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Box truck accidents can be especially dangerous, especially given the size and power of these vehicles. Box trucks are often rented and used by inexperienced drivers without proper training, and this inexperience may lead to deadly accidents.
If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident involving a box truck, you should contact a box truck accident lawyer from Zinda Law Group at (800) 863-5312 for a free consultation. If we cannot win your case, you will not owe us anything.
WHAT ARE BOX TRUCKS?
Box trucks often refer to cube vans, cube trucks, straight trucks, box vans, or similar vehicles that may be rented for moving goods over short distances, like moving trucks or delivery trucks. Box trucks are one of the most common trucks on the road in the country, often with roll-up doors in the back. As box trucks may come in various sizes and styles, the trucks also vary in weight, with some of the largest box trucks weighing up to about 33,000 pounds. The large size of these trucks may often lead to serious consequences when involved in an accident with a smaller passenger vehicle.
WHAT MAKES BOX TRUCK ACCIDENTS ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS?
Aside from the inexperience of the drivers who rent or use box trucks, the trucks themselves often pose additional dangers based on the design of the truck. These large trucks often have low visibility, heavy weights, and long stopping distances. The box truck’s weight and height also increase the possibility of rollover accidents if the driver swerves too sharply or stops too quickly. The design of many box trucks also includes blind spots that lead to many box truck accidents.
These dangerous factors, together with the driver often being inexperienced, often lead to dangerous situations on the road, sometimes with deadly consequences. Indeed, according to the most recent year for reporting by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), there were about 475,000 police-reported crashes that involved large trucks in 2016, while approximately 104,000 of these involved injuries, with 3,864 of the crashes including at least one fatality.
TYPES OF BOX TRUCK ACCIDENTS
As with most automobile accidents, there are various types of box truck accidents, including:
Rollover Accidents
Rollover accidents are one of the most common accidents involving box trucks. Because of the larger weight and height of these vehicles, box trucks are often more prone to rolling over. Such rollover accidents are frequently caused by a driver swerving too sharply or stopping too quickly. Aside from driver error, rollover accidents may also result from vehicle malfunction, obstacles in the road, or the box truck being struck by another vehicle. When the box truck rolls over, it may also strike multiple vehicles on the road and cause serious injuries to the driver of the box truck.
Blind Spot Accidents
The size of box trucks also creates significant blind spots for the driver. These blind spots increase the risk of an accident.
Collisions
While any vehicle may be involved in a collision, box trucks include a greater possibility of property damage or injury for those involved in the box truck accident. Box truck collisions may lead to serious or life-threatening injuries.
Unloading or Loading Box Trucks
Beyond the higher risk for collisions and accidents, injuries may also occur while unloading or loading the box truck.
Read More: Top Causes of Truck Accidents
WHO MAY BE LIABLE IN A BOX TRUCK ACCIDENT?
Box Truck Driver
The driver of the box truck may be liable for an accident, such as where the driver stopped too quickly or swerved too sharply, causing a rollover accident and colliding another vehicle. The driver may also be liable when they failed to stay aware of other vehicles on the road and collided with another vehicle. In these instances, the driver may be liable just as if the driver had been driving any other vehicle.
Box Truck Company
If the box truck driver was at fault for the accident while the driver was using the truck for business, the driver’s employer or the truck company that owns the box truck may also be liable for any injuries you may have suffered in the accident.
Box Truck Manufacturer
Some accidents involving box trucks may also be caused in part or entirely as a result of design flaws or malfunctions of the box truck itself. In these cases, the manufacturer of the box truck may also be liable for any injuries suffered in the accident. The dealer who sold the truck, as well as any parts suppliers or mechanics who serviced the box truck, may also be liable depending on the circumstances of the accident.
WHAT TO DO AFTER A TRUCK ACCIDENT
Contact an Attorney
If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident with a box truck, you should contact a box truck accident lawyer as soon as possible after your accident to discuss your options. Your lawyer may help you discuss your options and whether you may be entitled to any compensation for your injuries or damages.
Document the Accident
To support your claim, you will be required to present sufficient evidence to support the extent of your injuries as well as the fault of the other party. Maintaining thorough documentation of the accident and your injuries may be crucial to successfully proving your case. If possible, immediately take pictures of the scene of the accident or gather any available photos or videos. Identify and collect contact information from any witnesses. You should also maintain any medical records including bills, diagnoses, necessary physical therapy, or any future treatment that may be required.
Filing a Lawsuit
After consulting with an experienced attorney and hiring them to represent you in your personal injury case, your lawyer may then file a lawsuit on your behalf before the applicable statute of limitations, or legal time limits, expire and prevent you from filing a claim. Your lawyer may conduct a thorough investigation to gather evidence supporting your claim. The lawsuit process allows your attorney to file discovery requests. This requires the other party to answer specific questions related to the accident and provide relevant evidence, such as the mechanical servicing records of the box truck, prior accident reports involving the driver or the truck, and other information.
Negotiations
As with many automobile accidents, you may be negotiating with the other party’s insurer to recover compensation. The insurer will have a team of lawyers experienced and dedicated to keeping the insurance company’s costs as low as possible. They will employ any strategies or tactics necessary to weaken your claim. However, an experienced box truck accident attorney may often help level this playing field by negotiating with the insurer and providing sufficient evidence to support your claims.
These negotiations may begin with your lawyer making an initial offer to the insurance company of an acceptable settlement amount. The insurer may reject this initial offer and respond with a counteroffer of its own. During the negotiation process, both sides may point to evidence to support their offers or to weaken the position of the other side. This back and forth negotiation may go on until both sides are able to reach a settlement that is agreeable to both parties and will avoid the expenses and time of a trial.
Trial
If negotiations are unsuccessful and the insurer refuses to accept an offer agreeable to you, your case may proceed to trial. Here, your lawyer may use the evidence and documentation gathered in the investigation to support your damages claim. The other party will then provide a defense to disclaim responsibility for the accident, or to prove that you may have also been at fault for the accident. The other party may also dispute the extent of your injuries or the need for any future treatment. The jury, or judge in some cases, will then generally decide how much compensation, if any, you may be entitled to.
WHY YOU NEED A LAWYER
Box truck accidents may be especially devastating given the size and weight of these large trucks. A semi truck lawyer may be able to help you maximize your chances of successfully pursuing any compensation you may be entitled to as a result of the accident. Furthermore, large trucks such as box trucks often have an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) that records data leading up to the accident. This data may show the speed the box truck was traveling at the time of the crash as well as evidence that the box truck was not being operated safely.
Your lawyer may be able to quickly help you secure this module and its data before it may be destroyed or rendered unavailable to support your claim.
GET HELP FROM A TRUCK ACCIDENT ATTORNEY TODAY
At Zinda Law Group, our truck accident lawyers are here to assist you with your personal injury claim. Our team may help you navigate the complex nature of a box truck accident case while allowing you to focus on recovery. We help our clients pursue the maximum compensation they may be entitled to after being injured in a box truck wreck.
Call (800) 863-5312 today for a free consultation with one of our experienced truck wreck lawyers. As one of our clients, you will not pay anything unless we can win your personal injury case.
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