Injuries from a semi-truck accident can have serious consequences. You will likely have unexpected medical bills and may need care for the rest of your life. Depending on the severity of your injuries, you may miss work for weeks or months or never go back at all. How will you pay those bills and replace your income?
If the truck driver’s negligent behavior caused the accident, a truck accident lawyer in Bohemia, Long Island can help you file a claim and recover the compensation you need to make yourself whole again.
Can I Afford to Hire a Lawyer?
Most trucking accident lawyers — including those at Gacovino, Lake & Associates, P.C. — handle cases on a contingency basis. This means you do not pay us unless you recover a settlement or verdict.
We also offer free consultations. This means you can discuss your case and learn more about how we can help you during a free, no-obligation consultation. If you cannot travel because of your injuries, we can come to the hospital or to your home.
Give us a call at your earliest convenience: 631-600-0000.
Who Is Liable for My Truck Accident?
In many truck accident cases, the truck driver is your at-fault party. In a typical car accident case, the at-fault driver would be your liable party. However, truck accidents are a bit different. While you can hold the driver liable, chances are, the trucking company is also liable. This is due to the vicarious liability doctrine that holds employers liable for their employees’ actions, so long as they acted within the scope of their employment.
Manufacturers and mechanics can also be liable if a defective part or poor maintenance caused or contributed to the accident.
While having the trucking company as an optional liable party is good for you as it means you have the opportunity for a higher settlement, it also means you must stand up against a large trucking company (or manufacturer) as well as its experienced insurance company and legal team. We will stand up against the trucking company and its insurer, protecting you from any tactics they may use to devalue or deny your claim.
How Can I Prove the Trucking Company Is Liable?
Truck drivers must operate their rigs with care to avoid causing other road users undue harm. This means they must obey all traffic laws. However, they must also follow regulations specific to the trucking industry. Some of these rules include:
- Hours of service rules: Truck drivers can only remain behind the wheel for a certain number of hours.
- Cell phone use: Truck drivers are not allowed to text or to use a handheld cell phone behind the wheel.
- Alcohol use: Truck drivers who have a blood alcohol content above 0.04 have broken the law.
If a truck driver disobeys any of these rules and causes an accident, he has behaved negligently.
To prove the driver behaved negligently, we might need:
- Data from the truck’s onboard data recorder
- The driver’s hours of service logs
- The police report
- The driver’s alcohol and drug test results
- The truck’s maintenance records
- The truck itself
- Eyewitness statements
- Expert witness testimony
- Accident reconstruction results
How Will Gacovino, Lake & Associates, PLLC Help Me with Truck Accident Case?
In addition to helping build your claim and gathering evidence, the team at Gacovino, Lake & Associates, PLLC will also:
- Protect your legal rights
- Determine the value of your claim
- Meet all deadlines
- Present your case
- Make sure the insurance company’s settlement offer is fair
Collecting evidence, determining what your claim is worth, building a strong case, and negotiating with the insurance company takes time, experience, and knowledge. We can handle all this for you, so you can focus on your health and future. Your most important priority is recovering from your injuries.
What if the insurance company (or companies) challenges your claim or refuses to offer a reasonable out-of-court settlement? Then we can file a lawsuit and make your case in court.
How Much Can I Recover for My Truck Accident Injuries?
There is no way to determine exactly how much you might be entitled to without looking at your bills, paystubs, and all other accident-related receipts. We will ensure your settlement offer includes any of the following that are applicable to your accident:
- Medical bills
- Lost wages
- Lost earning capacity
- Any other accident-related costs
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Lost quality of life
Call Gacovino, Lake & Associates, P.C. at 630-600-0000 for a Free Consultation
After a truck accident, we need to get critical evidence quickly. Federal laws allow trucking companies to destroy evidence after a certain period of time. We must determine what evidence we need and send a spoliation letter to preserve it.
Do not delay. To talk to a truck accident lawyer in Bohemia, call us now at 631-600-0000.