Springfield, MO Truck Accidents Lawyer

Truck accidents are all too common, and given the size of the vehicles, the injuries that can result can be extremely serious. When a person is injured because of someone else’s negligence, that person has the right to be compensated. The quality of their Springfield, MO truck accident lawyer might be the difference in a fair settlement, a substandard settlement, or no settlement at all.

Scott G. Taylor Attorney at Law serves the people of Greene County, Webster County and Christian County from our Springfield office. Call today at (417) 487-4244 or contact us online if you’ve been injured in a truck accident.

Why Truck Accident Cases Are Unique

There are certain basic elements that are common to all personal injury cases–namely, the need to prove the four elements of negligence. But there’s a unique dynamic often present in truck accident lawsuits that a lawyer must be aware of. For example…

• The driver of the truck might not be the one at fault–even if they are at fault. What does that mean? Let’s say a trucking company hired someone who was unqualified and gave them control of an 18-wheel rig. This means the company is the appropriate target of the lawsuit.
• Following this same line of thinking, trucking companies often run new hires by their insurance carriers. It’s a responsible act by the company to make sure their drivers are properly checked out. What if the insurance company is the one who gave the go-ahead to the unqualified driver? Now, the lawsuit has a different target.
• What was the precise cause of the accident? Did the product being shipped come off the back of the truck? Now, whomever did the packing has to be looked at for liability?
• Truck drivers have limits on the number of hours they can drive, both daily and weekly. If the accident happened when the hours were exceeded, some research will be necessary to determine fault.
• Was the truck driver going rogue and pushing themselves too hard to earn overtime pay? If so, they can be on the hook for liability. A company that ordered the driver to go longer would be liable. Or you could have a case where a company, without explicitly ordering a driver to exceed the hourly limits, handed them a workload which was impractical given the time constraints. The company is liable…so long as the Springfield, MO truck accident lawyer can establish they acted unreasonably.
• Was there equipment or mechanical failure on the truck? Now, the plaintiff’s lawyer might have to focus on the company that handled upkeep of the vehicle.
• Was there a third vehicle that might be at fault? Truck drivers can’t adjust their vehicles to dangerous circumstances as easily as a smaller car might be able to do. Reckless action by a third driver might be the real cause of the accident. In which case, that driver is the one who ought to be the defendant.

Getting the right target is imperative for a lawsuit to be successful. It’s not enough for a court to sympathize with a plaintiff’s plight. The court must also be shown that the injuries are in fact the fault of the defendant that is being sued. Getting the wrong target can amount to failure for a truck accident lawsuit.

Scott G. Taylor Attorney at Law takes pride in doing our due diligence to make sure we’ve got the right defendant. We dig into the details of your case, doing the necessary legwork to establish negligence. We know the kinds of questions that have to be asked to get to a fair settlement figure.

Call the Springfield office of Scott G. Taylor Attorney at Law at (417) 487-4244 or reach out online to set up a consultation.