Recent statistics reveal that every day 90 people are injured or killed in large truck related accidents with 450,000 large trucks involved in such accidents every year. The saddest statistic revolves around the fact that one third of injured victims suffer catastrophic damages, physical, financial, emotional or psychological.
More often than not, due to the construction of the large truck providing protection to the truck driver, often the truck driver can walk away practically unscathed while the victims suffer traumatic conditions that can include brain or spinal cord injuries, paralysis, amputation, disfigurement, severe burns or concussions, back and neck injuries, and extreme cases can lead to wrongful death.
If the accident occurred in Michigan, local Michigan Trucking Attorneys are immediately needed to assess the situation, as these truck accidents can become extremely complex and complicated legal issues can easily arise.
Although causes for truck accidents can be numerous, they can be generally summarized into three distinct categories and only tenacious Michigan trucking attorneys can dig deep into the true causes:
* Driver negligence: Under intense pressure to meet required delivery schedules, which sometimes can be absolutely unreasonable, truck drivers may undertake unnecessary risks, such as speeding or violating the FMCSA's 11-hour rule, which dictates that truck drivers have to rest after 11 hours on the road. Just like other drivers, they could also have been driving while texting or talking on the cell phone, and tailgating is another often cited violation.
* Bad weather: weather conditions can change at any given moment and unprepared truck drivers, in particular long haul truck drivers could unexpectedly be facing heavy rain or snow, with strong winds being a common occurrence in certain parts of the country.
Equipment failure and overloading: poor tire pressure, broken lights, lack of blind spot mirrors, or brake failure are major contributors to truck accidents.
However, truck accidents can also occur due to the actions of the other involved vehicle. Ignorance of a truck's performance capabilities oftentimes is reported as there are definite limits to a truck's acceleration, braking and visibility. Some tips to avoid truck accidents are as follows :
* Driving in blind zones, the areas behind and beside the truck where the truck driver may only have limited or no visibility.
* Pulling in front of a truck without sufficient acceleration.
* Misjudging the speed of an incoming truck when making a left turn.
* Maneuvering to the right of the truck while the truck may be attempting a right hand turn.
* Driving between two large trucks is definitely not recommended.
Whatever may be the case, having Michigan Trucking Attorneys relentlessly and aggressively defend your rights may be the only suitable course of action. Investigating the scene of a truck accident can be a very extensive undertaking which requires detailed analysis that only experienced Michigan Trucking Attorneys can perform.
When conducting interviews with possible Michigan Trucking Attorneys, it is advisable to clarify the knowledge of the Attorney in areas of compensation that include but are not necessarily limited to :
* Medical and other expenses, including long term care, as needed.
* Lost income or lost earning capacity resulting from disability or disfigurement.
* Pain and suffering, physical or psychological.
* Wrongful death if such is the case.
Some Michigan Trucking Attorneys may furthermore offer financial assistance regarding court and litigation costs, and support regarding living or medical expenses could be considered, therefore there are definite advantages to be duly represented in a court of law if you or a loved one has been involved in a truck accident.
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