After a commercial truck accident, most injury victims seek representation from a car accident lawyer. But, a typical car accident is different from a truck accident. Some rules and regulations are involved and different liabilities issues are in play. Because of this, truck accident victims must hire an attorney from a local truck accident law firm who understands trucking laws and complex liability issues. The best attorney is committed to pursuing justice for their clients. They will investigate an accident, use their resources to interview witnesses, gather police reports, and get medical evidence. Accidents that involve commercial trucks are different from regular car accidents in many ways such as the following:

Size and Weight

A fully loaded commercial truck can weigh more than 80, 000 pounds and the average motor vehicle only weighs around 3, 000 pounds. This size difference makes truck accidents quite devastating, resulting in serious injuries and vehicle damage. These injuries can include brain injuries, severe burns, spinal cord injuries, amputation, paralysis, whiplash, permanent disability, and multiple fractures. 

Rules and Regulations

Lawyers and insurance adjusters will piece together the moments that lead up to an accident and determine the specific cause of the accident. Common causes of truck accidents include driver negligence, unsafe roadways, defective car parts, and others. In a typical car accident, these experts will compare evidence and the conduct of the driver to the state’s rule of the roads to determine driver negligence. But, in a truck accident, the rules and regulations go beyond the Rules of the Road. Due to the increased difficulty with driving a truck, truck drivers are held to higher legal standards and should follow more strict rules. For instance, they should follow hours of service regulations and specific rules for driving in inclement weather. 

Liability

In a typical car accident, it is clear immediately who the party in the claim will be. It is usually the other driver who can be the owner of the car itself. But, truck accidents can involve more parties than the truck driver. Liability may also fall on the trucking company, the driver’s employer, the cargo crew, a car part manufacturer, a car manufacturer, and other parties, depending on the exact cause of the crash and the circumstances of the accident. 

Evidence

Truck drivers are also subject to different kinds of evidence that should be collected. In a car accident, evidence that must be collected include witness statements, police reports, photos of the scene, security camera footage, and more. Although these pieces of evidence are also useful in truck accidents, other kinds of evidence like driver evidence, vehicle evidence, and cargo evidence should be collected.