Truck Accident Lawyers in Anderson

Helping Clients Recover Compensation From Serious Truck Accident Claims

Has a negligent truck driver injured you in Central Indiana? Contact an Anderson truck accident lawyers at Beeman Heifner Benge P.A. if you are injured in a truck accident. We have decades of experience helping victims seek compensation for their truck accident injury claims.

The truck driver’s employer and insurance company may try to make you believe that you are at fault for the crash and ineligible to pursue compensation. When you seek help from Beeman Heifner Benge P.A., we can handle the complex legal problems so that you can focus on healing.

Truck accidents often cause disabling and devastating injuries. In a single recent year, more than 5,800 traffic collisions in Indiana involved large trucks, resulting in more than 1,800 serious injuries. More than 100 of those truck accidents resulted in fatalities.

Speak with our team today to discuss your truck injury claim.

What Makes Truck Crashes So Dangerous?

A fully loaded commercial truck can weigh more than 40 tons, while the average passenger car weighs 2 tons or less. This significant difference in size and weight makes truck accidents especially dangerous. Truck drivers and trucking companies must properly maintain their vehicles, secure cargo, and comply with applicable federal trucking regulations. Overloaded trucks and unbalanced cargo can increase the risk of rollovers, while a truck’s greater stopping distance can contribute to a serious crash.

When a commercial truck collides with a passenger vehicle, the occupants of the smaller vehicle may suffer catastrophic injuries, including:

1. Multiple contusions and severe bruising
2. Multiple fractures
3. Spinal cord injuries
4. Traumatic brain injuries
5. Injuries requiring amputation

These injuries can require extensive medical treatment, rehabilitation, and long-term care. If you or a loved one has suffered a spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, or other serious harm in a truck accident caused by someone else’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for your losses. Unlike many car accident cases, truck accident claims can involve multiple liable parties and complex federal trucking regulations.

An experienced truck accident attorney can investigate the crash, identify responsible parties, and pursue compensation on your behalf. Contact our law firm for a free case evaluation to learn more about your legal options.

After a Truck Collision in Anderson, Indiana, What Steps Should You Take?

Even a careful driver could be involved in a disastrous truck accident. The first steps you take following a truck accident should put you in the best position to prevail with a personal injury claim. If you are involved in a truck accident:

1. Summon law enforcement and medical assistance immediately, or have someone make the call for you. Ask the police officers how you can obtain a copy of the written accident report when it becomes available.
2. Exchange insurance and personal contact details with the truck driver and gather as much information as you can about the driver’s employer and insurance company.
3. Take photos of the vehicles, the crash site, and your injuries. If witnesses saw the crash, ask for their names and contact information. Take pictures of details such as skid marks and debris. If it was raining at the time, take photos showing that the roadway was wet.
4. If you were not taken to a hospital directly from the accident scene, have a medical examination as quickly as possible after leaving the scene, and then promptly schedule a consultation with an Anderson truck accident attorney at Beeman Heifner Benge P.A.

Photos and witness statements can be convincing evidence in personal injury cases based on truck accidents. With persuasive evidence, an experienced truck accident lawyer may, in many cases, negotiate a fair and reasonable out-of-court settlement.

Why is a Medical Examination Necessary?

If you don’t go to a hospital directly from the crash scene, have a medical exam as quickly as possible. If time passes, the insurance company may argue that your injuries were not caused by the crash but by some intervening event between the crash and the time you sought treatment.

The company may also claim that your injuries aren’t severe because you didn’t see a doctor immediately. Adhere to your doctor’s treatment plan, or the insurance company may insist that you made your injuries worse by not following the doctor’s orders.

Adrenaline can temporarily conceal the signs of a serious injury. Some injuries can remain latent for weeks or even months. A medical exam immediately after a truck accident will find those injuries, and if you weren’t injured, the exam will confirm it and give you peace of mind.

What is Vicarious Liability?

Legally speaking, what makes a commercial truck accident different from a typical car accident? Multiple parties can sometimes be held liable for truck accidents. A trucking company may be held liable for an accident when its negligence contributes to the crash through:

1. Improper hiring and/or training
2. Neglected vehicle maintenance
3. Encouraging drivers to work beyond the hours allowed by federal regulations

Vicarious liability is a legal principle that sometimes holds employers liable for employees’ negligence. Under vicarious liability, a truck driver’s employer may sometimes be held liable for a driver’s negligent driving if the driver was working at the time of the accident.

Who Else May Have Liability for a Truck Accident?

When truck drivers and owners overlook or ignore safety, they are negligent and place the public at risk. A freight company, leasing company, maintenance company, contractor, subcontractor, truck manufacturer, or parts manufacturer may also share liability for a truck accident.

If the negligence of one or several of these parties is the reason you are injured, an Anderson truck accident lawyer at Beeman Heifner Benge P.A. will identify the parties with liability and work on your behalf to recover the full and fair compensation amount you deserve.

How is Liability for Truck Accidents Determined?

A careful review of police, medical, and toxicology reports, witness statements, photographs, and video from the accident site is required to determine liability for a truck accident. A commercial truck’s black box records data on the truck’s speed, braking, and seatbelt use.

Black boxes (electronic logging devices or event data recorders) are central to truck accident investigations because they usually document exactly what was happening in the moments before a collision. Some cases may also require the services of an accident reconstruction expert.

The personal injury process is complicated, but if you’ve been injured or permanently disabled in a collision with a large commercial truck, and if you and your lawyer can prove it, a personal injury lawsuit that names multiple defendants could recover a just and fair compensation amount for your medical expenses and lost wages.

How Will Beeman Heifner Benge P.A. Assist You?

If a negligent truck driver injures you, have no contact with the driver or the driver’s employer, lawyer, or insurance company. Let an experienced attorney at Beeman Heifner Benge P.A. do the talking and negotiating, and do not agree to any settlement before consulting your attorney.

An insurance company might offer you a swift settlement for an amount that is considerably below your personal injury claim’s actual value. Beeman Heifner Benge P.A. can negotiate on your behalf for a more generous settlement.

Get Help From Our Skilled Truck Accident Lawyers in Anderson

If you move forward with a personal injury lawsuit after a truck accident, we can work to negotiate an acceptable resolution on your behalf. If no reasonable settlement offer is forthcoming, or if liability for the crash is disputed, Beeman Heifner Benge P.A. can take your personal injury claim to trial.

What Can Truck Accident Victims Recover?

After a truck accident, a successful personal injury lawsuit can compensate you for:

1. Your pending medical bills and projected future medical expenses
2. Your lost wages and projected lost earning capacity
3. Pain, suffering, and emotional distress
4. Related losses and damages

Seeking Fair Compensation For Clients in Truck and Car Accident Cases

If your lawyer can prove that one or more parties were negligent in a way that directly caused your injury, you will recover the compensation you need, and Indiana law will be on your side.

What Deadlines Apply in Truck Accident Cases?

Contact Beeman Heifner Benge P.A. as quickly as possible after a medical provider examines and treats you. Indiana law usually gives truck accident victims 2 years from the accident’s date to file an injury claim, but realistically, you should not wait that long.

Your personal injury claim is more likely to prevail if your lawyer can scrutinize the evidence while it’s fresh and interrogate the witnesses before their recollections fade.

It costs nothing to meet with an Anderson truck accident attorney at Beeman Heifner Benge P.A. and learn more. If you proceed with legal action, you will owe no attorney’s fee unless and until we recover compensation on your behalf.

Why Should Beeman Heifner Benge P.A. Represent You?

A collision with a big commercial truck can happen suddenly, but its consequences can affect you for the rest of your life. At Beeman Heifner Benge P.A., our priority is protecting your long-term interests by vigorously pursuing a favorable outcome in your personal injury case.

When we go against insurance companies and negligent trucking firms, we’re not afraid to fight aggressively for our clients. We know that lawyer-client relationships must be built on trust, and we make sure you can always reach us if you have any concerns or questions about your case. Let us review the details of your truck accident claim and explain your legal options during a free consultation.

Schedule that consultation by calling our law firm at 765-684-4355. The experienced truck accident lawyers in Anderson, IA, at Beeman Heifner Benge P.A. stand ready to help.