If you were involved in a truck crash and survived, you are fortunate. Truck accidents cause a disproportionate number of fatalities every year. However, you might not be feeling lucky if you are trying to heal from severe injuries and bills are piling up.
A Lakewood truck accident lawyer can offer some solutions. If negligence was a factor in the wreck, the negligent party is responsible for paying your damages. A knowledgeable injury attorney can help you understand your rights and help you make the negligent parties pay for the suffering they caused you.
Why Truck Crashes Are So Dangerous
Tractor-trailers are dangerous to passengers in other vehicles because they are so large in comparison. Even a small commercial truck greatly outweighs a typical passenger vehicle, weighing up to 40 tons. Most SUVs weigh between two and three tons.
The way trucks crash also affects the injuries that occupants of other vehicles might suffer. In a jackknife crash, the trailer could result in a multi-car pileup. If the truck rolls over, it could crush vehicles in adjacent lanes. In some truck wrecks, the smaller vehicle might even slide under the truck, which almost always leads to catastrophic injuries and fatalities.
Common Truck Accident Injuries
Truck crashes produce more than their fair share of severe injuries, and occupants of other vehicles are far more likely to be hurt than the tractor-trailer driver. Common truck accident injuries include:
- Complicated bone fractures
- Facial injuries leading to disfigurement or blindness
- Lacerations of internal organs
- Traumatic amputations
- Spinal cord injury
- Traumatic brain injury
Such injuries require significant medical intervention and might not ever heal completely. A truck accident victim might never be able to earn a living or support his or her family. Even if a truck accident victim can recover and return to work, he or she will likely suffer lingering physical and emotional symptoms for years afterward.
A truck wreck victim coping with severe injuries needs the assistance of an experienced Lakewood attorney. The advocate can anticipate the individual’s future needs and help ensure that any settlement provides adequate compensation and support.
Damages in Lakewood Truck Wrecks
Injured individuals are generally entitled to receive damages from the responsible party. A capable lawyer in Lakewood can help an individual harmed in a truck collision calculate and document his losses to support a claim for damages.
Economic Damages
Economic damages reimburse the individual for his or her medical expenses, lost income, and other costs of treating, rehabilitating, and living with the injury. These damages also could include the projected cost of medical care that the injury will require in the future. If the injury limits the injured person’s future employment prospects, the damages could also include diminished earning potential.
Non-Economic Damages
An injured person is also entitled to collect compensation for his or her non-economic damages. These are losses resulting from an injury that are difficult to quantify. Examples of non-economic damages include disfigurement, physical pain, disability, humiliation, emotional suffering, and other impacts on a victim’s quality of life.
Ohio Revised Code § 2315.18 limits the amount of non-economic damages an individual plaintiff can receive to $350,000 in most cases. However, if the truck wreck caused a catastrophic injury, this limit might not apply.
Seek Justice with a Lakewood Truck Accident Attorney
Trucking companies have teams of investigators, insurance adjusters, and attorneys working to limit their liability. You need a professional team to ensure you receive a fair settlement for your harm.
A capable Lakewood truck accident lawyer knows the law and the industry and will put that know-how to work for you. Make an appointment for a case review with Tittle & Perlmuter to move forward with practical legal guidance.
