3 Reasons Truck Accidents Are More Complex than Auto Accidents
| December 9th, 2019
At first glance, getting compensation for truck accidents seems like it should follow the same process as getting compensation for accidents involving passenger vehicles. But anyone who was hurt in an accident involving a tractor-trailer can tell you that truck accident claims are often far more complicated than auto accident claims. There are three main reasons for that:- Truck accidents involve more potentially liable parties—In auto accidents, there’s usually one liable party: the negligent driver. But in truck accidents, there may be two, three, four, or more negligent parties, including the truck drivers, truck owners, truck companies, and even other motorists. Determining who was at fault can be a difficult process and it requires collecting and analyzing plenty of evidence.
- Truck accidents cause severe injuries—Semi-trucks are dozens of feet in length and can up to 80,000 pounds when fully loaded. When they’re involved in crashes with passenger vehicles, their occupants are likely to suffer serious injuries that can be life-changing and life-threatening. Victims often experience permanent disabilities that put them out of work, which means their compensation claims must be carefully built and negotiated.
- Truck accidents often result in big settlements—Insurance companies do everything in their power to pay victims as little as possible after crashes. And because truck accident settlements are often much bigger than auto accident settlements, insurance companies can be even less helpful and even combative when victims seek the compensation they are owed.
