Fighting to Get the Maximum Compensation for Truck Accident Victims

Large commercial trucks play a major role in the economy, so it’s common to see them on every highway throughout South Carolina. While these trucks are certainly necessary for delivering products to Charleston and the surrounding cities, they’re also often dangerous to local residents and visitors traveling on our roads. After all, truck driver negligence can lead to devastating accidents due to the immense size and weight of tractor-trailers. If you and your family have been affected by this type of crash, you should discuss your legal options with a Charleston truck accident lawyer.

When you hire Schiller & Hamilton Law Firm to handle your truck accident claim, you’ll have a team of caring South Carolina truck accident lawyers guiding you throughout your case, from the initial consultation to the day you get the settlement you deserve. If you’re ready to begin the legal process of recovering compensation, call our Charleston personal injury law firm today for a free case evaluation.

What Types of South Carolina Truck Accident Cases Do We Handle?

Our experienced truck accident attorneys have been serving personal injury victims across South Carolina for years, so you can rest assured we’ve seen it all when it comes to the claims we take on for clients. Regardless of what type of truck accident you were involved in, we’re eager to provide you with our legal assistance so you can collect the financial compensation you need during the recovery process.

The following are some of the most common types of truck accidents that have affected our clients and their families:

• Jackknife accident
• Rollover crash
• Head-on collision
• Rear-end crash
• Underride collision
• Sideswipe crash
• T-bone accident
• Wide-turn crash
• Lost cargo crash
• Tire blowout

Whether a large truck struck the back of your vehicle or sideswiped you as you were traveling in the lane next to them, you likely sustained painful injuries and damage to your car. You should not have to pay for the bills you’re facing as a result of a truck accident that was not your fault. Instead, the at-fault driver’s insurance company should be held liable for all expenses, and our legal team will assist with this.

When you hire a truck accident lawyer from our South Carolina law firm, we’ll investigate what caused the truck accident so we can prove who was at fault. Once we collect sufficient evidence to show that the truck driver or the trucking company that employs them is liable, we can begin the legal process of pursuing fair compensation for you. Call our Charleston law office today if you’re ready to get legal representation from our experienced truck accident lawyers.

What Are the Most Common Causes of Truck Crashes?

Some truck crashes are truly unfortunate accidents that simply couldn’t be avoided. However, we’ve found that many truck accidents are caused by negligence on the part of one or more parties that didn’t put safety first while on the road. For instance, a negligent truck driver might speed or drive recklessly to arrive at their destination faster, with no regard for the drivers around them. Similarly, a trucking company might pressure their truck drivers to drive long hours without sleeping, putting everyone else’s lives in danger for higher profits.

Either way, if someone else’s negligence caused a truck accident that injured you or took the life of a loved one, you can count on our truck accident lawyers to uncover the cause of the crash and seek compensation on your behalf. Some of the most common causes of South Carolina truck accidents include:

• Driver fatigue: Truck drivers who don’t get enough sleep may have slow reaction times or even fall asleep at the wheel, causing serious accidents
• Distracted driving: Looking down at a cell phone, eating, or focusing on a navigation system can take the driver’s attention away from the road for long enough to cause a crash
• Drunk or drugged driving: When a driver drinks alcohol or takes drugs that cause impairment before getting behind the wheel, they often make poor decisions and have a delayed reaction time on the road
• Speeding: Large commercial trucks already need more time to stop than smaller vehicles do, and driving above the speed limit exacerbates this problem, causing the driver to rear-end other cars or lose control of the truck entirely
• Improperly loaded cargo: If the truck driver or other trucking company employee overloaded the cargo or did not properly secure it, it can fall off the truck and hit nearby vehicles
• Reckless driving: Negligent drivers often tailgate, refuse to stop at red lights and stop signs, and make unsafe lane changes, putting everyone on the road at risk
• Poor truck driver training: If a trucking company fails to train new drivers properly, they could end up unable to safely maneuver large trucks on the road, causing tragic wrecks
• Vehicle defects: When a truck’s brakes, tires, or other essential vehicle parts fail, causing an accident, the crash investigation will look into whether the parts were defective
• Lack of proper truck maintenance: Commercial vehicles are supposed to be inspected and repaired at frequent intervals, and when they’re not, serious accidents can occur

If you’re not sure if these or other common issues led to your truck accident, rest assured that experienced truck accident lawyers will find out for you during your truck accident case. When you hire our team to review the details of your crash, we will use our legal resources and education to determine what happened and who should be held responsible. Call our Charleston law office today to schedule your free case evaluation with our compassionate attorneys.

Who May Be Liable for Your South Carolina Semi-Truck Accident?

One detail that makes truck accident cases more complicated than the average car accident case is the existence of multiple responsible parties. After all, when a passenger vehicle collides with your car, the driver is typically traveling for personal reasons, so you’ll likely bring an accident claim against their car insurance company. However, when a truck driver causes a crash in a commercial vehicle, they’re driving on behalf of their employer, who may share the blame with the driver depending on the reason for the accident.

It’s the job of your truck accident lawyer to investigate what led to the crash so they know who to hold liable for your financial losses. For example, if there is evidence of semi-truck driver negligence – such as tailgating, speeding, or reckless driving – your lawyer will likely bring a claim against their insurance company. However, this is usually just the beginning for most truck accidents, as there is generally more going on than driver negligence.

In many cases, it turns out the trucking company that employs the driver regularly pressures or rewards its commercial truck drivers for arriving at their destination early. This can make it more likely that the commercial drivers speed, run red lights, or drive while tired because they feel pressured to keep driving instead of getting sufficient sleep and obeying traffic laws.

Experienced lawyers know what evidence to look for to prove that trucking companies encourage unsafe driving practices. They also know how to establish when a trucking company is to blame for poor vehicle maintenance or insufficient driver training. So, if your crash appears to be caused by tires that should have been replaced months ago or a driver who did not know how to operate a large truck safely, your legal team will work on proving this to ensure the trucking company is held responsible.

Some truck accidents are caused by defective vehicle parts, such as brakes or steering wheels that were improperly manufactured and were therefore never safe for use. If this led to your crash, the manufacturer of the defective parts or the vehicle as a whole could be held liable since they failed to make sure their products were safe.

If your South Carolina truck accident involved improperly loaded cargo, your lawyer will perform the necessary research to discover who was responsible for loading the cargo on the truck. Similarly, if the crash was caused by unsafe road conditions – such as potholes or debris in the road – the government agency that’s supposed to maintain the roads could be partially at fault. In many cases, more than one party will share the blame for a truck accident, so don’t be surprised if your lawyer brings a claim against the truck driver, a local government agency, and other companies involved in the trucking industry.

Of course, accident victims recovering from serious injuries should not have to worry about proving who caused the crash. They should have the chance to focus on getting the medical treatment they need while their skilled attorneys work on establishing liability. Fortunately, our Charleston truck accident attorneys have the legal training and years of experience to identify and hold the responsible parties accountable for your crash, so call us today to start your truck accident case.

What Injuries Do Charleston Truck Accident Victims Sustain?

Truck accidents are notorious for causing devastating injuries for the people involved, especially for those in smaller vehicles. Whether you suffered permanent injuries or lost a family member to a fatal accident involving a tractor-trailer, it’s essential to seek legal help with your truck accident claim since medical bills can add up fast. The at-fault party’s insurance company should be the one to pay for these bills, not you and your family, and filing a truck accident claim will make sure of this.

In our experience helping South Carolina personal injury victims get financial compensation, these are among the most common truck accident injuries:

• Whiplash
• Broken bones
• Burns
• Cuts
• Bruises
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Spinal cord injuries
• Loss of limb
• Soft tissue damage
• Internal bleeding
• Organ damage
• Scarring
• Nerve damage
• Crush injuries
• Paralysis

If you suffered any of these or other severe injuries, it’s imperative that you seek medical care immediately or your wounds could become worse. You should not put off emergency care because you’re worried about how you’ll pay for it, as that’s what your legal claim is for. Just make sure to reach out to our South Carolina truck accident lawyers to initiate your claim for fair compensation after you’ve gotten the necessary emergency medical treatment. As soon as you get a treatment plan from your doctor and are on your way to recovery, call our Charleston law office for a free initial consultation with our lawyers so we can help you collect the full and fair compensation.

What Financial Compensation Can You Recover Through a South Carolina Truck Accident Claim?

Truck accidents often lead to costly bills for injured victims who should be able to focus on healing, not worrying about how to pay for unexpected medical expenses. If you’re concerned about how you’ll be able to afford the bills you’re facing after a truck accident, you should contact North Carolina truck accident lawyers for help bringing a claim against the at-fault party’s insurance company.

A personal injury claim should help you get compensation for all expenses associated with the crash. More specifically, you’ll be entitled to economic damages that include:

• Recent medical bills for the care you received after the accident, including the ambulance ride to the emergency room, surgery, medication, and medical devices
• Future medical expenses for ongoing treatment, such as additional surgeries, medications, physical therapy, home health care, and follow-up doctor appointments
• Property damage, ensuring you can afford to get your car repaired or buy a new one if the accident destroyed it
• Lost wages from the days or weeks you took off work to recover from your wounds
• Loss of future earning capacity if you can’t work anymore due to your injuries

Most truck accident cases request these economic damages from the at-fault insurance company, along with any other financial damages that the victim should not have to pay for. Skilled South Carolina truck accident lawyers usually also request non-economic damages so their clients are fairly compensated for the emotional impact the accident had on them. These can include:

• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Humiliation
• Mental anguish
• Disfigurement
• Loss of enjoyment of life

In addition, if you lost a parent, child, or spouse in a truck accident, your lawyer can initiate a wrongful death claim against the insurance company. This way, you’ll be compensated for the funeral and burial costs, unpaid medical bills, loss of household income, loss of companionship, and more. Your South Carolina truck accident lawyers will review your case and let you know what specific damages to expect from a fair settlement, so call us today to discuss the details of your claim against the insurance company.

Why Should You Hire a Charleston Truck Accident Lawyer?

If a truck accident in South Carolina has left you struggling with painful injuries or the loss of a loved one, you do not have to deal with these devastating consequences alone. You can get compassion and legal advice on pursuing compensation when you contact Schiller & Hamilton Law Firm. Our skilled lawyers have the experience and resources to get you the fair settlement you’re entitled to as a truck accident victim.

When you call us for legal representation, we’ll review the details of your situation to determine who caused the crash so we can get in contact with their insurance company and begin negotiating a settlement for you. We’ll work hard to ensure you get the maximum compensation possible, giving you as much time as you need to recover from your devastating injuries or grieve your lost family member after an accident.

When we take on your case, you won’t have to worry about gathering evidence for your claim, such as the accident report, your medical records, the truck driver’s lab test results, and photos from the accident scene. Our legal team will collect and examine the evidence to identify the liable party, followed by adding up your expenses so we can let the insurance company know the full compensation you’re entitled to. We will continue to negotiate with the insurance company for as long as it takes to get you the settlement you deserve, taking them to court via a personal injury lawsuit if necessary.

We understand that injured victims don’t have the energy or desire to deal with legal or financial issues after a crash, which is why we take care of all the details on behalf of our clients. If you’re ready to have a dedicated legal team by your side throughout your truck accident case, call our South Carolina law office at 803-902-4583 to schedule a free case evaluation with a caring attorney.