Have You Been Injured In a Trucking Accident in Dothan, Alabama?
Unlike a typical car wreck, accidents involving massive tractor-trailers present unique challenges. For one, the injuries and damage are usually far worse. Catastrophic injuries are far more likely when a heavy truck hits a normal car. Truck crashes also frequently involve multiple defendants and higher insurance limits. With so much at stake, you can count on trucking companies and insurers to put up a fight.
After a truck crash, you need aggressive legal representation from experienced truck accident lawyers who will move fast to preserve evidence and protect your rights. Contact the truck accident lawyers in Dothan at Gartlan Injury Law at (334) 600 1882 now for a free consultation to find out more about your best options.
Never speak with the trucking company’s representatives or the insurance company without the advice of your own attorney. An insurance adjuster may try to tell you that you are required to give a recorded statement or that you must talk to them if you wish to be compensated. Both are not true. Here is what you should understand about fighting for compensation after an 18-wheeler accident. Contact our Dothan truck accident attorney today.
Truck crashes are different, primarily because trucking companies and truckers are heavily regulated by state and federal law. Here are some specific rules that apply only to commercial vehicles.
Federal Motor Carrier Regulations
Under federal law, trucking companies that transport goods across state lines are required to adhere to strict rules, including hours of service regulations. These are rules that govern how long drivers may be awake, how long they can work in a single shift, how long breaks must last, and how much time they must be off duty before they can get behind the wheel again. But hours of service regulations are just the beginning.
Other regulations include things like:
- How much weight a particular truck and trailer combination can haul
- How much weight can be distributed to each axle
- What kind of cargo can be hauled across certain roads or bridges
- What type of freight can be carried in certain vehicles
- The type of license and endorsements a driver needs in order to drive certain trucks
- How a driver must maintain a logbook to prove compliance with hours of service
State Regulations
Although Alabama has one of the more relaxed regulatory systems in the country, drivers hauling intrastate routes (within the state only) are still governed by state laws pertaining to total hours of service, types of equipment that can be operated on certain roads or in certain neighborhoods, and even what routes can be taken by certain restricted vehicles, such as hazardous materials freight.
Alcohol Use
For the rest of us, Alabama law makes 0.08% the legal limit for impairment. For truck drivers, Alabama has a stricter rule. If a commercial driver operating a vehicle under a CDL (commercial driver’s license) is pulled over with 0.04% BAC, then it is presumptively considered driving under the influence of alcohol. This is relevant because the threshold is lower for drivers who operate these large, extremely dangerous vehicles. Therefore, this can make a difference when proving that a CDL driver was negligent.
Cell Phones
For ordinary drivers in Alabama, there remains no ban on handheld devices for adult drivers. There is a ban on texting for all drivers. For CDL drivers, however, the federal regulations prohibit handheld devices. This federal rule still applies, even when a truck driver is operating in a state that allows handheld calling, like Alabama.
Multiple Defendants
Finally, commercial automobile wrecks can be complicated because there are often several potential defendants, including trucking companies, contractors, drivers, mechanics, and more.
What Are Common Types of Commercial Wrecks?
There is no limit to the vast array of crash types that can be caused by negligent truck drivers and their employers. However, there are a few crashes we tend to see more often. These typically include:
Rear-End Crashes
Overloaded trucks or trucks being operated by fatigued or distracted drivers often fail to stop in time to avoid collisions that would otherwise be completely preventable.
Override Crashes
These happen in a couple ways. The most common is when a car pulls up in a right turn lane behind a combination truck. They are both going right. However, the truck unexpectedly turns left without a turn signal, making it appear that the truck has changed its course to go left. As the truck moves to the left away from the curb, the car moves forward to continue taking a right turn. Suddenly, the truck driver changes course, swinging wide and turning back to the right, dragging the trailer over top of the car. These crashes are sometimes deadly, even at low speeds.
Asleep at the Wheel Crashes
Truck drivers who are not well rested or who are pushed beyond their legally safe driving hours are simply unsafe behind the wheel. When drivers fall asleep at the wheel of an 80,000 pound vehicle, the results can be horrifying.
What If the Trucking Company Says I’m At Fault?
It is common to hear adjusters and trucking company representatives make the argument that a victim is to blame.
This argument is probably among the most common ones a personal injury lawyer will hear when dealing with a trucking accident case. The fact is Alabama denies compensation to victims if they at all share in the blame. Therefore, defendants know if they can manipulate the facts even slightly, it may result in not having to pay.
First, know that when you are represented by an experienced trucking accident lawyer, you are not in this alone.
Second, understand that jurors are real people who understand the rules of the road pretty well. If your version of events is supported by the crash data, the photographs, and the damages, jurors can generally tell the difference between the truth and an elaborate fabrication to avoid responsibility. Contact our Dothan truck accident lawyers today.
Finally, if your attorney understands federal and state trucking regulations, there is often a host of ways the truck driver and the company violated those rules. If so, this is often strong evidence of their negligence.
On his last load, the warehouse company overloaded him by as much as 20,000 pounds above what the truck can legally carry, but being exhausted and behind schedule, the driver chose not to weigh the load. Late at night, he fails to react in time and collides with a family on the interstate. A crash report shows that the air brakes were not properly maintained, and his maintenance logs show no one had performed proper inspections in over 50,000 miles.
