When Damages are Personal: Property, Bodily Injury and Professional Drivers

When Damages are Personal: Property, Bodily Injury and Professional Drivers

Not all car accidents consist of massive pile-ups involving numerous cars and people being carried away to hospitals.  In fact, many car accidents involve only one or two vehicles, and involve zero ambulance trips.  Just because an accident is not “newsworthy” or does not involve gruesome injuries, however, does not mean that there was no damage.  In fact, even the smallest accident in terms of bodily injury can be life changing for those who are unfortunate enough to be involved.

Accidents and Tractor-Trailers

When a very large truck, with 18 wheels and weighing about 40 tons on average, hits a car, typically weighing in at no more than 1.5 to 2 tons, a catastrophe is inevitable.  When this happens, the car is generally destroyed.  While, of course, it is always hopeful that when a large truck and a car are involved in an accident there are no casualties involved, this situation rarely translates into one in which there are no damages.  It is a near impossibility for a truck this large to hit a car without the car being destroyed, and the lives of at least two people — the driver of the tractor trailer included — changed forever.  What many people may not realize is that there are not robots behind the wheel of the many semi-trucks on America’s highways, and they are more susceptible to accidents due to many factors that are largely out of the truck driver’s control.  Starting with a driver having worked through the night as they were unable to find somewhere to sleep, and add to that a car in an unexpected place, and you are left with the fireball that causes massive damage and catastrophic injuries.

Damages in Semi/Auto Cases

Even not taking into account the potential bodily harm involved in most of these types of accidents, the costs of losing a personal vehicle alone can be in the thousands of dollars range.  Recovering those damages in the least stressful and fastest way possible is key to an accident victim being able to return to the life they had before the accident.

When a professional truck driver is involved in an accident, there are factors at play that are not involved in a typical accident involving only passenger vehicles.  One issue that is often forgotten is that professional drivers are subject to many more state and federal regulations than other drivers.  These regulations can help a victim recover their damages much faster during settlement negotiations if they understand that proving a rule violation by a professional driver can help their argument that they would be more likely to win at trial.

If you, or someone you love, has been injured in an accident, involving a professional or a non-professional driver, having an attorney on your side can make all the difference.  One call to the Law Offices of Robert T. Edens, P.C. and you can have all your questions answered about what you need to do to put your life back together after an accident.