If the situation warrants it, your lawyers might bring in to have a look at the technical report on the truck itself to ascertain that the accident was not caused by a mechanical failure.
In 2020, there were 21,478 motor vehicle accidents reported to the Atlanta Police Department, and keep in mind that was a year with less traffic because of the Covid-19 restrictions. The previous year, the number of car accidents was 50% higher, with 34,446 crashes reported. According to national statistics, almost 10% of all crashes involve commercial vehicles, especially large trucks. The term large trucks is used to describe trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds, such as semis, 18-wheelers, tractor trailers or big rigs.
If you were recently involved in such an accident, you should get in touch with experienced Atlanta truck accident lawyers as soon as possible. As a rule, you should always seek legal counsel following a car accident to make sure your rights are respected and you get a fair settlement. If you were in a truck accident, it is even more important to contact Georgia truck accident lawyers because such cases require a serious investigation if you want to establish what really caused the accident. You need a lawyer with many years of practice in this field as they have a very keen eye and can easily see if and what the trucking company is trying to hide.
Basically, truck accident lawyers always try to understand if the shipping company is in any way responsible for the crash. And there are a lot of things they need to look at which is why you want them involved with your case as soon as possible. Your lawyers will want to examine the data on the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) on the truck to see if the driver complied with federal safety regulations which set strict limits on the number of hours a driver can be on the road in 24 hours. A recent survey found out that 25% fall asleep behind the wheel, a fact which can have catastrophic consequences considering the weight of a fully loaded semi. If driver fatigue might be to blame for the accident, your lawyers will want to know if the company was involved in any way. After all, it is often the company that puts pressure on the drivers to cover hundreds of miles in an unreasonable time. Even if you cannot prove that, your lawyers might argue that the company is supposed to monitor its employees and failure to do so constitutes negligence.
If the situation warrants it, your lawyers might bring in to have a look at the technical report on the truck itself to ascertain that the accident was not caused by a mechanical failure. The company can be held accountable for failing to perform regular maintenance on the truck, as required by safety regulations.
If the company is to blame, even in part, for the accident, your lawyers might advise you to sue them to get fair compensation. According to the law, you can claim economic damages covering property loss, medical expenses and lost wages. You can also claim non-economic damages for your pain and suffering. The law in Georgia is very generous when it comes to this type of damages and with a great lawyer you can get a very large sum of money, something like 10 times your medical bills.
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