Nationwide

Truck Accident Attorneys

The experienced trial attorneys at The Lidji Firm typically employ and retain expert witnesses who can often reconstruct accidents from the evidence at the scene: skid marks, the position of the vehicles when they came to rest, the type and extent of vehicle damage, the type and extent of the personal injuries, witness testimony etc. This can help better determine the cause of the accident, which is the first step in establishing the right to compensation. The Lidji Firm utilize expert witnesses on a case by case basis, when needed, to help you get the money you deserve.

Big Rig Accidents

Collisions between passenger vehicles and huge “semi” trucks tend to be one-sided fights. A great majority of the people killed or injured in accidents that involve “big rig” tractor trailers are occupants of the other vehicle. The size mismatch is made even worse if the collision involves a fully loaded tractor that is moving at high speed. Because of the great danger to the public that shares the road with the big rigs, it is important to try to ensure that drivers of the rigs are qualified properly as evidenced by and through their driver’s qualification file and driving history.

Many trucking accidents occur simply because the driver is inadequately trained, and from the effects of fatigue. Big rig drivers are held to higher standards than your ordinary non-professional driver. Unfortunately, these rigs have several characteristics that make them susceptible to accidents:

• They all have blind spots that conceal the presence of other vehicles near them.
• They do not stop as quickly as smaller, lighter vehicles; it takes twice as long to stop a semi going 55 mph as it does to stop a passenger vehicle travelling at the same speed.
• They are difficult to maneuver; a classic example is that many big rig drivers making a right hand turn appear to be changing lanes to the left hand lane when in fact, they are using the left land to make a right hand turn and the victim tries to pass on the right, thinking the tractor is changing lanes instead of making a right hand turn.  Tractors turn in one direction by swinging the rig to the opposite direction in order to get a better turn angle (causing impatient drivers behind the rig to start passing on the very side to which the rig soon turns).

Get Experienced Help Early

Evidence about the accident is crucial to establishing your right to recover from the driver, the driver’s employer, or the driver’s supervisor. The closer to the time of the accident that you begin collecting that evidence, the better off you will be. That means that you need to get an experienced trial attorney involved as soon as possible before witness memories start to fade or the scene of the accident undergoes changes that make accident reconstruction difficult or impossible. See external resource for What To Do After a Truck Crash.