker, and, sometimes, at third-party cargo loader and/or owner all have responsibility for cargo failures.
- Road conditions: Sometimes we find that a problem with the road itself contributed to a truck accident. This may be due to lack of maintenance of the roadway or faulty design. For example, overgrown trees at an intersection may obscure the view, or the roadbed may allow rainwater to pool, which creates a hazard. Works zones set up by contractors to restrict access to areas where highway construction or maintenance is going on can cause or contribute to accidents if designed incorrectly. In particular, a work zone’s setup must account for the distance a large truck requires to slow and/or stop from highway speed. Local governments and/or their contractors may be responsible for dangerous road conditions.
Any combination of the factors above may be involved in your truck accident. As your attorneys, Zlotolow & Associates will conduct the investigation required to identify all parties truly responsible for the crash you were injured in. We will follow up with one or more truck accident claims that seek compensation from all responsible parties.
In the meantime, you may hear from an insurance company that represents a party liable (legally responsible) for your truck accident. Particularly after a catastrophic truck accident that gets a lot of attention, it is not unusual for a trucking company to send insurance company representatives out to offer what looks like big settlement checks.
If you are offered a fast settlement after a truck accident, you should reject it. It is important that you turn down any offer from any insurance company until your accident and injuries have been thoroughly investigated and explained. Accepting a settlement closes your claim, and doing so prematurely can cost you money you deserve. This is what the insurance company wants.
Instead, let the dedicated Bronx truck accident attorneys at Zlotolow & Associates handle your truck accident claim from start to finish. Schedule a free consultation today to learn how to get started.
Contact Our Bronx Truck Accident Attorneys Today
Don’t let profit-minded insurance companies take advantage of you if you’ve been seriously injured in a truck accident. Contact Zlotolow & Associates now to discuss aggressive representation in a truck accident claim. We have the resolve and the resources required to fight for your truck accident claim. And we do not back down from corporations with deep-pockets.
Call or fill out our online form for a free, no-obligation discussion of how our Bronx personal injury lawyers can help you and your family.
In addition to helping clients with their truck accident cases in the Bronx, we also service Brooklyn, Manhattan, New York City, Queens, Staten Island, and Suffolk.
