Truck accidents are among the most catastrophic vehicle crashes in Marietta. And if you’ve been in one, you know how expensive and painful they are.
But, no matter how severe your injuries are, you could be entitled to recover money for your losses, and a truck accident lawyer in Marietta, GA, can help you.
Since the 1990s, our team has assisted commercial truck accident victims in Marietta. And we know what it takes to build a strong truck crash case to win fair compensation. So when you choose Marietta personal injury lawyers at John Foy & Associates, you choose legal representation dedicated to your success.
What to Do After a Commercial Vehicle Accident
After a commercial truck accident, the most important thing you can do is make sure you’re alright. That includes removing yourself from any dangerous situation, bringing your car to the side of the road if possible, and calling an ambulance if you need immediate medical attention.
After you know that you’re safe, there are some steps that you can take to increase your chances of a good settlement. These include:
- Taking pictures of the accident scene, including any damages to your vehicle
- Talking to any witnesses and getting their contact information
- Calling the police and getting an official report
- Going to the doctor for diagnosis and treatment
- Saving any documents and bills you receive that are related to your accident
- Contacting a truck accident attorney in Marietta, GA, as soon as you can
After an accident, the other driver, their company, their lawyer, and their insurance company may try to contact you. Be polite, but don’t tell them anything besides your basic information. They’ll try to take your words and use them against you so they don’t have to pay full compensation.
That’s why you should have a skilled Marietta personal injury lawyer representing you. They will be able to handle all the people trying to take advantage of you. Our team knows what to say and do to get you paid for your damages.
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Common Causes of Truck Accidents in Georgia
Driving near semi-trucks poses risks, and you can get into an accident in many ways. Common causes of truck accidents include:
Fatigue
Truck drivers are on the road for extended periods, often early or late hours. This most commonly results in truckers becoming fatigued, increasing the likelihood of a crash. When drivers are tired, they’re less alert and have a slower reaction time.
For example, if you’re driving next to a tired trucker, they may drift into your lane and fail to react before hitting you. Since the driver is drowsy, they likely won’t realize the damage until it’s too late.
Distracted Driving
Driving a truck as large as a semi requires the driver to focus for long periods with minimal distractions. Even a driver checking their phone, the radio or talking to other passengers is a distraction that could lead to a crash.
Intoxicated Driving
Even though it’s illegal to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs while operating a semi-truck, truck drivers still do it. As a result, a drunk truck driver could lose control of the truck and hit you, causing severe injuries.
After you receive medical attention, our legal team of truck accident lawyers in Marietta, GA, can help you determine the cause of your accident and build a case. Then, we’ll help you hold the liable parties accountable.
Why Are Accidents With 18-Wheelers So Dangerous?
Any car crash can lead to serious injuries, but because of their size and weight, semi-truck collisions are especially deadly. An 18-wheeler can easily weigh 20 times as much as a regular car, up to 80,0000 pounds with a full load, and the weight alone makes semis particularly dangerous in an accident.
18-wheelers are dangerous because:
- It’s hard for large trucks to stop quickly.
- Semis provide limited visibility for their drivers.
- Some trucks carry flammable or hazardous materials.
- Semis are prone to jack-knifing and falling over.
The risks of 18-wheelers are many, and trucking companies often won’t take accountability for their employees or company actions. That’s why our team of personal injury attorneys is here to help.
Truck Accident Injuries You Can Suffer in Marietta, GA
We’ve discussed the dangers of semi-trucks, and now we’ll focus on what injuries you could sustain in an accident with one. Common severe injuries you can suffer include:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Broken bones
- Lacerations
- Internal injuries
- Neck injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
Regardless of the severity of your injuries, you should gather evidence, such as the police report after the accident, to share with your lawyer. The more evidence you have, the higher your chance of recovering financial compensation.
What Compensation Can You Recover After a Truck Accident in Marietta?
In Marietta and throughout Georgia, a truck accident victim is entitled to recover all of their costs related to the accident. We typically recover these types of damages for our clients:
- Medical expenses, including emergency room visits, physicians, surgeries, and tests
- Expenses for prescription drugs
- Therapy costs, including physical or rehabilitative therapy
- Property damage for replacing or repairing a vehicle
- Lost wages if the accident led to missed time from work
- Loss of companionship
- Emotional distress
- Loss of consortium
- Loss of quality of life
We aim to help you recover and lead a full and fulfilling life after the accident. However, this sometimes means years of surgeries, therapies, and ongoing treatment.
We will never pressure you to settle quickly with the insurance company. Instead, we want you to get a full doctor’s diagnosis so you understand the true cost of your injuries. Then we will press the insurance company to compensate you for all your costs, present and future.
How does a Marietta Truck Accident Lawyer Prove Negligence in an Accident?
To prove a party is at fault in a Marietta commercial truck collision, our truck crash lawyers must gather evidence to satisfy the four elements of negligence. You could be eligible for financial compensation if the following elements are present in your case:
- Duty of care: The party that hit you must have had an obligation to avoid harming you.
- Breach of duty of care: They must have acted (or didn’t) in a way that violated the duty and risked your safety.
- You suffered injuries: You must have suffered injuries and have evidence to prove the party’s actions were the cause.
- Damages: Your injuries must have resulted in financial and non-financial losses.
Our team will review your case for free and determine if you have these elements of negligence present in your case. If you do, we can fight for the maximum compensation.
Who Can Be at Fault in a Marietta Truck Accident?
When you get into a truck crash in Marietta, there could be multiple liable parties besides the truck driver. You could recover compensation from:
- The trucking company
- The truck manufacturer
- The mechanic who did a faulty repair
- Another driver
- The cargo company
- Local, state, or federal government
Whether it was the trucking company forcing its drivers to violate hours of service regulations or the cargo company improperly loading cargo, we’ll find evidence of their actions to prove their negligence.
Then, when we take on your case, you can trust us to exhaust every resource to pinpoint which at-fault parties are responsible for your pain. Then, we’ll pursue compensation from them and get you back on your feet.
How Long do You Have to File a Claim for a Truck Crash?
In most cases, the statute of limitations for a personal injury claim is two years, according to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA) §9-3-33. That means you have two years from the accident date to file your truck accident claim. However, some accidents are different, and the window of opportunity can be months or weeks.
If you miss the deadline for your accident claim, you could lose any chance to get compensation. That’s why you should contact a truck accident attorney in Marietta, GA, as soon as possible. Our firm will get to work on your case as quickly as possible to make sure you have the money you need to recover.
Our team sends our deepest condolences if you lost a loved one in a truck accident. In addition, we can help you file a wrongful death claim to recover damages you’ve suffered due to your loved one’s death.
Should I Hire a Marietta Truck Accident Lawyer for my Crash?
When you have a lawyer from our firm working on your case, you have a much higher chance of winning your case than without one. Truck accident victims often contact us who took an insurance company’s offer and then found out that they needed much more treatment, leading to tens of thousands of dollars in medical expenses.
The problem is that the insurance company’s initial offer may not be enough to compensate you for the expenses you’ve already had, let alone the treatment you may need in the future. Truck accident lawyers know what to expect from an insurance company. We understand their tactics and are skilled at forcing them to negotiate.
Insurance companies want you to believe they are a friend who will take care of you. But, unfortunately, that’s not how it usually works. Insurance companies want to make a profit, and they do this by paying as little as possible when someone makes a claim.
Our law firm prepares every case by sending an accident investigator to collect evidence, such as black box data. Then, when insurance companies see the case we’ve put together, they don’t need anything else to convince them to offer a much bigger settlement.
Do Truck Collision Cases Go to Court?
Usually, no. We resolve most of our cases without a lawsuit.
A typical case goes like this: we gather evidence and present it to the insurance company. We show them proof that you did not cause your crash and give them medical evidence about the true cost of your injuries. This shows the insurance company that we have a strong case and could win in court.
Faced with the prospect of a time-consuming lawsuit, the insurance company will often increase its offer significantly. Occasionally, though, the insurance company simply won’t offer more money. When this happens, we will explain your options and recommend the best course of action.
This might involve filing a lawsuit in the Cobb County courts. However, if your case does wind up in court, you should know that our experienced litigation team has a strong track record and is fully prepared to handle your case in court.
What does a Truck Accident Lawyer Cost in Marietta?
You can hire a Marietta truck accident lawyer without paying one cent out of your pocket. We know that some lawyers charge hundreds of dollars for an hour of their time.
But we don’t think that’s fair to accident victims who are already struggling with medical bills. We want to help you get the money you need when you need it, so we have a simple fee structure:
- Your consultation with us is completely free.
- You will never pay anything out of pocket.
- If we don’t win you money, you won’t pay anything.
If we win you a financial recovery, we’ll take a percentage of the money we recover. The rest of the money goes to you. This keeps things fair for everyone.
Contact a Marietta Truck Accident Lawyer Today for Free
If you’ve been involved in an accident with a semi-truck, you need to talk to an experienced lawyer immediately. There are deadlines for filing your claim, and if you miss your deadline, you probably won’t be able to recover anything at all. So don’t let this happen to you.
The Marietta truck accident lawyers at John Foy & Associates offer a FREE consultation to discuss your case and explain your choices. Call us or fill out the contact form to your right and get your free consultation today.
404-400-4000 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form