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Driving down a highway should not be a stressful experience. When an eighteen-wheel truck comes barreling past you, however, it is natural to be a little intimidated. Trucks hold substantial power on the road, both in terms of their size and speed. As a driver, you want to know that the person behind the wheel of a truck is operating it with care.
Unfortunately, truck accidents do happen. If you believe that negligence contributed to your crash, a Cook County truck accident lawyer could help you determine your next move. A wise personal injury attorney could guide you through your rights and potential for compensation during an initial consultation.
While on the road, truck drivers need to be aware of their vehicles’ weight and ultimate threat to others. These drivers owe pedestrians and other motorists on the road a duty of care. By neglecting that duty of care, they increase the risk of accidents and a potential lawsuit. Truck drivers often display negligence by:
A lawyer should investigate all of these scenarios when constructing a legal claim.
It is not just a truck driver who can bear responsibility for someone’s losses in an accident. The parties that the court can hold liable in a truck accident include the driver’s parent company, the truck’s owner, and the truck’s manufacturer. Even manufacturers of the truck’s parts or an affiliated cargo company may be held responsible for an accident, depending on the circumstances that led to the accident.
Interested parties must assign liability for their losses upon the submission of their initial accident complaint. Injured individuals should work with a Cook County truck collision attorney to gather the evidence needed to establish liability in this manner.
In addition to liability, parties who wish to submit a truck accident complaint must elaborate on the negligence that contributed to their accident. To do so, the plaintiff must establish that there was a duty of care in line with the responsibilities of the defendant. From there, they must prove the violation of that duty of care and that this contributed to their losses.
Complaints should also outline the specific losses that an individual endured. The plaintiff can work with a truck accident lawyer in Cook County to calculate non-economic and economic damages along with an estimate of potential rewards.
A plaintiff must submit this paperwork within two years of the truck accident, according to 735 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/13-202. Failure to do so within this period of time might mean that the injured party waives their right to seek compensation.
There are occasions during which a truck driver or another liable party may argue that the plaintiff contributed to their own losses. In these cases, the court can choose to award damages based on comparative negligence. These awards will be diminished based on the percentage of fault the plaintiff allegedly bears for the accident.
Trucks are the largest vehicles on the road and you want to be sure that the drivers behind the wheel are taking every precaution to keep you out of harm’s way. When one of them takes reckless actions, your life is at risk.
You can work with a Cook County truck accident lawyer to identify a negligent truck driver and bring a complaint against them. During an initial consultation, we could help you outline your losses and estimate your potential compensation.