Georgia Trucking Accidents Attorney
The Jewkes Firm is experienced in representing accident victims injured in serious trucking accidents. With an understanding in trucking guidelines, our firm will work to effectively prepare your case for a successful outcome and help you obtain the financial compensation you deserve.
We will help you understand your rights and make sure they are protected. With our big firm experience, we understand the complexities of the insurance business and how these companies will analyze your case. Our firm will determine which party was negligent, whether it be the driver, manufacture or truck owner, and pursue compensation from any and all to recover your financial loss due to medical bills, lost wages, rehabilitation costs and any future medical costs you may incur.
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Truck Accidents Claims in Georgia
A trucking accident can be devastating, especially due to the size and speed of tractor trailors or other large commercial vehicles. You may be left feeling hopeless and angry when the insurance company claims you were not as seriously hurt as you claim or blames you for the crash. You may be wondering if you have grounds to sue after an accident with a large truck that left you with severe injuries. In many cases, the answer is yes. But, you will want an experienced truck accident attorney to take the lead on your case and help you develop a winning legal strategy to recover compensation for all of your injuries, losses, and damages.
All accident claims are unique. Large truck accidents can involve multiple liable parties, including the truck driver and the truck driver’s company. Determining liability is the most vital thing that a truck accident attorney can do in your case. The Jewkes Law Firm, LLC, serves as your legal advocate to protect your rights, fight back against the insurance company, and seek maximum damages for the harm you suffered.
Our attorneys will focus on your case by gathering evidence, consulting with experts, and negotiating with the insurance company on your behalf so you can focus on getting your life back on track. Contact us at (770) 293-7590 or (678) 688-8296 our law firm today for a free case review with a Georgia truck accident lawyer who is on your side.
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Injured In A Truck Accident?
Motor Carrier Regulations
Tractor-trailers and the businesses that own them are subject to federal and state regulation to ensure the safety of other motorists. The “Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations,” or “FMCSR” for short, are the laws under the Federal government. Motor carriers operating in multiple states are subject to the FMCSR. Essentially the same set of rules have been implemented by Georgia and are now only applicable to Georgia-based businesses. The rules are essentially all the same. Names are the main areas of distinction. The Georgia regulation is known as “DPS 1-390.4.” For instance, a federal regulation is known as 49 CFR 390.4. The state organization in charge of enforcing truck driving regulations is the Georgia Department of Public Safety. The Jewkes Firm attorneys handle claims arising under the FCMSA and the GDPS regularly. We are familiar with the government sources where FCMSA data is found and collected, as the experts we rely upon.
A qualified Georgia truck accident attorney will investigate the circumstances surrounding the collision to identify who is at fault, what laws are in effect, and what happened and why it occurred. Most of the time, both state and federal laws are relevant.
According to the FMCSA, a “commercial motor vehicle” is any self-propelled or towed motor vehicle used on a roadway in intrastate and interstate commerce to move people or goods, when the vehicle:
- A) possesses a gross vehicle weight rating, a gross combination weight rating, a gross vehicle weight, or a gross combination weight of 10,001 pounds or more;
- B) Is intended or used to carry more than eight passengers, including the driver, for hire;
- C) Is intended or used to carry more than fifteen passengers, including the driver, but is not intended or used to carry passengers for hire;
- D) Is utilized to move material deemed hazardous by the secretary of the United States Department of
Transportation under 49 U.S.C. Section 5103 and moved in a quantity requiring placards under regulation.
In addition, the FMCSA implemented restricts the number of hours of duty for a truck driver in an effort to fight driver weariness. The rule generally forbids commercial truck drivers from logging more than 10 straight hours or 11 total hours in a single day. Similar restrictions apply to commercial truck drivers, who are not allowed to log more than 60 hours per rolling seven-day period. Commercial truck drivers may also need to abide by specific state laws in addition to the federal hours of service standards.
Major Causes of Truck Accidents
Truck accidents have the potential to cause significant property damage, severe injuries, and even fatalities. In some truck accidents, the driver is at fault; in others, accidents are the result of improper maintenance by the trucking company.
These are some of the most common causes of the trucking accidents handled by our seasoned truck accident lawyers.
- Driver fatigue
- Inclement weather
- Over speeding
- Inattention, poor attention, or distraction
- Drug and alcohol use, including prescription drug use
- Violation of federal hours of service rules
- Failure to check blind spots
- Improper load distribution
- Incorrect trailer attachment
- Downshifting
- Equipment or vehicle defects
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What Should I Do After a Truck Accident?
Call the Police
The first step you should take after a collision caused by a large truck is call 911 immediately. It’s important to stay on the scene after the crash. Leaving the scene, even if only property damage has occurred, without filing a report, can be a criminal offense. Once an officer arrives, he or she will assess the situation, fill out an accident report, and instruct you on what your next actions should be. Request a copy of the accident report to keep for your records and to present as evidence if you need to go to court over the accident.
Gather Evidence
Gathering evidence can have a major impact on your case’s outcome. When you collect evidence at the scene, you can preserve details about what happened and prevent the information from being falsified or altered. Take photos of the damage to both vehicles, tire skid marks, the driver’s license plate, and other relevant details at the accident scene. As soon as you can, write down everything that you remember in the moments leading up to your crash.
Exchange Information With The Other Involved Parties
Ask the other truck driver for his or her name, insurance information, address, the name of the trucking carrier, and the number of the truck. Getting this information can help to speed up the claims process.
Collect Witnesses’ Information
If anyone else saw what happened in your truck collision, ask the witness or witnesses to stay and give a statement to the police. You should also ask each witness for his or her name and contact information so that your attorney can contact them later. Witness testimony can be important evidence in a truck accident claim since they are unbiased and can provide eyewitness reports of what occurred.
Seek Immediate Medical Help
Following a truck accident, It is vital to seek medical attention after an accident, whether you are obviously injured or not. Your adrenaline could prevent you from feeling pain or noticing an injury. If you do not receive treatment at the scene of the crash or are not immediately transported to the hospital, visit your doctor as soon as possible after the accident. Let a medical professional check you and determine if you need any care. If you do not seek medical treatment or follow through with treatment recommendations, it could interfere with your ability to seek compensation for injuries later.
Communicate With A Truck Accident Lawyer
A lawyer can handle the communication for you and help to prevent you from making critical errors that might harm your case.
If you believe you are entitled to compensation for injuries or damages that were the result of a truck accident, contact a trusted truck accident attorney the Jewkes Law Firm, LLC to get the immediate representation you deserve. You should not agree to provide a statement or sign any documents from the trucking company’s insurance carrier without talking to an attorney.
Who is Liable for a Commercial Truck Accident?
To determine what happened and why, a thorough investigation is required in most truck accidents. A full review of the evidence may indicate that one or more parties should be held responsible for the crash. There may be more than one cause or form of negligence that contributes to an accident, and it typically takes a complete investigation before we can find out who was really at fault.
Individually or together in various combinations, they may include the:
The Truck Driver
Because of negligent behavior such as over-speeding, fatigued or distracted driving, a truck driver may have caused an accident. There may be criminal charges pending and eventually a conviction. A truck driver is also responsible for inspecting the rig to ensure proper maintenance or loading of cargo. If a maintenance problem or cargo shift contributes to a truck accident, the trucker may bear part of the liability for the crash.
The Truck Owner
Typically, the vehicle’s owner is liable for maintenance, and the owner may be a separate entity from the trucking company. When the mechanical failure of a truck part is involved in an accident, it’s vital for your lawyer to uncover any maintenance contracts between the trucking companies, the owner of the truck in question (if it’s not the trucking company), the cargo shipper, and the vehicle manufacturer.
The Truck Manufacturer
Liability may extend, in certain situations, all the way to the manufacturer of a defective truck part. Defective parts can lead to tire blowouts, brake failure, and other critical failures. If experts determine that the failure of a part was caused by the manufacturer’s negligence, then it may be added as a party to the lawsuit.
The Trucking Company
Liability can be assigned to trucking companies that carried out incomplete inspections, cut safety-related corners to increase delivery speed, or pushed drivers too far with unrealistic deadlines and expectations.
Government Agencies and Contractors
A negligent maintenance contractor hired by the government could be held liable as well if the work they performed caused a problem or if a work zone set up contributed to a crash. If a roadway hazard, such as a soft shoulder or broken pavement, contributes to a truck accident such as a rollover, the local or state government responsible for that stretch of highway may be held responsible.
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Compensation You Can Expect In A Truck Accident Claim
Injuries resulting from an accident with a large truck can be lethal. If this describes your case, you are entitled to compensation to pay for your medical bills and expenses – both current and future. But that is not all. If you hire a personal injury attorney to represent you after an accident with a large truck, you can expect them to demand a settlement that covers:
Economic Damages
Economic damages are designed to make up for your losses that have a specific dollar amount attached. This makes them the easiest to calculate when it comes to filing a personal injury claim, though you want to have an attorney’s help to make sure you’re fully compensated for all of your losses.
- Medical bills. Current and future medical expenses that relate to the injury you sustained during the accident. This includes your emergency room visit, surgical costs, assistive devices, rehabilitation, and ongoing care.
- Lost wages. There’s a good chance that you’ll miss quite a bit of work as you recover from your injuries. You may have a short-term or long- erm disability policy through your employer, but those benefits are limited. You can receive compensation to make up for your reduced ability to earn wages in the future.
- Property damage. You can be compensated for the value of your car, along with any other property that may have been damaged.
- Loss of earning capacity. If your injuries prevent you from working in the future or working in your chosen profession, you may collect loss of earnings damages. This may mean working with medical experts, as well as vocational experts to determine the full scope of your disabilities and limitations.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are losses that, while undeniably real, are harder to put a definite dollar figure on. While monetary compensation may seem like a poor substitute for non-economic losses, it’s a way to hold the liable party accountable for what they’ve done.
Some of the most common non-economic damages, include:
- Pain and suffering. It encompasses the emotional and physical stress and pain you endured after the crash. Trucking accident injuries are often catastrophic and can weigh heavily on a person — both physically and emotionally. For instance, a burn injury may result in extreme pain and emotional stress from disfigurement.
- Loss of consortium. When a loved one suffers a serious or life-altering injury, this affects the entire family. Damages for loss of consortium compensate the accident victim and their family from the loss of companionship, sexual relations, and affection that accompanies a serious injury.
- Mental anguish. This covers the mental pain you endured because of the nature and severity of your injuries. This includes suffering from fear, depression, emotional trauma, or loss of enjoyment in life. Many trucking accident victims suffer from depression and anxiety long after the accident.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are additional compensation handed down to punish negligent drivers or trucking companies. However, punitive damages are rare, as they’re meant as a deterrent against the most egregious examples of reckless behavior. A court may award punitive damages if a truck driver knowingly broke safety regulations and someone died or sustained life-altering injuries as a result of the accident.
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Statute of Limitations for Truck Accident Claims
The Georgia law sets a particular statute of limitations for truck accident claims when filing a lawsuit for either injuries or property damage.
According to Statute 9-3-33, for bodily injuries and any harm you suffer to your person, you have two years to file a lawsuit.
According to Statute 9-3-32, you have four years to file a lawsuit for lost, damaged, or destroyed property.
These timelines start when the event that caused your damages and injuries occurred. Missing the deadlines in these statutes of limitations may cause you to forfeit any right you have to seek compensation from an at-fault party.
Contact Our Specialized Truck Accident Attorney
If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident involving a tractor trailer, you may have a right to recover money for your medical costs and other losses. The seasoned truck accident lawyers of The Jewkes Firm represent tractor trailer accident victims throughout Georgia.
We are dedicated to helping our clients get their deserved compensation in their trucking accident cases. For help in your case, contact our skilled and experienced truck accident lawyer today. To understand your legal options, our nationally-recognized legal team will provide the elite representation you need to come up against the trucking industry, we invite you to call our legal team to discuss your legal options.
It’s free to call, and you are under no obligation, contact us at (770) 293-7590 or (678) 688-8296 and get immediate free consultation.
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Frequently Asked Questions?
Do I need a personal injury attorney?
The Jewkes Firm is well-versed in effectively challenging major insurance companies on your behalf to secure the highest settlement permissible by law. Our primary objective is to ensure your optimal recovery. It is only after this point that we assess the worth of your case.
What is the deadline for filing an injury case in Georgia?
The timeframe for filing an injury case, also known as the statute of limitations, can vary significantly. As per OCGA §9-3-33, you are granted a two-year period from the date of your injuries or the passing of a family member to initiate your personal injury claim.
What is the cost to hire a personal injury attorney?
There is no upfront cost associated with hiring a personal injury lawyer. Our fees are based on a percentage of your settlement, meaning you only pay if we successfully recover compensation. Our top priority is ensuring your well-being and helping you return to your normal life.
What damages can you recover from a personal injury?
A personal injury lawyer aims to establish negligence and seek restitution for the harm caused by the liable party. Additionally, you may be entitled to compensation for funeral costs, medical expenses, and income lost if you are a family member of someone who died as a result of an injury.
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