Philadelphia Truck Accident Lawyer

When a semi-truck strikes a passenger vehicle at upwards of 50 miles per hour, the occupants of the car are likely to suffer more serious injuries than if another similar vehicle hit them. Insurance claims for truck accidents are more complex and difficult to settle than typical car accident claims. Contact a Philadelphia truck accident lawyer at Earp Cohn P.C. for help today.

Experienced Philadelphia Trucking Accident Lawyer

In 2013, 3,964 people lost their lives while another 95,000 people sustained injuries in truck accidents in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

With the size and weight of the average truck far surpassing the average passenger vehicle, it is no wonder most truck accidents result in serious or fatal injuries for the people outside the truck. In 82 percent of truck accidents in 2013, it was the occupants of the other vehicle or pedestrians/cyclists who died in the crash, reports the NHTSA.

The types of injuries common in truck accidents can be long-term or permanently disabling. Aside from hospitalization and initial surgery and treatment, some victims require long-term care, vehicle or home modifications, and more. Further, victims are likely to miss several weeks, if not months, of work while recovering from the accident. Some never go back to work.

These two types of economic damages alone can easily reach tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars just in medical bills and lost income. Recovering these damages, along with compensation for pain and suffering, requires that you file a claim against the party liable for the truck’s actions.

Contact Pennsylvania Truck Accident Lawyer

Under Pennsylvania laws, drivers who select a limited tort auto policy cannot recover noneconomic damages for an accident unless they suffer severe injuries. Be sure to check your policy before filing your claim. If you have limited tort coverage, then it becomes even more important to prove the extent and effects of your injuries.

It is not always the truck driver that is solely at fault for the crash. In many cases, you can hold other parties liable such as:

• Trucking company via vicarious liability (i.e., an employer is responsible for its employees’ actions)
• Truck’s mechanic (e.g., if the mechanic did not properly fix the brakes)
• Truck manufacturer (e.g., if the brakes were defective).

To determine liability and prove negligence, evidence is necessary. For a truck accident, some of the most important evidence comes from the trucking company in the form of:

• Driver service records and time logs
• Driver qualification file and employment records
• Maintenance reports

The caveat is that trucking companies can legally destroy this evidence after a certain period, often as short as six months, so time is of the essence when filing a truck accident claim.

Trusted Philadelphia Truck Accident Law Firm

Trucking companies have legal teams to defend them from accident claims like yours. So make sure you contact a Philadelphia truck accident attorney to fight for a fair settlement that covers all of your damages – both short- and long-term.

One of the first ways a Pennsylvania trucking accident lawyer can help your case is to send a spoliation letter which forces the trucking company to preserve evidence before they can destroy it. Once you have filed your claim and gathered your evidence, the insurer may come back with a lowball settlement offer which an attorney can negotiate.

If you cannot agree on a fair settlement, you will then take your claim to a Pennsylvania court in a truck accident lawsuit. It is here that having a lawyer is especially essential to your success.

You owe it to yourself to take the burden of filing and negotiating a truck accident case off your shoulders and put it into the hands of a professional Philadelphia truck accident attorney at Earp Cohn P.C.