8 Factors That Impact Semi Truck Accident Settlements

While car crashes are stressful and can cause serious injuries, being involved in a trucking accident is generally even more detrimental. Trucks and semis are heavier than cars, which makes them likely to cause more damage. They also stop more slowly than other vehicles because of their large mass, so the initial impact is worse.

If you have been involved in a semi-truck accident, though, help is available. An attorney can help you reach a settlement to cover post-collision expenses. Read on to learn what factors will impact the compensation you receive. 

1. Your Behavior After the Crash

The way you behave after an accident will directly impact how much compensation you get. If you wait too long to file a claim, insurance companies will argue that recovering damages wasn’t a priority. You need to find a lawyer and begin legal proceedings as soon as you tend to your injuries.

You also shouldn’t post pictures or talk about your collision on social media. It’s best not to put anything in writing at all. A simple post that says “I was in an accident but am OK” can be taken out of context by insurance lawyers who claim that you aren’t owed compensation because you said you’re OK.

2. The Costs of Your Injuries

The average person can expect to spend about $148,279 after involvement in a truck accident. This cost is for those that include a single injured person. The sum increases if multiple people are injured and can be over $7 million if a fatality is involved.

Costs will depend on a wide range of factors. The severity of your injuries will greatly alter the amount that you spend on medical treatment.

Short-term concussions, whiplash, limited bone fractures, bruises, and minor burns will cost money to treat. These injuries shouldn’t be taken lightly, and a hospital visit is critical to ensuring that you’re okay.

But other injuries such as traumatic brain injuries, shattered bones, head injuries, neck injuries, and spinal cord damage will cost even more. The sum of your prospective settlement will be close to what you spent treating your injuries.

There are various damages that you can recover pertaining to your treatment, including:

• Funds to cover hospital bills
• Medication payments
• Money to buy mobility aids
• Funds to cover physical therapy bills
• Trauma counseling funds
• Money for future medical bills (if you need ongoing care)
• Home care/24-hour care
• Temporary or permanent disability/disfigurement

Not everyone will need compensation for all of these things, so your settlement will depend on what you’re owed.

3. Other Financial and Non-Financial Losses

Beyond medical treatment, a truck wreck will likely leave you in financial distress for other reasons. Healing from injuries means you’ll need to take time off work, which means that you won’t be paid for a potentially long period of time.

If you lose wages, you will likely be entitled to funds to make up for this.

You also may lose earning potential if you sustain long-term injuries. Losing motor function or use of an arm will mean that you can’t readily perform many jobs. If you have vision loss or hearing damage, you might not be able to go back to work.

In these instances, you can often get money for losing earning potential.

Non-financial damages also exist. Compensation for pain and suffering is often available because of the turmoil and anguish that comes along with serious injuries. You also may be able to get compensation for losing your quality of life temporarily or permanently.

4. Your Insurance Coverage

If you have insured your vehicle responsibly, your own insurance policy will cover some of the damage. Those with collision insurance can almost always gather some funds from them. If you have comprehensive insurance, you may be able to recover even more compensation.

The sum you can collect will depend on your specific insurer and policy. Look it over closely to see how much they’re required to give you.

However, a semi-truck accident can cause a lot of damage. Usually, there will be more fees than your own insurance policy will cover. 

That’s where a lawyer comes in. You need to collect damages from the other party’s insurance company as well.

5. What Evidence You Can Gather

A semi-truck accident settlement is contingent on you proving fault. This means that you need to show that a third party neglected to take reasonable action to prevent the trucking accident.

Gathering evidence is essential for your attorney to prove that the other party was more at fault than you were. Take photos of the accident site, your injuries, and damage to both vehicles. Store them somewhere safe so that you can show them to an attorney.

Get access to police reports that you filed after the collision, the other drivers’ insurance policy, and camera footage if available.

There are also some evidence types that only an attorney can get. Roadside security tapes, eyewitness accounts, and medical records will all require a subpoena order if you want them in a timely manner. 

6. The Quality of Your Attorney

Your attorney is going to handle every aspect of your case. They’re the ones who will negotiate a fair settlement for you. This means that you need a high-quality attorney who knows what they’re doing.

Choose a lawyer who specializes in auto accident injury claims. Make sure that they’ve handled semi-truck accident cases before. Ask them what cases they’ve worked on like yours and what the outcomes of those cases were.

Look into their experience. Make sure that they have a decade or more of practice as a semi-truck accident lawyer in Arizona. This will ensure they know the local laws and understand the ins and outs of negotiating a settlement.

Without a good lawyer, you’re going to get very little compensation. After all, the main aim of insurance companies is to save money; if it were up to them, they’d give you nothing. A lawyer is the person who will stand with you and make sure that insurance companies give you what you deserve.

7. Causes of the Semi Truck Accident

There are several possible causes of semi-truck accidents. Driver error is a common one since many people speed or fail to obey traffic laws. Other driver errors like distracted driving or driving while intoxicated could give you an even bigger settlement.

Driver negligence is also a possible cause. This term encompasses drivers who tailgated, didn’t yield appropriately, or changed lanes the wrong way.

In instances of driver error or negligence, you likely are going to get compensation from the driver’s insurance company. This is because the driver is the person at fault. You’ll be able to get a good chunk of money this way since truck driver error is common and fairly easy to prove.

Some truck wrecks are caused by equipment failure. Brakes wear down eventually, as do tires and engines. If the owner of the truck neglected to perform safety inspections or replace necessary parts, the collision was their fault.

This is true whether the truck is owned by an individual or a commercial owner.

Some collisions are a little bit harder to prove fault in, specifically those that happened due to poor weather conditions. Heavy rains and high winds make driving challenging, which can cause accidents. Still, if the truck operator didn’t do their due diligence to drive safely in these hazardous conditions, it’s possible to prove that they’re at fault.

After all, there’s no such thing as a no-fault accident in Arizona. 

8. Percentage of Comparative Fault

Arizona isn’t just an at-fault state. It’s a state that recognizes comparative fault.

One party can bear 70% of the fault while the other can bear 30%; one party can take 10% of the fault while the other bears 90%. Your aim is to prove that the other person was more to blame so that you can recover damages.

Let’s say that there’s one collision where Driver A is declared 20% at fault while Driver B is assigned 80% of the blame.

Consider another instance where Driver A was given 40% of the fault and Driver B got 60%.

In both of these scenarios, Driver A is entitled to compensation. However, since the percentage alters the amount of money that you’re entitled to, Driver A will get more compensation in the first situation.

A quality lawyer will help demonstrate that you bear less fault than the other driver. They’ll also show why your percentage should remain low with evidence that the other party was negligent.

Get a Quality Semi Truck Accident Lawyer

A semi-truck accident can be detrimental to your physical and mental well-being. Luckily, there are ways that you can get compensation if you’re involved in one Experienced and reputable attorneys can help you undergo the settlement process so that you can collect the maximum possible damages.

Sweet Lawyers’ team is committed to getting you a great settlement with the same energy that has given us a 98% success rate. We offer free consultations to interested parties, so get in touch to begin talking about how we can get you the funds you deserve after a truck wreck.