Auto accidents involving commercial trucks, such as tractor-trailers or 18-wheelers, often result in catastrophic injuries and death. At Doehrman Buba, our national board-certified civil trial lawyers represent people from across the nation who have been injured in truck accidents in Indiana, helping them obtain compensation for the financial burden caused by their injuries.
According to the NHTSA, 19 fatalities caused by truck accidents occurred in Indiana in 2012. In fact, 95% of truck-related accidents in the U.S. result in at least one fatality. This is hardly surprising, since most semi-trucks are about 65 feet long, 14 feet tall, and weigh around 80,000 pounds. Besides this, there are over two million semi-trucks regularly on the road in the United States.
When not fatal, semi-truck accidents can still result in serious injury and property damage. In Indiana, truck accident claims are classed under the accident and personal injury practice. If you are involved in a truck accident, you must file a personal injury claim and/or personal property damage claim within two years from the date of the accident in order to receive financial compensation for injuries, property damage, or the death of a loved one.
Jump To:
- Statute of limitations for truck accidents
- How a truck accident attorney can help
- Truck accident statistics
- Facts about truck accidents
- What to do after a truck accident
- Causes of truck accidents
- Who is liable in a truck accident?
- Truck accident lawsuits
- Serious injuries caused by truck accidents
- Get legal help
Statute of Limitations for Truck Accidents
Under Indiana code title 34 (civil law and procedure §34-11-2-4), you have two years to file a claim for injury or property damage, starting on the date of the accident. This means if you or someone else sustains an injury in a truck accident, or if your vehicle or house is damaged because of a truck accident, you have two years in which to bring your case before a court. If a truck accident resulted in a fatality, then the two years beginning on the date of the deceased person’s death.
How an Indianapolis Truck Accident Attorney Can Help
The Indiana truck accident lawyers at Doehrman Buba use years of experience in order to determine the exact reason for the truck accident. In order to get your rightful compensation for lost wages, property damage to your car, and expensive medical bills, you will need an experienced law firm that has successfully represented and protected victims of Indiana commercial trucking accidents.
Was the accident caused by the truck’s lack of service maintenance? Was the truck driver distracted on their phone? Was the truck driver excessively speeding? Were they fatigued? Working with the lawyers of Doehrman Buba will get you the answers you deserve and the evidence necessary to file your truck accident claim.
We Can Help You Prove Liability
In order to win your case against the truck driver or the trucking company, you must be able to prove that their negligence caused your injuries. Our attorneys can use the following types of evidence to prove negligence:
- Testimonies from people who witnessed the collision
- Weigh station records
- The police report
- The truck driver’s log books
- Surveillance and dash cam footage
Commercial Truck Accident Client Reviews
Debra Bilby
My husband was injured in a semi accident and Doehrman Buba helped us through a difficult time by being available to answer questions, listen when we were frustrated, and explain each step of the case. Dan Buba made us feel like we mattered. I would recommend Doehrman Buba to my family and friends any day!
Truck Accident Statistics
- More than 50,000 truck accidents occur in the U.S. each year.
- 275,000 large truck accidents occurred in the U.S. in 2011.
- 104,000 people were injured in truck accidents in 2012.
- 205,000 collisions occurred in Indiana in 2014. Around 8% of these involved trucks or other commercial vehicles.
- The number of collisions with large trucks increased by around 5% each year from 2010 to 2014.
- 78% of truck accidents occur over the weekend.
- There have been over 1200 truck accident fatalities in Indiana from 2007-2016
Facts About Truck Accidents
An accident between a vehicle and a commercial or semi-truck operates on a different legal basis than a regular car accident. Part of this is simply because more parties are involved in a truck accident. These include the truck driver, the trucking company, the truck manufacturer, the company responsible for loading the truck, and the company responsible for maintaining the truck. This makes a truck accident more complicated than the average car accident, and it means, among other things, that it may be harder to gain compensation for injuries and damages.
However, truck drivers and their employers are bound by a specific set of rules geared towards roadway safety. These include making sure trucks are loaded safely and truck drivers do not succumb to fatigue. If a truck driver or company violates these rules, then they may be found guilty of negligence. In this case, the injured party may be able to receive money for things like medical expenses resulting from injuries, property damage sustained in the accident, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
What To Do After a Truck Accident
If you are involved in a truck accident, there are several things you should do immediately. If you or someone else is injured, call 9-1-1 right away. Then make sure you and the other people involved in the accident are safely off the road, if possible.
Write down the contact information for everyone involved in the accident, including other drivers and witnesses. Besides names, phone numbers, and emails obtain insurance information, license plate numbers, and vehicle descriptions. Additionally, for commercial vehicles, you should obtain the UDOT number or Indiana ID number, and the name and contact information of the driver’s employer.
Additionally, if anyone is injured, or if there is $1,000 worth of property damage, you should call the police to get a report. Write down the reporting police officer’s name and badge number.
When you get home, you should call your insurance company to file a Certificate of Compliance. Then, depending on the extent of the injuries and damages, you may wish to call a personal injury lawyer for a consultation.
The other driver’s insurance company may try to contact you, but if this happens, you should politely refer them to your lawyer and refuse to speak further with the insurance company yourself. You should also avoid signing or agreeing to anything before consulting with a lawyer. This includes any settlement from the other driver’s lawyer or insurance company.
If your family member was killed in a truck accident, you may be able to file a wrongful death claim. In this case, you should contact a lawyer as soon as possible for a consultation.
Causes of Truck Accidents
Drivers of smaller vehicles should be aware that trucks have a certain speed, turning, visibility, and breaking limitations. Many truck accidents occur because of these limitations. Other causes of trucking accidents include:
- A truck driver's lack of training
- Dangerous or reckless truck driving
- Overloaded or oversized trucks
- Poor driving conditions (fog, snow or rain)
- Truck defects (defective tires, safety systems, lights, etc.)
- Speeding or aggressive driving
- Driver fatigue
- Inadequate lighting
- Failure to install underride protection
- Driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol
Victims of trucking accidents often suffer severe injuries including spinal cord injury, loss of limbs, broken bones, and traumatic brain injury (TBI). These types of injuries come with hefty medical expenses, pain and suffering, and mental and emotional anguish. These injuries can also result in a lifetime of disability and special needs for the injured person.
Driver Fatigue
When drivers are tired from overworking and not sleeping enough, their concentration wanes, greatly increasing the likelihood of an accident. Because of the size and speed of 18-wheelers, the consequences of a truck accident are very serious and often deadly.
Who Is Liable in a Truck Accident?
To help ensure that our clients receive maximum compensation for their injuries, we will identify as many potential defendants as possible in a truck accident case. Possible parties who may be held liable for your injuries include:
- The truck driver
- The trucking company
- Contractors
- Employers
- Insurance companies
- Manufacturers of the truck and/or its component parts
If a truck driver is employed by a trucking or shipping company, that company may be held responsible for the driver's negligence. Establishing the liability of third parties can be difficult if, as is often the case, the driver is an independent contractor of a larger company. In that situation, it is important to have an experienced truck accident attorneys on your side who understands the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) set forth by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and other laws that deal with truck driving and the trucking industry.
Truck Companies Are Required to Carry Liability Insurance
Commercial trucks are required to have at least $750,000 in liability insurance coverage. Many trucking companies have insurance policies that provide more than the minimum coverage requirements of $750,000. It is important to have an experienced truck accident attorney representing your interests if you have sustained substantial damages as the result of a truck crash caused by the truck driver and/or the company the driver was working for at the time of the crash.
In addition to finding all sources of liability insurance coverage available to compensate you for your damages, our truck accident lawyer also can help with liens that insurance companies often put on any claim that an injured person is making against a truck driver or trucking company. And, our Indianapolis truck accident attorneys will assist you in seeing that your medical bills are paid for so that you do not get sued by hospitals and medical groups who have not been paid for the treatment they have rendered to you or a loved one.
Trucking Companies' Obligation to Only Use Qualified and Competent Drivers
There are essential guidelines for trucking companies regarding qualifying drivers for over-the-road duty. To be qualified and competent, a driver must:
- Be physically qualified to drive: This includes adequate vision and hearing as well as freedom from high blood pressure, epilepsy, insulin-dependent diabetes, and alcoholism.
- Pass a driving test: This test is much more intensive than the test administered to non-professional drivers.
- Pass an intensive application and background test process: A trucking company is required to obtain detailed information about a prospective driver's prior employers, addresses for the past 10 years, and driving record from every state in which the driver was licensed for the previous three years.
CSA 2010: Compliance ∙ Safety ∙ Accountability
These are just the precautions taken before the driver begins to work for the trucking company. Once the driver is on the road, the company is obligated to supervise and monitor that driver's performance and qualifications.
The body of regulations, called CSA, is an intensive program rolled out in December 2010 with the goal of measuring, evaluating, and intervening more effectively with trucking companies to ensure that safety measures—including the requirement to only use qualified and trained drivers—are followed to the letter. Motor carriers are required to make sure drivers are qualified on a daily basis. As soon as a driver has a violation or other cause to be considered an unfit driver, that driver should be taken off the road immediately.
Our law firm has handled many truck accidents. In almost every case, there is almost always a violation of some kind. Typically, the driver is not fully competent or qualified, or there is some physical problem with the vehicle itself like a broken headlight, inadequate brakes, or an improperly prepared logbook. There is almost always a federal violation, and we can find it.
Truck Accident Lawsuits
Commercial motor vehicle civil litigation is a unique and specialized area of personal injury law. Too frequently, lawyers consider a crash involving a commercial motor vehicle as any other car crash. There are certainly similarities, in that you need to obtain witness statements, photos, and videotape; conduct inspections of the vehicles and site; and preserve evidence—but at that point, similarities end.
A driver of a commercial motor vehicle has been trained, tested, and received a commercial driver's license, empowering the driver to operate a vehicle approaching 80,000 pounds at highway speed, under the direction of an entity that must qualify and supervise the driver at all times. The driver and his trucking company are considered professionals in the operation and transport of cargo and people in intrastate and interstate commerce.
The rules of the road are the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR), promulgated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in the Code of Federal Regulations, and adopted by each state.
Serious Injuries Caused by Truck Accidents
In the vast majority of cases, the size and speed of the trucks cause severe and catastrophic injuries that can include:
Victims of truck accidents who have suffered any of these injuries often experience lingering effects and medical needs for many years after the accident, sometimes even for life. We work hard to make sure our clients get compensation for the immediate medical expenses and damages, as well as compensation for the long-term injuries that they suffer. We have been corporate sponsors of the Brain Injury Association of Indiana for more than 30 years. Our AV-rated* attorneys are qualified and experienced with handling brain injury litigation, and we have written many legal articles on this complicated area of law.
You can also view our TBI Resource Guide for advice on dealing with the pain of living with a brain injury.
Why are injuries likely to be more severe in a truck accident?
The average passenger vehicle weighs about 3000 to 5000 pounds. A fully loaded commercial truck can weigh around 80,000 pounds or even more. When two vehicles collide and one weighs more than ten times the other, simple physics will tell us that the smaller vehicle will get the worst of it.
What are the most common factors that cause truck accidents?
Truck accidents are most commonly caused both by the natural characteristics of such large and heavy vehicles, and the ignorance of drivers around them in regular passenger vehicles.
Because of their size and weight, large trucks need more space to accelerate, stop, or slow down and turn. The length of the vehicles also creates much larger blind spots than you would have in a common passenger vehicle.
Many drivers don’t know they should give these vehicles more space and never follow too closely behind, ride too close or stop too quickly in front of them, or drive next to them where the truck driver might not be able to see them.
What exactly is a “commercial truck”?
A commercial truck is first, and most obviously, a truck that is used for commercial purposes. They can vary in size from what are called “box trucks” up to full 18-wheel (or more) tractor-trailers.
Box trucks are bigger than a van but smaller than a tractor-trailer. The back of the truck resembles a large box, giving it its name. You often see them used by residential delivery services.
Tractor-trailers are made up of two parts, the actual truck, known as the tractor, and a large trailer that might be used to haul freight, livestock, liquids, chemicals, and many other things. They often weigh several tens of thousands of pounds when loaded.
Who can I file a personal injury claim against in a truck accident?
In most cases, your personal injury claim will be filed against the trucking company, but there are other factors that come into play that may allow you to file claims against others. In some cases, you can file a claim against the truck’s driver or the company that owns the cargo that was being transported.
What can I claim for if I’ve been involved in a truck accident?
Depending on the circumstances of the accident and the injuries you’ve suffered, you may be able to file a claim for things such as:
- Pain and suffering
- Lost wages
- Medical expenses
- Future medical care
- Physical therapy
- Prescription drugs
- Property Damage
Contact Our Indianapolis Truck Accident Lawyers Today
Our Indianapolis truck accident attorneys have obtained substantial verdicts and settlements on behalf of our clients. Our lawyers and legal team work closely with truck accident investigators and other experts to help ensure that truck accident victims obtain justice and compensation for their injuries. We have the experience and resources to hold negligent, reckless, or careless truck drivers, trucking companies, and truck manufacturers liable for your injuries.
If you or someone close to you has suffered a serious injury in a truck crash, we are here to help. It's in your best interest to receive a free case review with an experienced semi-truck accident lawyer. Contact our attorneys today by filling out a contact form online or by telephone at (317) 844-9999 for a free consultation.
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