What Should You Know About Truck Accidents?

Almost two thousand Canadians die every year, and thousands more are seriously injured, in accidents involving large trucks. If you’re injured in a truck collision, promptly schedule a free consultation to discuss your rights with a Halifax truck accident lawyer.

How is the fault for a truck accident determined? Which parties may be held liable? If you’re injured in a truck crash, what are your rights? Can you be compensated for your medical costs? When should you consult with a Nova Scotia truck accident lawyer?

For the answers that you and your loved ones may need, continue reading this short discussion of truck collisions, the law, and your rights in Nova Scotia as the injured victim of someone else’s negligence.

What Makes Truck Accidents Different?

Truck crashes differ from other accidents in several ways. A fully-loaded truck can weigh forty tons; most cars weigh about 3,000 pounds. Their weight and size make trucks difficult to stop, and turn and if a car and a truck hit something at the same speed, the truck will do a lot more damage.

Traffic accidents that involve large commercial trucks are also different because the liability for a truck accident may extend beyond the driver of the truck to the trucking company and to leasing companies, subcontractors, contractors, and other parties.

If the brakes or tires on a truck were defectively manufactured, if the cargo was loaded onto the truck improperly, or if a truck has not been properly maintained, more than one defendant may have liability for an accident involving the truck.

What Determines Liability for Truck Accidents?

Determining the liability for a trucking accident involves reviewing the police report, medical records, the truck driver’s logbook, the vehicle’s maintenance schedule, and more. A Halifax truck accident lawyer will scrutinize this evidence to determine who may be liable for the crash.

Your lawyer will also speak to any eyewitnesses, and in some cases, your lawyer may additionally consult an accident reconstruction expert to determine exactly how the accident happened and which party or parties may be held liable.

How Are Claims Based on Truck Accidents Usually Settled?

If you’re injured in a truck crash in or near the Halifax area, a Nova Scotia truck accident lawyer will examine the details of the case, determine which party or parties are liable, and negotiate a resolution on your behalf. Most injury claims based on truck accidents are settled out-of-court.

If you’re not offered an acceptable settlement in the private negotiations, or if liability for the crash is disputed, your Halifax personal injury lawyer will take your case to court, explain how and how severely you were injured, and ask the court to order payment of your compensation.

It’s particularly important in a truck accident case to put your lawyer to work at once because records can go missing or be destroyed, and witnesses’ memories may fade or they may move out of the jurisdiction or even pass away before they provide a statement . It takes time to question witnesses, gather and review evidence, and prepare for negotiations. AS part of the litigation process, your lawyer can demand copies of the driver’s logbook, the truck company’s maintenance records, and other evidence.

Take These Steps Immediately After an Accident With a Truck

If you’re in an accident with a truck, do not admit any fault and do not sign any insurance papers before you consult a truck accident lawyer.

There won’t be any lawyers at the scene of the accident to give you advice, so take these steps to put yourself in the best possible legal position:

  1.  First, call for medical help, and then call the police at once.
  2.  Get the insurance information and personal contact details for all drivers involved.
  3.  Determine who is the truck’s owner and the truck driver’s employer.
  4.  Take photos of the crash location, damages to the vehicles, and your own injuries.
  5.  If witnesses saw the collision, ask them for their personal contact details.

If you aren’t treated at the accident site or rushed to an emergency room, obtain a medical exam within twenty-four hours if possible, even if you feel healthy. An immediate medical exam protects you if you have suffered a difficult-to-detect or latent injury.

Once you have been treated by a medical provider, contact a Nova Scotia personal injury lawyer. You should also make and securely store copies of all of the paperwork pertinent to the accident: a copy of the written police report, insurance documents, and medical records, bills, and receipts.

How Should You Deal With the Insurance Company?

Almost two thousand Canadians die every year, and thousands more are seriously injured, in accidents involving large trucks. If you’re injured in a truck collision, promptly schedule a free consultation to discuss your rights with a Halifax truck accident lawyer.

How is the fault for a truck accident determined? Which parties may be held liable? If you’re injured in a truck crash, what are your rights? Can you be compensated for your medical costs? When should you consult with a Nova Scotia truck accident lawyer?

For the answers that you and your loved ones may need, continue reading this short discussion of truck collisions, the law, and your rights in Nova Scotia as the injured victim of someone else’s negligence.

What is the Deadline for Taking Legal Action?

The statute of limitations for filing a personal injury lawsuit based on a trucking accident in Nova Scotia is usually two years from the date of the collision. After two years, a Nova Scotia court may refuse to hear your case. There are, however, several exceptions to the two-year deadline.

Courts in Nova Scotia have some discretion in determining when the statute of limitation begins to run and they can extend the time limit in certain circumstances. For instance, if you sustain an injury that is not immediately discovered, the statute of limitations “clock” may not start until you discover (or reasonably should have discovered) that you have been injured.

Don’t wait two years to speak with a lawyer. Evidence can deteriorate or even disappear over time, and the recollections of the witnesses fade. Contact a lawyer immediately after you have been treated for your personal injury or injuries.

How Should You Choose a Truck Accident Lawyer?

How can you select a lawyer who can win justice for you after you’ve been injured in a truck collision? The award-winning legal team at McKiggan Hebert Lawyers has decades of experience fighting and prevailing for the injured victims of negligence in the Halifax area.

Injured victims of negligence are entitled to compensation by law, but that compensation is not automatic. You’ll need a lawyer who can prove that another party was negligent, a lawyer who knows what it takes to prevail on your behalf. Call McKiggan Hebert Lawyers in Halifax at (902) 423-2050, and schedule a no-obligation, no-cost case evaluation and review.

If you proceed with a truck accident injury claim, you will pay no fee to McKiggan Hebert until and unless we obtain the compensation that you need and deserve