What to Expect from the Injury Claim Process

An experienced semi, dump, and delivery truck accident lawyer knows exactly what to do following a crash. They will investigate the causes of the crash, determine how much you are owed in damages, file all necessary paperwork, and demand payment from the at-fault party and their insurance company. This frees you up to focus on your own health and recovery.

If the other side is willing to negotiate a settlement, then your attorney and a representative of the other side will attempt to reach an agreement regarding the amount of money you receive. If both sides come to an agreement, then a settlement is reached. You will receive payment in accordance with the terms of that settlement.

If no settlement is possible, then the dispute can be taken to trial, where both sides will make their case to a jury. The jury will decide whether the person you name in the claim is at fault. If the jury finds the defendant is responsible, they will then determine how much you are owed in damages. To learn more, please visit our settlement FAQ page.

At Stephenson Rife, LLP, we prepare every case to go to trial. This ensures we are ready for whatever path your case will take. 

Big-Truck Crash Statistics in the U.S.

As you might expect, when semi-tractor trailer rigs collide with passenger vehicles, occupants of the smaller car sustain most of the injuries and deaths. In 2022, 5,837 large trucks were involved in fatal collisions while over 120,000 were involved in crashes that resulted in injuries. That year, 5,936 people died in large-truck crashes, which was a 2% increase from 2021 and a whopping 49% increase from 2012.

In 2022, the majority of large-truck accidents occurred on non-interstate roads and, surprisingly, in rural areas. Most of the accidents (61.3%) happened during the day. September and October were the months with the highest number of large-truck accidents that year.

These statistics show why U.S. roadways can be so dangerous. If you or a family member has been injured in a crash with a big rig, talk to one of our Greater Indianapolis truck accident lawyers. Our team can help you understand what your rights are.

Why Do Large-Truck Accidents Happen?

Large trucks can be very dangerous on the road for a number of reasons.

David v. Goliath

A truck’s sheer size and weight make it inherently dangerous on the road. A fully loaded truck can weigh more than 80,000 pounds, while an average automobile weighs less than 5,000 pounds. In these instances, David almost never defeats Goliath.

Payload

Passenger cars usually carry only people. A commercial truck may be hauling multiple trailers, large freight, liquids, and hazardous or flammable materials that can ignite into flames upon impact.

Driver Fatigue

Several factors can contribute to the instability of truck drivers, their reaction time, and decision-making ability. Lack of sleep is a crucial one, especially if combined with drug and alcohol abuse.

Truck Accident Resources

Our Shelbyville Truck Accident Lawyers Are Trusted Advisors and Proven Advocates

At Stephenson Rife, our job as personal injury attorneys is to advise and guide our clients throughout the legal process and protect them from opponents’ tactics. Here are some suggestions we want to share with you.

 “Don’t Sign Anything!”

You hear lawyers on television relentlessly yell this phrase. While annoying, it’s true. Trucking companies and their insurance carriers are experienced in mitigating their exposure to loss in these matters. Insurers often try to reach a quick settlement in an effort to limit their financial responsibility to you. So do not sign anything without first consulting your lawyer.

More Than One Party May Be at Fault

The truck driver may not be the only party legally responsible for the accident. Trucking accident cases require extensive investigation to identify all aggravating circumstances that contributed to the wreck. Trucking companies, trailer owners, contractors, employers, insurance companies, and shippers may also be held liable and obligated to provide financial compensation.

Your Experts Matter

Knowing the truth and being able to prove the truth are two different things. Our truck accident lawyers are committed to bringing together the most qualified experts available (regardless of cost) to uncover what happened. Your experts will come from around the world if necessary and help prove your case.

You Are Responsible for the Investigation

The accident investigation conducted by law enforcement is primarily concerned with determining criminality – not investigating liability. One of the first calls truckers make after an accident is to their company, which instantly dispatches an investigative unit to begin the process of mitigating their financial loss. You need an investigative team on your side working just as hard to secure the evidence needed to prove your claim. That’s why you need to contact a truck accident attorney at Stephenson Rife promptly.

Since every case is unique, the proper investigation will take the efforts of several people combining their collective knowledge. Typically, the first thing experts will need to do is get to the scene of the crash as soon as possible. As soon as they are notified or retained, they will begin gathering information using a multitude of resources.  

There are also experts who do accident reconstruction that specifically handle trucking cases. Accident reconstruction for a trucking case is not the same as accident reconstruction for a typical auto accident case. You want to be sure that any video from the truck, other vehicles, or other businesses in the area are captured. People are surprised at how often we can obtain video of a crash from someone’s camera on their doorbell or surveillance cameras at local businesses. These videos are kept for 30 days at most, and some are kept for only a few days or a week, so it’s critical to find this information as quickly as possible.  It is also very important to examine all of the vehicles that have been involved in the crash. There are downloads that potentially need to be done from each vehicle that was involved in the crash.  

Our team can also obtain information about the trucking company and will engage in a background investigation into the truck driver. We will also seek reports from the police investigation, including all photos. We will very likely also need to photograph and/or take drone photos of the area to make sure the information is preserved for use in the future. Crashes often may be related to the conditions of the roadway at the time of the crash. Whether it is in a construction zone or there is inclement weather involved, that information has to be preserved because construction sites change, roads are modified, and obviously the weather conditions change. 

Feeling Alone and Confused After a Large-Truck Crash?

When you’ve been injured in a vehicle collision, everything can feel overwhelming. It all piles up – hospitals, doctors, X-rays, lab tests, phone calls from insurance companies, certified letters in the mail. An experienced Indiana truck accident attorney can bring order to this confusion and create a much-needed quiet refuge for you while you recover. By taking charge of the situation on your behalf, a talented legal team can reduce your stress, sleeplessness, and frustration.

Indianapolis Truck Accident FAQs

After suffering injuries because of someone else’s negligence or wrongful conduct, you may have lots of questions about the process of beginning a claim. Our team of Indiana semi-truck accident lawyers has the answers.

What damages can I claim after a truck accident?

You can claim compensatory damages, which can be economic and non-economic. Economic damages cover financial losses you’ve sustained, like medical expenses and lost wages. If you can’t return to work because of your injuries, you can also claim loss of earning capacity.

Non-economic damages, on the other hand, compensate you for less tangible losses. These include pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium, which pertains to loss of the benefits of a relationship.

Do I need to hire a lawyer after a truck accident?

There’s no requirement that you hire a personal injury lawyer to help you with your claim, but it’s the right option in the vast majority of cases. You’ll be struggling with injuries, so the last thing you want to worry about is knowing all of the legalese involved in personal injury claims. Our team can handle all of this for you.

We also have decades of experience negotiating with insurance companies. This gives us a better chance of getting you the compensation you deserve. Importantly, we can also take your claim to court if we think you can get a fairer deal there.

What are the most common causes of truck accidents in Indiana?

Driver errors cause the largest number of truck accidents in the state. These include negligent actions like driving while intoxicated or fatigued or driving while doing something else, such as texting. Speeding is also a serious concern because it can not only make accidents more likely to occur but also result in more serious injuries.

Sometimes, however, it’s not driver error that’s the problem. Defective truck parts and defective road conditions can cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle and cause crashes. Whether you have been in an incident with a delivery, dump, or semi-truck, our truck accident lawyers can review the facts of the case and help you work toward the best possible outcome.

What is my Indianapolis truck accident claim worth?

Because each claim is unique, our team has to look over all of the details before offering an estimate of how much yours is worth. Most of the time, people who suffer severe injuries — the kind that impact all aspects of their lives and take a significant time to heal — receive more compensation.

How are truck accidents different from passenger car accidents?

Because of their weight, trucks can inflict much more damage than cars can, both to property and to life and limb. An average passenger vehicle weighs around 3,000 pounds, but tractor-trailers can weigh up to 80,000. Normally, in a car accident, the driver is the only responsible party; but in truck accidents, victims may look to others – such as the trucking company or the owner of the tractor-trailer – for compensation.

Are there features other than their weight that make trucks dangerous on the road?

Large trucks have large blind spots, sometimes called “no zones,” in the front, rear, and sides. If another vehicle happens to be in one of the blind spots when the truck driver executes a turn or changes lanes, it’s at risk of being hit.

Are drugs and alcohol a problem for truck drivers?

Being on the road for long stretches can cause fatigue and boredom. Some truckers do use illegal substances to try to stay alert. The Insurance Institute for Traffic Safety found in a study that 15% of tractor-trailer drivers had marijuana in their system; 12% had used stimulants; 2% had cocaine in their system; but less than 1% were under the influence of alcohol.

The Code of Federal Regulations prohibits truck drivers from engaging in certain risky or dangerous behaviors. They are not to use any drug – legal or illegal – that could interfere with their ability to operate a truck safely.

What about truck driver fatigue?

The problem of drowsy (and dangerous) truck drivers prompted the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to revise the hours-of-service (HOS) safety requirements for commercial truck drivers. The new HOS rules require a driver to take at least a 30-minute break every 8 consecutive hours. Drivers are allowed to drive 11 hours within a period of 14 consecutive hours, but after 11 hours of driving, the driver must be off duty for 10 consecutive hours before again taking the wheel.

On a weekly basis, a truck driver’s total on-duty time is limited to 60 hours in each 7-day period or 70 hours in 8 days, with the new “week” beginning after the driver has 34 consecutive off-duty hours. This is known as the 34-hour restart. Importantly, the restart period must include at least two off-duty periods between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.

What misconceptions do people have about truck accident cases?

The major misconception is that the police will conduct an investigation, and that you can rely upon the police report. The state police, and even the federal motor carrier officers, have a completely different perspective on what to investigate than an attorney who is investigating for a personal injury claim. 

The state police and federal motor carrier officers investigate to see if there was any crime committed or if the vehicle or the driver of the vehicle did not comply with certain federal motor carrier regulations. The police have a much different end game for what they are trying to determine than experienced attorneys have during an investigation. When officers investigate a claim and determine that there are no criminal charges that can be filed, they are satisfied with a fairly minimal investigation.

Our truck accident lawyers’ investigations, meanwhile, are focused solely on what and who caused the crash to occur that has critically injured our client. If there has been a violation of a law that results in criminal charges being filed, the police should identify that. That is just one portion of the issues that we would be looking at. Others include:

• Was there a mechanical failure that caused or contributed to the cause of the crash?
• Was there a problem with the road design?
• Was there a problem with road construction?
• Was there proper signage?
• Was there proper information and warnings to the people who were involved in the crash?

We will also look to see if there are contributing factors, from how a load was secured to the trailer to whether the vehicle was even in the right location at the time of the crash. In short, our team considers many aspects and issues that the police will not.

Also, it is not at all uncommon for an attorney for a trucking company to appear at the scene of the crash and become involved in the on-site investigation while the police are still there. This significantly impacts who the police talk to and what information they might be able to obtain. 

Since experts working for trucking companies are obviously trying to identify the evidence that best helps the trucking company, not necessarily the evidence that most accurately identifies the source or cause of the events that led to the crash, there can be a huge difference in what those individuals may or may not be looking for, or what information they may or may not be willing to preserve.

What are some mistakes accident victims make, and what else should they be aware of?

In catastrophic events with clear liability cases, the biggest mistake accident victims make is believing that the insurance company or the trucking company themselves will step up and do the right thing and, because liability is clear, the trucking company will be willing to write a blank check or do whatever the client believes will be fair and reasonable.

We have had many situations where clients have been met at the hospital by a claims adjuster or someone on behalf of the trucking company. They have been promised many things, told that the trucking company feels terrible and wants to take care of everything, and that the victims do not need to hire a lawyer. In reality, the trucking company’s insurance carriers or the company themselves have one goal – settle the claim as quickly, as efficiently, and as cheaply as possible.  

In these cases, when the evidence is being eroded or washed away, the claim becomes much more difficult to pursue. People can be led to believe by a good claims adjuster working for a trucking company that everything will be fine if they just let the trucking company take care of them. Working with an experienced truck accident attorney, however, is the only way to ensure you are fairly compensated.

We strongly encourage anyone who has gone through any catastrophic injury event to reach out to a properly qualified law firm for assistance. Cases featuring catastrophic events and accidents with serious injuries need the oversight only experienced attorneys can provide. That way, the individuals can focus on recovering from injuries while others can handle investigations and securing justice.  

Why is it a good idea to hire a truck accident lawyer after an accident involving a large truck?

If you or your family member were injured in the accident, you will have many issues to deal with and a number of responsibilities competing for your time and attention. It is likely that the trucking company will have a team of experienced lawyers and insurance adjusters to represent their interests. You deserve equally focused representation.

One factor to consider is that it might not even be clear in the beginning who all the potential responsible parties are. A truck accident lawyer will know how to scrutinize the details of the accident and investigate the circumstances to clarify liability. Insurance companies are notorious for trying to make quick settlements. In the pain and confusion following a large truck accident, your judgment may be clouded. Let an attorney advise you and work toward full and fair compensation for your family’s catastrophic accident.

If you have more questions about the process of filing a claim, our team at Stephenson Rife, LLP can help.

Truck Accident Attorneys Serving Central Indiana Communities

Our experienced truck accident attorneys are proud to serve injured clients throughout Central Indiana. Click on your city to learn more about our local legal services.

Jamestown Truck Accident Attorney

Zionsville Truck Accident Attorney

Noblesville Truck Accident Attorney

Shelbyville Truck Accident Attorney

Plainfield Truck Accident Attorney