What Is the Difference Between a Commercial Truck Accident and Car Accident Case?

The difference between a commercial truck accident and car accident case involves different laws, rules, accident circumstances, evidence standards, compensation possibilities, and liability.

There Is a Big Difference Between Car and Trucking Accidents

There is a drastic difference between a car accident and a truck accident, especially with commercial trucks and a trucking company. Car and truck accident victims, or those with other vehicles involved, may experience totally dissimilar serious injuries, losses, and changed circumstances.

The trucking industry and general transportation industry, and the truck driver, can be held liable by the injured party just like any negligent operator of a motor vehicle or passenger vehicles. Car or truck accident victims may sue all liable parties for all the harm car or truck accidents cause.

This is normally done in car or truck crash cases against multiple parties such as the commercial truck driver, insurance companies, or trucking company.

Talk to an experienced personal injury attorney from our law firm, the Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, about car accident cases and truck accident cases. We can offer legal advice and a free consultation.

You can also review the following sections on the difference between trucking accidents (including those with commercial trucks, semi trucks, loaded trailers, etc.) and a regular motor vehicle. The difference is substantial and can drastically change your recovery and compensation options.

How Car Accidents and Truck Accidents Happen

One of the biggest differences between car and truck accidents is how they happen. The commercial vehicles involved in the truck accident are probably in different circumstances than regular cars.

This can cause different kinds of accidents with distinct and severe injuries. This is the same no matter the truck involved in the truck accident (large trucks, semi trucks, tractor trailers, empty trailers, etc).

Here are how and why most private car accidents happen:

• Distraction
• Intoxication
• Aggressiveness
• Road/weather conditions

Here are how any why most large truck and semi truck accidents happen:

• The semi truck drivers were driving on an expired commercial driver’s license
• Equipment failure of the truck
• The truck was overloaded with gross combination weight
• Trucking companies pushed drivers to work too much
• The trucking company ignored safety regulations
• The truck company did not hire or supervise the driver properly

Call our firm if you were involved in truck crashes. Semi truck accidents can cause substantial personal injury and property damage to your passenger car but we can bring commercial truck accident cases.

In a free consultation, we can discuss a truck accident claim or truck accident case following truck accidents. They can be brought against the truck driver, trucking companies, trucking company, or insurance companies for your truck accident injuries.

They can return large financial recovery. We discuss who exactly is liable from car and trucking accidents in the next section.

How Do I Know If the Commercial Truck Drivers or Other Parties or Motorists Are Liable in My Case?

No matter what kind of accident you are involved in, there are a few things you can do to determine who will be liable in a future case.

Use the following checklist to determine responsibility for your accident, but, of course, consult an attorney to make sure your analysis is correct.

• Discover if the semi truck drivers or other negligent parties had a history of commercial vehicle or truck accidents. This could illustrate a pattern of negligence that you can use at trial.
• See if the person was working at the time because then the employer could be liable as well.
• Discover if a third party helped the trucker ship, load, cosign, repair or in any other way contributed to the events.
• Review the equipment and safety purchases, inspections, updates, and compliance.
• Check the police reports including a post collision drug test to see if the cops made a determination as to liability or if they indicated the driver was intoxicated.
• Review the driver’s qualifications file from the truck employer to see if the driver was properly qualified, hired, and supervised.
• See if there is any driver evidence of error, fatigue, or other unreasonable conduct around the time of the crash. You may find this in the dispatch instructions and files as well.
• Investigate the conditions of the incident-road, weather, etc.
• Interview witnesses to get an objective accounting of what happened.

Call us now to get a free consultation if you were in a car or trucking accident with semi trucks, regular passenger vehicles, or anything else.

We can set up an attorney client relationship with a truck accident lawyer or team of personal injury attorneys. Then, they can help you pursue compensation for your losses and personal injury (i.e. spinal cord injuries, neck injuries, catastrophic injuries, etc.). You also may be able to secure relief from the relevant insurance company.

How Do the Rules Differ for a Car and Trucking Accident Case?

Truck drivers have vastly more rules and regulations to abide by than typical motorists. This is because they are operating large vehicles and carry huge tons of goods.

All of these things can cause serious harm in a collision. They also raise the chances of a fatal or catastrophic event happening in the first place

State regulations and federal regulations, like the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act, set forth numerous obligations for owners and operators of commercial motor vehicles. Illinois has various provisions enumerated in 625 ILCS 5. You can use their failure to abide by any one of these laws as negligence per se.

This means you do not have to argue the conduct was unreasonable, because the government said it was in its promulgations.

For more information and reading on this topic, see the follow sites:

• FMCSA – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
• NHTSA – Laws and Regulations
• Illinois Department of Transportation

Procedural Differences Between Motor Vehicles Cases

More than knowing who is at fault or what you could get in court, there are great differences in how you bring these different cases. In the end, mastering these complexities will afford you great ability to recover sums of relief.

• Filing: You will most likely sue different and more types of defendants in a truck lawsuit versus a traditional auto accident dispute.
• Evidence: The kind of evidence you obtain and how you use that evidence in trial or mediation will greatly vary across truck and car collisions.
• Case: How you prepare and present your case at trial or in the insurance process will be starkly different if you are suing a truck driver/company or a passenger vehicle owner.

Work with your team of attorneys to craft the best possible legal strategy after your crash. This should take into consideration not just the type of accident but how that affects the procedural process.

Compensation From Negligent Commercial Truck Drivers and Car Drivers

Of course, no matter how the collision occurred or what vehicles were involved, you will only be able to obtain relief for actual damages suffered. This can include your medical bills, lost wages, property damage, disability, pain, suffering, and much more.

They typically are categorized as economic damages, non-economic damages, punitive damages, and wrongful death damages. Consult an attorney to discuss which may apply to you and your family.

However, the prospect of truck crash litigation opens up more defendants with potentially deeper pockets. Since most truckers are ostensibly working at the time of the crash, you could proceed against their employer who will most likely have greater resources.

Additionally, you may also pursue compensation from each of their business insurance policies. These could also help if the original driver has no money at all or even insurance.

Recovery is never the same in any case. You may find that one or more of the options above is available after your incident.

Get Money and Relief After a Car or Trucking Accident

Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers represents people who have been seriously injured in truck and auto accidents. Many of them have had their cases and claims denied by the driver or insurance carrier for the liable motorist or business.

Our attorneys will investigate and litigate your case for you on a contingency fee basis. This means there is only a legal fee charged if we obtain financial recovery for you. Call us today to get the process started: (888) 424-5757.