Why It’s Difficult to Recover Damages After a Truck Accident

Truck accidents are generally far more dangerous and damaging than other types of vehicle accidents. Even when both parties are moving at low speeds, a truck’s sheer size renders it capable of causing unimaginable damage. You might think that this would make it easier for victims to seek compensation, but unfortunately, that’s not the case. Victims often face an uphill battle if they want to be compensated for their losses.

Have you been injured in an Atlanta truck accident? The team at Bailey Javins & Carter is here for you. Call us at 678-981-5370 to set up a consultation.

Liability Issues

One issue that comes up again and again is liability. To receive full and fair compensation for an accident, you generally have to be able to prove liability. But there are far more parties involved in a truck accident claim than in a standard passenger vehicle collision. Yes, you have both drivers, but there’s also the truck driver’s employer, the owner of the cargo, the company that loaded the cargo, and the company responsible for the truck’s maintenance. Figuring out liability and potentially splitting it across multiple parties can be a logistical nightmare in the aftermath of a truck accident, especially if attorneys and insurance adjusters struggle to figure out exactly what happened.

Difficulty of Working with Trucking Company Insurance Providers

Because tractor-trailers are capable of causing so much damage, they carry far larger insurance policies than typical passenger vehicles. What does this mean for insurance companies? It means that if their client is liable, they are on the hook for a substantial amount of money. As you may expect, this means that they fight hard to deny liability and limit their financial losses. Insurance companies often swoop in after an accident to encourage victims to accept a lowball settlement or try to shift some blame onto them. The sooner they can get in touch with a victim, the less likely it is they already have an attorney—and that makes it much easier for them to manipulate them.

How Trucking Companies Fight Fair Compensation

Unfortunately, this coercion doesn’t stop at the insurance level. Trucking companies can suffer significant losses after an accident, and they are highly motivated to protect their financial resources and their reputation. For example, if it comes out that a crash was caused by their fatigued driver and that their driver was in flagrant violation of FMCSA hours-of-service regulations, that could lead to public outcry and backlash. Their reputation could be seriously weakened and they may even lose clients because of it. On top of it, they’ll also likely have to pay full and fair compensation to all of the accident victims.

For this reason, trucking companies often have sizable legal teams that leap into action the moment that a crash occurs. These legal teams challenge the extent of injuries, poke holes in victims’ stories, shift blame to other parties, and otherwise protect the company at any cost. The average victim—especially one without a legal team—has little chance to fight back against these underhanded tactics.

Why You Need an Attorney

This is why it’s so important for injured victims to move quickly to get the compensation they deserve after a truck accident. Don’t try to outsmart the insurance companies and trucking companies on your own; they will use their entire library of resources against you, and you’ll likely be left with a minimal settlement or no settlement at all. When you entrust your case to an Atlanta truck accident attorney, you can focus on your physical and mental recovery while your attorney figures out the logistics of your case. Truck accident lawyers know the challenges of these cases and they know how to navigate them with ease, so let them do their work while you bounce back from the crash.

Start Your Truck Accident Claim with Bailey Javins & Carter

If you’re ready to start your personal injury claim, the team at Bailey Javins & Carter is here to support you throughout this process. It begins with a free consultation in which we’ll learn more about your accident and subsequent injuries. Set up your consultation now by calling us at 678-981-5370 or reaching out online.