How Paralysis Victims Of Commercial Truck Accidents Might Start Legal Claims And Win
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-12-15 02:50:18 | Word Count: 708
Accidents involving commercial trucks frequently result in tragedies. In large part it is as a result of the large weight of commercial trucks which can come in at thousands of pounds tons. If the truck is traveling at a high speed the ensuing impact from a wreck can do extensive injury to anyone in the truck's way.
One type of injury that commonly arises is a fracture to the spine that might cause paralysis. Lawyers representing victims in these types of cases should be experienced in the medical and psychological issues of these kinds of injuries as well as the complex liability and insurance challenges that tend to come up in these lawsuits. To illustrate, look at the following 2 cases:
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In this reported truck accident the victim experienced cervical fractures resulting in quadriplegia. The victim was in a stopped van on a street in a commercial area in front of a facilities driveway. The victim had turned on his right turn signal and was waiting for another vehicle to leave the driveway in order to drive in and make a delivery for his employer. That is when a tractor trailer passed the van and slammed into the vehicle that was comming out of the driveway. The tractor trailer was being driven at a speed of no less than 45 miles per hour and when it slammed into the other vehicle it sent a portion of that vehicle into oncoming traffic and catapulted the victim's van so that it hit a pole and rolled over. As a result of the injuries sustained in the accident, the victim needs assisted care 24 hours a day.
The full cost of the victim's treatment and care were expected to be around $6 million. In addition, since his injuries left him with a lifelong disability he moreover experienced a loss of earning capacity.
The law firm that handled this matter for the victim and his wife filed a lawsuit against not just the driver of the tractor trailer and his employer but also against the company that retained the driver's employer to carry their product. As such the law firm documented that the lawsuit was settled without going to trial for the sum of $3.0 million of which just $1,000,000 came from the driver's employer and the other $2,000,000, the bigger fraction of the settlement, paid by the company that employed the driver's employer to haul their product.
In the second case a mail delivery person was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer while she was in her stopped mail delivery vehicle after having gotten to the next scheduled delivery stop on her path. The impact was so hard that she was left paralyzed and blind in one eye.
The law firm that handled this case on behalf of the victim and her husband named several defendants in the legal claim. Among those named as defendants were the operator of the tractor-trailer and its owner, and also the company which had contracted for its services. The law firm learned that he driver of the tractor-trailer had an extensive criminal record.
The victim's medical expenses at the time of settlement amounted to approximately $500,000. She had up to that time lost approximately $50,000 in wages. Given that she was only 53 years old at the time of the accident her lifetime expected future loss and earning capacity came to over $300,000. The law firm documented that the case settled on behalf of the woman and her husband for $5,500,000.
These cases show the importance of retaining an attorney with sufficient experience to be able to understand the worth of the claims as well as identify anyone who may have liability and have the insurance or the assets needed for an acceptable settlement or award.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases. To learn more about truck accident cases and about other vehicle accident matters including fatal car accident cases visit the websites
