West Lafayette, Indiana is a beautiful and safe place to live. However, when you’re on the roads of West Lafayette, you have no control over the vehicles around you. You can experience a truck accident at any time, and find that your life is forever transformed.
Even a minor collision with a commercial truck can cause significant injury and trauma.
You could be left with unexpected, mounting expenses and a long road to recovery. However, you don’t have to navigate this road alone.
At Yosha Law, a West Lafayette truck accident lawyer can help you seek just compensation for your injuries so that you can concentrate on your healing.
What you need to know about West Lafayette truck accidents
Any vehicle collision can result in property destruction and significant personal injury in West Lafayette. Nonetheless, truck accidents are often severe due to the mass and weight of a commercial truck. The average sedan weighs 25 times less than their large truck counterparts.
Every day on West Lafayette roads, we share the road with semis and big rigs, and most truck drivers take safety very seriously. However, accidents and gross negligence can still occur, and leave you picking up the pieces of your life.
Effectively determining liability in your accident, negotiating your personal injury claim, and exploring your legal options may require an attorney. Here’s what you need to know about vital aspects of your truck accident case.
- Why you need a truck accident lawyer
- How Yosha Law can help
- Compensatory damages in a West Lafayette truck accident
- Determining liability in a truck accident
- Contact Yosha Law
Why you need a truck accident lawyer
Personal injury claims in truck accident cases can prove complex. Liability is often attributed to multiple parties, and insurance companies may offer lowball settlements to ensure they don’t incur a lawsuit.
In West Lafayette, you can pursue an insurance claim and legal case without retaining counsel. However, you might quickly find the legal nuances of your case make it difficult for you to receive just compensation for the losses you’ve incurred.
A quick offer from an insurance company may seem tempting to accept, but remember, if you accept a settlement for less than you deserve, you might not have further legal recourse. A truck accident lawyer can help you to understand the strength of your case, and determine the best course of action.
How Yosha Law can help
You may wonder how a personal injury claim could even begin to make up for the losses you’ve incurred. Unanticipated financial costs and emotional trauma can overwhelm you and leave you feeling as if you possess no agency over your recovery.
Where can you find the help you need? Is there a way to recoup your life costs?
A truck accident lawyer in West Lafayette can support you and represent you on your legal path to justice. Even before you file your insurance claim, an attorney can advise you on what steps you should take. Yosha Law can guide you through the process and help you receive the justice you’re owed.
Here’s what you can expect from our truck accident lawyers:
- Exploration of the merits of your case:
In an initial consultation in West Lafayette, Yosha Law will openly communicate with you about the strength of your case, and help you to make an informed decision about how to proceed.
- Consistent communication:
Once you’ve retained our services, you won’t have to worry about your legal process. We’ll explain each step to you and ensure that you understand where your case stands along the way. We’ll communicate with you openly and honestly.
- Calculate your damages:
The compensation sought in your personal injury case is broken down into different types of damages. We can help you discern which types to include in your claim, and calculate those damages to come up with the monetary amount you should seek.
- Gathering of evidence:
We’ll collect any forensic evidence from the scene of your truck accident, including debris, police reports, photos, and video evidence, and gather medical documentation to prove the extent of your injuries.
- Eyewitness and forensic expert interviews:
We’ll interview any eyewitnesses to your accident and those who can testify about the impact of the aftermath on your life. We may also retain forensic experts who can testify on your behalf, including crash reconstructionists, commercial truck experts, and medical specialists.
- File and manage all legal documents:
Your truck accident case may involve a lot of time-sensitive paperwork. We’ll efficiently file and manage all documents within the allotted time-frame, and ensure we explain the necessary information they may contain for you.
- Represent you in all negotiations and meetings:
Our West Lafayette attorneys will represent you and your interests in negotiations with insurance companies and other named defendants in your case. We won’t agree to a settlement until you’ve decided to do so, and we can help to make certain that lowball offers aren’t accepted.
- Passionately support you in court:
95% of personal injury cases are settled before they ever reach the courts. However, should we fail to come to a settlement agreement with the defendants in your case, we will fight for you and present your strongest case in court.
Compensatory damages in a West Lafayette truck accident
Legally, compensation after your truck accident is broken down into three categories of damages. Damages are awarded based on the emotional, financial, and physical losses you’ve incurred as the result of someone else’s negligence.
A lawyer in West Lafayette can help you to determine which damages you should seek in your personal injury case.
Punitive damages
Also known as exemplary damages, punitive damages may be requested by your lawyer, but more often, are awarded by a judge or jury. Punitive damages come as a result of proven gross negligence by the defendants in your case.
Punitive damages are used to make an example of the consequences of willful liability, and are usually added on to compensatory awards. In Indiana, 75% of awarded punitive damages are automatically allocated to the Violent Crimes Victim Compensation Fund, and the remaining 25% is received by the plaintiff.
Economic damages
Also known as special damages, economic damages legally cover the losses you’ve experienced that have a set monetary value or cost. If your truck accident results in any proven, unanticipated expenses, you may be awarded economic damages.
Examples of economic damages include:
- Diminished earning capacity:
If you can no longer work in your chosen profession, or have to cut back on your job responsibilities as a direct result of your truck accident, this may be claimed as diminished earning capacity under economic damages.
- Out-of-pocket expenses:
Any accident-related bills that you’ve had to pay for directly out-of-pocket may be reimbursed through economic damages.
- Past and future lost wages:
Time off of work that causes you to miss out on bonuses, paid time-off, raises, and tips and that is a result of the aftermath of your collision.
- Past and future medical expenses:
After a truck accident, medical expenses can mount up quickly. You might be able to recoup these monetary losses through economic damages, including (but not limited to), diagnostic services (X-rays, CAT Scans, MRIs, and ultrasounds), doctor’s appointments, emergency room visits, hospital stays, prescriptions, rehabilitation, surgeries, treatments.
- Repair or replacement costs:
A truck accident in West Lafayette might leave you with considerable property damage. If you need to repair or entirely replace your vehicle, you may be covered under economic damages.
- Transportation costs:
Any necessary transportation costs, including public transportation, rental cars, ride shares, or taxi services, might be reimbursed under economic damages.
- Vocational rehabilitation and household services:
If you suffer a TBI (traumatic brain injury), you may need to relearn aspects of your life and require vocational rehabilitation to do so. If you’ve had to hire in-home help to assist you in your transformed life, including maids, nannies, nurses, hospice or palliative care help, you may be owed economic damages.
Non-economic damages
Also known as general damages, non-economic damages are in place to help cover the losses you’ve incurred that can’t be monetarily quantified. Financial compensation for these incredible losses cannot heal them, but compensation may allow you to alleviate your stress and focus on your recovery process.
Non-economic damages may include:
- Chronic pain
- Disfigurement
- Emotional trauma (including anxiety, depression, and post traumatic stress disorder)
- Eye injury
- Hearing loss
- Loss of quality of life
- Pain and suffering
- Paralysis
- Permanent disability
- Scarring
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- Vision loss
- Wrongful death
Determining liability in a truck accident
After a truck accident, liability can be a complex issue. Although a truck driver may hold fault, the trucking company, cargo company, and manufacturer may hold fault as well. Faulty parts, inadequate safety and training, a trucker’s driving record, and improperly stored cargo may all have played a part in your collision.
A West Lafayette truck accident lawyer can help you to determine liability and discern what parties may owe you compensation.
Your lawyer may examine the following to discern liability:
- Truck’s black box:
Commercial trucks are equipped with data recorders that work in a similar fashion to a plane’s black box. In West Lafayette, your lawyer may look for data irregularities or poor driving choices to determine whether a trucker holds fault for your accident.
- Truck’s logtime records:
Truckers are mandated to take hours off between their driving routes, and are required to keep detailed logtime records. If a logtime record is erroneous or the trucker doesn’t adhere to their schedule, they may be determined to hold liability in your collision.
- Maintenance, safety, and training records:
A trucking company must follow a strict maintenance and safety schedule, and is required to ensure their truckers are properly trained and hold correct licenses. If company records or employee testimony reflect negligence in these areas, the trucker’s employer could be legally on the hook for your compensation.
- Truck manufacturer recalls and safety history:
A truck’s manufacturer could be determined liable for your accident if there are faulty parts that should have been issued a recall, or if the corporation has a concerning history of safety issues with their trucks.
Contact Yosha Law
The West Lafayette truck accident lawyers of Yosha Law understand the pain and suffering you may be experiencing as a result of your accident. We can support you in your pursuit of justice, and we care about your healing. Our clients are more than the sum of their cases — they become a part of our extended family.
You shouldn’t have to walk this path alone, and should be able to trust that you’ve placed your legal case in trustworthy and capable hands. Let us handle your personal injury claim and deal with the insurance companies so that you can focus on your recovery.
Connect with a West Lafayette truck accident lawyer for an obligation-free consultation today.
