Tow trucks are big, heavy vehicles that pose a risk to other drivers and pedestrians during a crash. Injuries sustained in a tow truck accident can be severe and sometimes life-threatening. If a tow truck hit and injured you, speak to a tow truck accident attorney about your legal options.
You can receive compensation for medical bills, lost earnings, and more if another party’s negligence caused the tow truck accident. The best thing you can do is consult a Spring Hill truck accident lawyer who can begin building a strong claim in your favor.
Types Of Tow Trucks
There are many types of tow trucks on the roads today. The main distinguishing feature is how the truck hooks up and transports the disabled vehicle. Each kind of tow truck has different functions and features that can cause a serious accident:
Hook And Chain Tow Truck
Many people think of hook-and-chain tow trucks first. This type of truck uses a hook and chain to pull a disabled car or truck. This type of truck was common years ago, but haulers started to understand that this type of truck can cause damage to the towed vehicle. Hook and chain tow trucks are still on the roads but usually pull junk vehicles.
These types of tow trucks can cause accidents by the towed vehicle breaking loose from the truck, which can cause other drivers to hit the disabled vehicle.
Flatbed Tow Trucks
Flatbed tow trucks are what we see the most on our roads today. These trucks have a cab and a long, open flatbed. The towed car can be driven onto the bed, or the driver can employ a winch to pull the vehicle onto the bed. Accidents can happen if the car or truck breaks loose on the flatbed and falls onto another vehicle or the road.
Integrated Tow Trucks
An integrated tow truck is made to tow a large vehicle, such as a big rig cab or commercial bus. These are large tow trucks with another axle for increased stability. These rigs are big and heavy, especially when pulling a commercial vehicle, so an accident with this truck can be catastrophic for a car driver.
Wheel Lift Tow Trucks
This truck works like a hook-and-chain tow truck. However, it uses a hydraulic lift or a yoke to lift the disabled vehicle’s front wheels from the road.
Tow truck accidents can happen for almost any reason. Any tow truck above can be involved in a crash when assisting a disabled vehicle on the side of the road. If the truck driver is too close to the road or partially in a travel lane, there can be a devastating accident.
What Causes Tow Truck Accidents?
Tow truck accidents happen for various reasons and can lead to severe injuries based on the weight and size of these commercial trucks. Tow trucks are frequent sights on our roads as they transport disabled or damaged vehicles from place to place. The average tow truck weighs at least twice that of the typical passenger vehicle. The large size and weight can increase accident risks and damages for other drivers.
Common reasons for tow truck accidents are:
- Tow truck driver error: Like any other motor vehicle, a tow truck accident is often due to driver error. Common driver errors that cause tow truck crashes are speeding, not yielding right of way, improper lane changes, tailgating, driver fatigue, and drunk driving. A truck accident attorney will review the accident and police report to determine if truck driver error contributed to the accident.
- Truck failure: Tow trucks have specialized equipment to transport and secure motor vehicles. A serious accident may occur if the equipment malfunctions or isn’t used. Faulty winches, safety chains, and tow bars are common failure points on tow trucks.
- Improper loading: The truck driver’s job is to move a disabled vehicle safely to another location. Loading the vehicle is critical, and it must be done safely. However, the trucker can use old tie-downs or exceed the truck’s hauling limit. If the trucker loads a vehicle incorrectly, the hauled car can come loose and cause a crash.
Speak to a truck accident attorney after the accident, and turn over any evidence you have from the incident. For example, taking accident scene photos showing the affected vehicles and any damages is helpful. An attorney and an accident reconstruction specialist can use this evidence to show the insurance company how the crash occurred.
Common Tow Truck Crash Injuries
Like any commercial truck crash, tow truck accident injuries can be severe. Common injuries include brain injuries, internal organ damage, spine injuries, soft tissue injuries, and broken bones.
Commercial truck injuries are often more severe and life-changing than conventional auto accident injuries. It’s important to have a truck accident attorney represent you to ensure that you are fairly compensated.
Most truck accident claims are settled with the employer’s insurance company. However, truck insurance companies want to pay as little as they can get away with. Always have a tenacious truck accident attorney negotiating on your behalf.
Why Tow Truck Accidents May Be More Complicated
Truck accident victims can have difficulty obtaining financial relief because of the complexities involved in these incidents. Some challenges that make a truck accident case more difficult are:
Truck Crashes Have More Technical Evidence
Determining who is at fault in a tow truck accident requires reviewing many pieces of evidence, and not all of the evidence will be easily available to an injury victim. Hour-of-service logs, black box crash data, cargo manifests, and pre-trip inspection documents are evidence that your truck accident attorney can obtain.
Multiple Liable Parties
Many tow truck accidents are blamed on the driver and employer, and others can be liable, too. For example, the truck owner can also be liable if they differ from the driver or trucking company. The truck mechanic can be liable if a mechanical issue contributed to the crash.
Coordinating various insurance claims and accident investigations is complicated and is best left to an experienced truck accident attorney. You can concentrate on your recovery and let your attorney handle the case.
Multiple Injury Victims
Suppose a tow truck stops on the side of the road but is partially in the traffic lane. Your car hits the tow truck, the vehicle they stopped for, and other cars hit the pile-up. There may be several injury victims, each clamoring for insurance money for their recovery. Several accident injury victims make the insurance claim process complex, and you can end up with less money without a personal injury attorney fighting for you.
State And Federal Trucking Rules
State and federal regulations cover many aspects of commercial truck operation, including weight and dimension limits, permitting requirements, and how to obtain a commercial vehicle driver’s license in the state.
Additionally, federal regulations impose hour-of-service limits on truckers to limit how long they work and drive in a period. Truckers can usually only work up to 11 hours after being off duty for 10 hours, and they have to take a break of 30 minutes after driving for eight hours.
A truck accident attorney knows the state and federal laws that govern the truck industry. They will determine if any rules were violated. If so, this violation can be useful to obtain compensation for your injuries.
Corporate Entities And Insurance Coverage
Many tow truck companies have subsidiaries and affiliates, so it may be challenging to understand who to sue. Trucking companies also have corporate insurance policies that make it hard to determine available coverage.
A truck accident attorney has the training and experience to understand these factors and will easily handle the many claim challenges.
Tow Truck Crash Compensation
You can be entitled to two types of truck accident compensation. The first is economic damages, which compensate you for specific financial losses incurred from the accident.
Economic damages include current and future medical expenses. Your truck accident lawyer will determine your future medical expenses to compensate you fairly. The other is lost earnings compensation, including lost earning capacity compensation for a permanent or long-term injury.
Non-economic damages pay you for the intangible losses related to the truck accident. This type of compensation includes physical pain and suffering from the accident, injuries, and treatments. It also includes mental and emotional anguish related to your injuries.
A personal injury attorney will retain medical experts to show the extent and effects of your injuries to ensure the most compensation. They also may hire economists to prove the extent of your lost income in the future.
Who Can Be Liable For A Tow Truck Accident?
Obtaining compensation in a truck accident claim usually requires proving another party was negligent and caused the accident. Proving negligence involves the following steps:
- Another party owed you a duty of care: For example, a commercial truck driver owes you a duty of care on the road to drive safely and not endanger others.
- The driver violated the duty of care by, for example, hitting your vehicle in an intersection.
- You suffered injuries and damages, such as broken ribs and $25,000 in medical bills.
In many truck accidents, the driver is held partially at fault, but their employer also can be blamed for the crash. Your truck accident attorney will determine who is at fault for the accident and to what degree.
Holding an employer responsible for a truck accident can be important because trucking companies typically have higher insurance coverage. You can have severe injuries that require extensive medical care, so more insurance being available can be a major factor in your recovery.
Should You Represent Yourself In A Tow Truck Accident Claim?
No, this is never a wise idea. Representing yourself with a skeptical truck insurance company is highly risky, as these companies often take advantage of unrepresented injury victims. Here are some scenarios where you will end up leaving money on the table:
- The insurance adjuster offers compensation immediately: Nothing can tempt an injury victim after a truck crash like an immediate offer to ‘pay for your medical bills.’ It’s understandable to be persuaded by this tactic when you suffer an injury. But the goal is to lowball you and get you to settle for less money than you deserve. You probably deserve more than just medical bill compensation.
- Tampering with evidence: Many commercial trucks store electronic data in a black box. It can provide important evidence for a claim, such as the speed at which the driver was traveling. A devious insurance company can erase this data. Your attorney will immediately issue a demand to preserve all accident evidence.
- Adjusting the driver logs: The truck company may alter the driver log to hide the number of hours the driver spent on the road.
- Telling the driver not to take alcohol tests: About three percent of fatal truck crashes in a recent year involved intoxicated truck drivers. Truck companies know they have more liability if the driver was drunk, so they may tell the trucker to avoid taking a drug or alcohol test.
Even if the truck or insurance company doesn’t engage in questionable practices, they may not quickly hand over evidence. A truck accident attorney will ensure that all evidence that helps your case is given over immediately.
What Is A Tow Truck Crash Claim Worth?
The value of your claim depends on your medical bills, injuries, lost income, and pain and suffering. Every truck accident is different. The best option to understand your case value is to speak to an experienced truck accident attorney today.
Contact A Truck Accident Attorney Today
A tow truck accident can be severe, terrifying, and life-changing. You may have serious injuries, a destroyed vehicle, and months of lost income. Retaining a truck accident attorney to represent you is the only way to ensure the most compensation. The attorney will immediately investigate the accident, determine fault, and carefully estimate your economic and non-economic damages. Your future is at stake, so talk to a personal injury attorney in your area today.
