Being involved in a wreck with a semi-truck and trailer can completely change your life in the blink of an eye. Dealing with being injured, missing work and trying to understand how to deal with trucking insurance companies is totally different than any other injury claim. The experienced trucking accident lawyers from Schroeder & Mandel can help you understand how the Federal laws, as well as Minnesota or Wisconsin state trucking laws, apply to your trucking injury situation and give you the best options for moving forward.
Truck wrecks are quite different from car accidents.
When a semi-truck or commercial carrier is involved in a wreck, the likelihood of serious injury (such as brain, spinal cord or orthopedic injuries) and death is high. The size of the vehicles involved and the difficulty of determining how much it will cost to compensate the injured person make truck wreck cases more complicated than normal car accident injury cases. Federal and State regulations apply and are very complex. It takes a team of lawyers to help you navigate through these rules and regulations.
Determining the truck driver’s responsibility.
Truck drivers are held to a much higher level of responsibility than everyday drivers. They need to adhere to strict Federal and State guidelines about how long they can drive, their training, and their competency long before getting behind the wheel of a commercial semi-truck. Trucking companies are also responsible for ensuring their commercial semi-trucks and trailers being driven are safely, correctly maintained, loaded properly, and securely tied down. They are also responsible for safely hiring and training all of their drivers and keeping proper records. These factors, combined with potentially unsafe driving tactics employed by some semi-truck drivers, or improper screening by employers or using unsafe equipment make it essential you hire an experienced trucking lawyer right away. The trucking insurance companies will have their team on the scene immediately doing what they can to minimize their exposure.
How can a lawyer help with my case?
With truck wrecks, we need to begin investigating right away – as trucking companies respond immediately to protect themselves. Most often they will come to the scene. There is so much information to secure when investigating a truck wreck, from reviewing camera footage, cell phone records, and data recorders from the semi-truck which needs to be retained and analyzed right away.
An experienced trucking accident lawyer can also help you through the complex process of determining responsibility for the wreck. Unlike car accidents, when a commercial truck driver is involved, there are overlapping layers of responsibility between the truck driver, trucking company and possible other companies. This all needs to be sorted out as soon as possible.
Free consultation. Invaluable trucking experience.
Rick Schroeder is an experienced personal injury attorney who grew up working around the commercial trucking industry. He actually knows how to drive a semi-truck. This gives him a level of familiarity and insight into truck wrecks that very few lawyers can claim. He and his team will provide a FREE initial consultation to answer any questions you might have. Contact our attorneys today and let’s get started.
