Truck accidents are bigger in every way than those involving other vehicles. Semi-trucks are larger, the damage is more extensive, and the fight over liability and compensation is often more intense. For truck accident victims, the magnitude of pursuing a case against a driver or trucking company can feel too daunting to handle alone.
Don't do it alone. At Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group, you can receive a free consultation with an experienced truck accident attorney on our Alpharetta team. Tell us your story, so we can formulate a strategy to obtain the best outcome for your case. Contact us today!
Alpharetta Truck Accident Guide
Our Truck Accidents Lawyers Mix Experience with Empathy
The legal team at Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group has been there. We have experienced accidents from both sides, both as victims and as lawyers. Therefore, we apply our knowledge of victims' challenges and our professional background in protecting victims' rights to every case.
That professional background includes:
- Experience working for accident victims
- Millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts
- Thousands of clients with successfully concluded cases
- Multiple awards from the public and our peers
Yet we never lose sight of what matters. A truck accident victim like you has not only suffered an injury but is experiencing difficulty getting justice for it. We treat each truck accident case with respect for your time, situation, and concerns.
Free Consultations
Showing compassion for our clients doesn't just mean showing compassion for your physical circumstances. It also means showing compassion for your financial circumstances. You shouldn't pay attorney fees to receive information as you search for legal representation, so your consultation is on the house.
During our free legal consultation, we can answer questions about:
- Whether you have grounds for an injury claim
- How much you might recover in financial compensation
- Determining negligence and whom to hold liable for your injuries
- What the next steps are in pursuing compensation
- What we can do to support you
Again, you won't pay us anything to discuss your case and determine whether you have a viable truck accident claim.
Payment Only on Contingency
Our compassion for your financial circumstances continues when you hire us. You don't have to pay us a retainer upfront or any fees at all unless we settle your case during negotiations or win your case at trial. That way, you know your skilled truck accident attorney is committed to obtaining a successful resolution and getting you the maximum compensation possible for your severe injuries and other damages.
Flexible and Focused Support
When working on the daily details of pursuing your compensation, we stay open to fresh ideas and creative solutions. At the same time, we stay organized, keep you in the loop, remain ready for developments, and make any necessary arrangements to move your case forward.
With our truck accidents lawyers, you can count on:
- Regular information about progress or new approaches
- Problem-solving for stalled cases or tangled liability
- Practical assistance with logistics in the aftermath of a truck crash
- Responsiveness to phone calls and emails
- Understandable explanations of rights, settlement terms, and next steps
- Openness to changing things up if something isn't working
You can rely on an experienced Alpharetta truck accident attorney at Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group to gather evidence and prove negligence to help you obtain maximum compensation for the devastating injuries a truck accident caused.
We Pursue Fair Compensation for Victims of Alpharetta Truck Accidents
Your damages could cover any accident-related losses, from out-of-pocket medical expenses to compensating the loss of a favorite hobby.
If you were involved in a truck accident caused by someone else's negligence in Georgia, you may be entitled to seek compensation for various types of damages, which can be categorized into two main groups:
Economic Damages
These include the tangible losses you incurred as a result of the truck accident and your injuries, and they include:
- Medical Expenses: You could obtain compensation for past, current, and future medical expenses, such as hospitalization, surgeries, prescription medications, rehabilitation, and physical therapy.
- Lost Wages and Income: If you were unable to work due to the injuries sustained in the truck accident, you may be able to claim compensation for the income you lost during your recovery period.
- Property Damage: You can seek reimbursement for the repair or replacement of your damaged vehicle and other property that was harmed in the accident.
- Other Financial Losses: In some cases, you might be able to recover other economic losses directly linked to the accident, such as transportation expenses to medical appointments or costs for hiring assistance during your recovery.
Non-Economic Damages:
Along with financial damages, you may also suffer adverse effects to other areas of your life because of your serious truck accident injuries. You may obtain compensation for the intangible, non-economic damages you sustained, such as:
- Pain and Suffering: These damages are meant to compensate you for physical pain, emotional distress, and the overall impact of the accident on your quality of life.
- Emotional Distress: If the truck accident resulted in significant emotional trauma, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), you may be entitled to compensation.
- Loss of Consortium: In certain situations, the spouse of an injured person may seek damages for the loss of companionship, support, and intimacy that resulted from the accident.
In some rare cases, the court may also award punitive damages if it finds the defendant acted with extreme negligence, unlawfulness, or intentional misconduct.
It's important to note that Georgia follows a modified comparative fault rule. This means that if you are partially at fault for the accident, your compensation may be reduced by the percentage of your fault. If you are found to be 50% or more at fault, you may not be able to recover any damages at all.
To navigate the complexities of truck accident claims and ensure you receive fair compensation, it's best to consult with an experienced personal injury attorney who can assess the specifics of your case and guide you through the legal process.
How to Compensate for Serious Injuries
Large trucks can weigh 20 to 30 times more than passenger vehicles, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
So, it comes as no surprise that many truck accident victims suffer severe, even catastrophic injuries, such as:
- Internal injuries
- Deep or disfiguring lacerations
- Serious burns
- Broken or crushed bones
- Neck and back injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
- Spinal cord injuries
Injuries like these can come with long-term and even lifelong consequences and complications. As a result, victims can feel especially overwhelmed when trying to determine what kind of settlement they deserve.
To offer you peace of mind and clarity, we work with medical and financial professionals to calculate your case's value. We can determine your prognosis, discuss your future care, and project your income and personal losses.
Most importantly, we won't allow anyone to pressure you into a settlement until you know the full outcome of your accident. The other party can't know what you've lost until you know. Therefore, we wait for the complete picture to come into focus and then pursue accurate compensation.
How to Compensate for a Wrongful Death
The IIHS reports that only 15 percent of fatalities in truck crashes are truck occupants. The rest are other drivers, passengers, motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians. This statistic alone represents the enormous disadvantage faced by truck accident victims.
If your loved one loses their life to a truck accident, our truck accident lawyers in Alpharetta can help you file a claim or lawsuit for them. The compensation from a wrongful death case can go toward paying final medical bills, replacing lost income, and recognizing your grief.
Our Truck Accidents Lawyers Tackle Intricate Insurance Issues
Insurance can get very tricky when it involves large commercial trucks. You may deal with the trucking company's insurance. Conversely, the company may have only engaged the driver as an independent contractor, meaning you must pursue a claim through the driver's insurance. Then again, that driver's insurance policy may not cover accidents that happen when working.
As you can see, insurance coverage for your accident could get bounced around several parties. Everyone involved will likely attempt to push responsibility onto someone else. Our Alpharetta truck accident attorneys know how to determine whose insurance coverage can help with your accident.
Even if we find that a truck driver's insurance policy is insufficient or won't cover your accident, the Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group team can still explore alternatives for obtaining compensation, such as a personal injury lawsuit.
Bad Injuries Can Lead to Bad Fights
Accidents involving large commercial trucks tend to result in high-dollar cases. Serious truck accident injuries, lengthy recoveries, and long-term consequences could put insurance companies on the hook for millions of dollars. As an example, just the first year after a spinal cord injury can cost anywhere from $375,000 to $1.4 million, according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center. That doesn't even account for lifetime costs or lost income.
You may assume that if you have obvious injuries, the insurance company cannot deny your claim. While true, what they may do is attempt to shave costs wherever possible. This can mean minimizing some of your losses, undervaluing your injuries, or even unethically denying your claim in an act of bad faith. Our truck accident lawyers fight for fairness and full compensation to our clients who suffered life-threatening injuries.
Other Insurance Issues We Can Help Settle
You may not have difficulty knowing which coverage applies to your case. You may even have an insurance company that is operating aboveboard. Nonetheless, your case may still involve other insurance headaches we can handle.
An Alpharetta truck accident lawyer from our law firm can assist with:
- Making a statement to insurance that won't jeopardize your damages
- Filing your paperwork correctly and on time
- Understanding policy or settlement terms
- Negotiating a fair settlement that accounts for all your losses
- Ensuring the adjuster keeps your claim moving through the process efficiently
- Communicating with all parties involved
Let us know if your frustration or confusion stems from another type of insurance dispute. We have experience in all kinds of truck accident disagreements and can put that knowledge to use in your case.
Our Alpharetta Team Handles Complex Trucking Company Challenges
Dealing with a trucking company often comes with challenges separate from insurance struggles. In these cases, it can help to have a representative who knows the tricks and tactics typically used by companies to avoid responsibility.
In your Alpharetta case, our truck accidents attorneys can:
- Identify negligent behavior by drivers and trucking companies
- Compile evidence of negligence to hold them accountable
- Ensure that you aren’t unfairly blamed for your part in the accident
Holding Drivers Accountable for Their Negligence
Truck drivers are responsible for operating their trucks with reasonable care and caution. However, some truckers violated traffic laws that lead to trucking accidents. Some common traffic violations include:
- Drunk driving and drug-impaired driving
- Distracted driving
- Speeding
- Drowsy driving
- Tailgating
- Aggressive driving
- Improper turns
- Running lights
- Ignoring signs
Any of the above behaviors could form the basis of a claim or lawsuit against a negligent driver. If you suspect one or more played a role in your collision, we can investigate and start building a case.
How Do You Hold Trucking Companies Accountable for Their Negligence?
Many trucking companies are liable for the actions of their drivers. We can also hold the truck company liable for their careless actions if they contributed to your accident because of:
- Negligent hiring practices
- Failing to properly train drivers
- Not enforcing hours-of-service regulations
- Improper cargo loading
- Violating weight regulations
- Truck maintenance failures
If a truck driver had a history of negligent behavior and was hired anyway, the company should share that driver's responsibility for a wreck. Similarly, trucking companies must operate their business properly, including training, maintenance, and enforcing regulations. The trucking industry is highly regulated, and if the trucking company did not adhere to federal and state laws and regulations, your attorney could hold them accountable.
For example, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration sets regulations for the hours of service that truck drivers must follow. If a company does not enforce drivers taking the required breaks, they are liable if a driver falls asleep at the wheel and causes an accident.
The bottom line is, although only the truck driver was present at the scene of the accident, trucking companies still owe others a duty of care on the road. Failure to uphold it is negligence.
We Pay Attention to the Possibilities When Building Your Truck Accident Case
Injury cases are built on details—collecting disparate pieces of evidence that put the accident into perspective. Our experience has honed our vision to see those details.
As a result, we draw from sources like these to bring into focus what happened:
- Police reports
- Medical records
- Transportation logs
- Eyewitness testimony
- Expert analysis
- Accident reconstruction
- Blood alcohol content (BAC) testing
- Drug testing
- Traffic camera footage
- Bystander video footage
- Photos from the scene
- Photos of injuries
- Traffic and weather reports
Some of these may sound irrelevant to you, like weather reports. However, under ideal conditions, semi trucks already need more time and distance to stop compared to passenger vehicles. In bad weather, a large truck requires even more distance. Therefore, we can assign fault to a truck driver who failed to account for weather conditions and followed the vehicle in front of them too closely, causing a rear-end collision or even an override crash.
This is just one example of how we can look at the raw information from your crash and extrapolate what happened to you and whom we can hold responsible—the details matter.
Exploring Other Factors in Your Case
Paying attention to the possibilities means recognizing other potentially liable parties. Sometimes, truck accidents are only partly caused by the truck. In fact, sometimes the truck driver isn't responsible at all. Government entities, such as the City of Alpharetta, or product manufacturers, like tire companies, are possibly at fault. Poorly maintained roads and faulty products can point to these culprits. Also, you may be able to hold the truck manufacturer liable along with the parties responsible for loading and securing the truck's cargo.
Our experienced truck accident lawyers from Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group have successfully handled many truck accident cases, and we can work with accident investigators and other professionals to what parties can be held liable for your injuries and suffering.
Using Deadlines to Our Advantage
Under state law, you generally have two years to file a case for personal injury or wrongful death. However, we don't wait long to take legal action on your behalf. Before the statute of limitations expires, we can work on gathering evidence, taking stock of your losses, and settling your case out of court.
Contact an Alpharetta Truck Accidents Lawyer Today
The Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group team, from our lawyers to our support staff, works to get the best possible outcome for every truck accident case. We have gained recognition as one of the leading personal injury law firms in our region, and we are fully committed to helping you and your family through this difficult and uncertain time.
To get started, contact us at our Alpharetta law office today for a free consultation: (470) 465-7825.
Client Testimonial
"Great experience. My case manager, Indya, has done an amazing job. She answers all my questions and gives me updates." - Rosa V. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Read more of our Google reviews!