Truck accidents due to bad weather can cause a huge amount of financial loss as well as severe bodily injury. Truck collisions that occur during a storm or similar event can even be fatal, so understanding the law around these unfortunate events can help you get the right compensation.
Let’s take a look at bad weather accidents, who is liable for these collisions, and what you need to do to get legal assistance.
Bad Weather Accidents: Common Crash Causes
Truck accidents in bad weather often take place because poor driving conditions create many potential hazards. Here are a few examples.
Impaired Visibility
Fog, heavy rain, and snow storms are often at the center of weather-related truck accidents because they reduce visibility.
Road Surface Conditions
Water, snow, ice, mud, and many other substances can coat the road and create grueling conditions. In these cases, having the best legal advice for truck accidents can help you get fairly compensated.
Braking Distance Requirements
Trucks and trailers have braking requirements that must be met for safety reasons. That said, the amount of space needed to brake can also shift in bad weather, causing accidents in what would have been an otherwise safe maneuver.
What Constitutes Bad Weather in a Truck Accident Case?
It’s necessary to find the reason behind the crash in order to determine if there is a possibility of claiming truck accident compensation.
It rains, snows, and fogs regularly in some areas all year, but what constitutes bad weather? It’s important to note that determining if a collision occurred in bad weather is left to the courts.
In this sense, it’s important to understand which factors are examined during a court case. In addition to poor visibility and bad driving conditions, some of these include:
- Bad weather alerts and warnings
- Standard industry practices in that scenario
- Driver, employer, and vehicle preparedness
Who is Liable for a Bad Weather Accident?
There’s a multitude of factors affecting bad weather truck accident claims, which makes finding the liable party more complex than in other types of cases.
The good news is that the pool of potential culprits is limited and it includes:
1. The Truck Driver
Drivers who ignore hazardous road conditions or fail to adapt their driving style to the road may be held liable for the crash. Some actions that may be seen as negligent or dangerous include speeding, reducing following distance, or driving aggressively.
2. Trucking Companies
Trucking companies must provide additional training to prepare drivers for hazardous conditions, even if they already have special licenses. Additionally, these businesses must provide ongoing maintenance to their vehicles, so a failure to comply with either can result in liability in a suit.
3. Other Drivers
Truckers share the road with other drivers, and sometimes the latter are actually responsible for the accident. This is known as contributory negligence and it includes actions like cutting off trucks or pulling over unexpectedly.
4. Government Entities
Last but not least, if the accident has been caused by a road that has not been maintained or outdated signage, local and federal authorities may actually be held responsible for the damages incurred.
How to Get Legal Assistance in a Bad Weather Truck Accident Case
Fatal truck accident settlements can be as high as $7 million depending on the circumstances. If you need to hire a weather truck accident lawyer to help fight your case, it’s important that you follow a few key steps.
1. Ensure that You Get Proper Medical Attention
The first thing you should do immediately after a truck accident is to seek medical attention. Even if you didn’t seek medical attention right after the collision, it’s possible for some injuries to manifest days or even weeks down the line.
This is especially true for mood and emotional fluctuations caused by blows to the head. If you’ve been experiencing mood swings since the accident, seeing a medical specialist can help make sense of the situation.
2. File a Police Report
Next, you should file a police report and ensure that all key details are documented. Police will likely be called to the scene by onlookers, but you should also phone emergency services if you can.
Be as thorough as you can be with your description and make sure to get a copy of the report from the officer.
3. Call Your Insurance
Now, you should inform your insurance providers about the collision and your involvement. If you were directly hit by the truck, suffered losses due to the impact, and meet other criteria, your insurance provider may very well provide extensive coverage.
4. Contact a Truck Accident Lawyer and Focus on Your Recovery
At this point, it’s time to contact a truck accident lawyer who specializes in bad weather cases. At Coluccio Law, our team has helped many truck accident victims in cases that involved bad weather and obtained compensation to help these individuals make up for all their damages.
Having a truck accident attorney will help ensure that you make the right decision at every turn. This will also give you the space and time you need to focus on recovering from your injuries and returning to your daily life without too much stress.
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Involved in an Accident During Bad Weather? Contact a Truck Accident Attorney Today
Truck accidents can be devastating, especially if they occur during a downpour. If you or a loved one has been involved in a bad weather truck crash, it’s imperative that you seek medical attention and seek legal advice to determine if a third party is liable for your damages.
Filing a police report is a great starting point, but you also need to have a reliable attorney who understands the ebbs and flows of a bad weather truck accident case. At Coluccio Law, we’ve built winning cases and ensured fair compensation for countless victims in a similar situation as yours.
Contact us today to book a consultation, tell us what happened, and start seeking compensation for your loss.
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