Biloxi Truck Accident Lawyer

Have you been injured in an accident involving a truck in the Biloxi area? Mama Justice – MW Law Firm may be able to help. Contact our office for a free case review today.

Truck accidents often lead to tremendous devastation. The injuries they cause are usually severe, and many times deadly. Multi-vehicle pile ups are not unusual in collisions involving tractor trailers and other oversized commercial trucks. When a big truck collides with a standard passenger car, the occupants of the smaller vehicle almost always bear the brunt of the impact.

Those injured in truck accidents as well as their families often see their lives permanently changed. Injuries from a truck accident can be serious and debilitating, and the hospital bills alone can quickly surpass six figures. This, combined with weeks or months of being physically unable to work while recovering, can result in catastrophic economic consequences.

If you were injured in an accident involving a commercial truck in Biloxi, MS, or the surrounding area, the reputable truck accident lawyers at Mama Justice – MW Law Firm can help you and your family hold the truck operator, trucking company, or other liable parties responsible for your injuries and other damages.

Common Causes of Biloxi Truck Accidents

The trucking industry is massive in our country, meaning there are a lot of trucks on our roadways at any given time. The goods shipped by commercial trucks are essential to our nation’s economy. These trucks carry all of the food in our groceries and restaurants, and all of the products we depend on in our daily lives. Unfortunately, many trucking companies don’t always take the necessary steps to ensure the safety of their drivers and those with whom they share the road.

It is not uncommon for trucking companies to set unreasonable delivery deadlines for their drivers, forcing those drivers to choose between following the law and making their deliveries on time to keep their jobs. This places drivers between the proverbial rock and a hard place where they often feel as if they have no choice but to take shortcuts in terms of safety in order to do what is expected to retain their employment.

Unfortunately, the consequences of this are often disastrous. Some of the most common causes of Biloxi trucking accidents include:

• Drowsy and fatigued driving: Truckers put in an excessive amount of driving hours, most of which are during the evening or overnight when it’s dark out. Due to the hazards that drowsy driving poses to not just the truck operator, but to others on the roadway as well, the trucking industry should be taking steps to ensure that operators are getting an adequate amount of sleep and not being required to drive for an unsafe number of hours at a time.
• Reckless driving including speeding: When a trucker is worried about meeting a delivery time, they may decide to drive recklessly, particularly by driving at dangerous speeds. Speeding is just one of many kinds of reckless driving that greatly raises the odds of a catastrophic truck accident.
• Driving under the influence: In an effort to deal with the stress of their job, or in a bid to stay awake and keep driving, truck operators sometimes turn to drugs or alcohol. Driving while under the influence of any substance is always a bad decision; one that endangers their own lives as well as the lives of those around them.
• Unbalanced or unsecured cargo: While trying to maintain their strict delivery schedules, commercial trucks sometimes get loaded hastily. This can lead to overloading, meaning the vehicle’s weight exceeds permitted safety limits. It also results in unevenly loaded trailers, a leading factor in truck rollover accidents.
• Improper vehicle maintenance: Commercial trucks normally travel thousands of miles every month. If the truck is not properly maintained, mechanical problems and breakdowns can happen. When brake or engine failure occurs in the wrong place at the wrong time, it can cause a serious or even fatal truck accident.
• Defective parts/Defective vehicles: Defective vehicle parts or defective vehicles are also frequent contributors to commercial truck accidents. For instance, if a brake line is leaking, it will compromise the truck’s ability to safely come to a stop. Other vehicle defects that can result in a crash include tire blowouts and a malfunctioning computer system.

Investigating Your Biloxi Truck Accident

Cases involving commercial trucks are a lot more complicated than cases only involving passenger vehicles. Biloxi truck accidents require aggressive and experienced commercial truck accident attorneys like the ones at Mama Justice – MW Law Firm to ensure maximum compensation.

Federal and state trucking laws play a major role in these cases. The majority of the supporting evidence will be taken from the comprehensive records that truck operators and trucking companies are mandated to keep to show compliance with these numerous regulations.

We will also determine if a poorly designed roadway or defective vehicle played a part in the accident. Only with a detailed investigation can every underlying cause of your accident and subsequent injuries be discovered. This will allow us to bring all liable parties to account and pursue all potential avenues of financial compensation.

What Needs to Be Proven in a Biloxi Truck Accident Case?

In a Mississippi personal injury lawsuit, the law states that the claimant is responsible for proving that the following four elements of negligence were present. Those elements are:

• The at-fault driver owed you a duty of care
• The at-fault driver violated that duty
• The at-fault driver’s violation was the direct cause of your injury
• You incurred actual damages as a result of your injury

Proving Liability in a Biloxi Truck Accident

Liability or fault for a Biloxi commercial truck accident can be successfully established using evidence. This evidence typically comes from a variety of places. Here are some common examples of evidence needed to prove liability in a truck accident:

When you work with an experienced Biloxi truck accident lawyer, we will be able to perform a careful investigation into the events surrounding your accident and collect any and all relevant documentation and information that will help establish the party or parties at fault.

Blind Spots on a Commercial Truck

The number one mistake that the drivers of passenger vehicles make that sometimes leads to a truck crash is driving in the truck’s blind spots. Oversized trucks have bigger blind spots than passenger vehicles. Additionally, instead of having two blind spots, commercial trucks have four.

Most tractor trailers have one blind spot that stretches roughly 20 feet in front of the rig, and another that reaches about 30 feet behind it. The third blind spot is located one lane to the left hand side of the truck and the fourth is located two lanes to the right, both reaching for the entire length of the vehicle. If you are driving by or attempting to overtake a tractor trailer, you should stay away from these areas as much as you can. When you drive in any of these spots, the truck operator will not be able to see you and you are at an increased risk of being involved in an accident.

Are You Entitled to Compensation in a Blind Spot Accident?

Although the large blind spots on a commercial truck make it extremely challenging for truck operators to navigate safely, they still have a duty to drive responsibly and do everything in their power to prevent an accident from happening. Blind spot collisions are usually the result of inexperienced, incompetent, or improperly trained truck drivers.

One thing that truck operators can do to minimize the odds of being involved in a blind spot crash is to ensure that their rig’s mirrors are positioned properly before they pull out onto the roadway. A mirror that is aligned incorrectly or not at all will cause even bigger blind spots for the truck operator to deal with.

Dealing With Insurance Adjusters Following a Truck Accident

Soon after your Biloxi commercial truck accident, you will be contacted by an insurance adjuster. Before you speak to them or to any representative of the insurance company, there are several things you need to keep in mind.

You Don’t Have to Answer the Phone

Before you consider taking this phone call, it is vital that you know what to expect. The person on the other end of the phone is an insurance adjuster. It is their job to get you talking about the accident and document everything you say. Specifically, he is fishing for any information that can be taken out of context, twisted, or in any way used against you in order to reduce the amount of compensation you are owed by as much as possible.

Insurance Adjusters Are Highly Skilled Negotiators

The adjuster is going to act like your friend, showing you empathy and concern. This is designed to put you at ease and get you to give them more information than you intended. They will be overly apologetic. This is to get you to say something along the lines of “It’s alright” or to remark that you don’t feel that bad or your injuries are not severe. Do not be taken in by any of this. The insurance adjuster is not on your side. Their sole function is to protect the insurance company’s bottom line by doing whatever it takes to get you to sign a liability waiver and make sure you do not get the money you are entitled to. You will be much better off if you avoid speaking to anyone from the truck’s insurance company until you retain legal counsel. Let your Biloxi truck accident lawyer handle all communication for you.

Fight the Urge to Accept Their Settlement

One tactic at which insurance adjusters excel is pressuring injured truck accident victims into accepting insulting low settlements that, in all likelihood, will not even cover their total damages. They might tell you that what they are offering is more than fair or try to convince you that hiring an attorney costs so much it won’t be worth it in the end. They will then put a deadline on their offer, and tell you that if you have not accepted it by that time then they are withdrawing the offer. Do not let them intimidate you into taking action you don’t want to take. Retain a lawyer instead, as soon as possible.

Truck Accident Liability

In an accident where the truck operator is to blame, the trucking company or the company who hired the operator is usually held liable for the incident. Trucking companies are required to adhere to strict screening, hiring, training, and supervising practices. They are also responsible for the repair and maintenance of their trucks and for keeping appropriate records of all these things. Potentially liable parties in a Biloxi truck accident can also include the following: