What Damages Can Be Recovered In a Truck Accident Claim?

A Renton truck accident lawyer can provide crucial legal guidance to those injured in collisions involving large commercial trucks. With trucks legally weighing up to 80,000 pounds when fully loaded, the immense size and weight leave occupants of smaller vehicles vulnerable to severe or catastrophic injuries in a crash. About 70% of truck accident injuries and fatalities occur to the occupants of smaller vehicles, not to the truck driver.

Serious accidents, like a devastating commercial truck accident in Washington, can have life-altering consequences for injury victims. These consequences are the damages in a truck accident claim.

Recovering Economic Damages After a Truck Accident In Washington

Truck accident injuries may have adverse, life-altering consequences, such as catastrophic injuries that leave an accident victim disabled. Even less serious injuries can quickly cause financial stress with a single emergency room bill and a few days of lost pay. A more serious injury may prevent a return to the workplace in the previous capacity, or at all. These are the economic damages in a truck accident claim. A successful claim recovers compensation for economic damages such as the following:

• Reimbursement for medical expenses
• Anticipated future medical expenses related to the injury
• Lost wages
• Future income loss
• Diminished future earning ability due to disability
• Out-of-pocket expenses, such as for traveling to see a specialist or for adaptive equipment

A truck accident attorney in Washington uses the injury victim’s medical bills, receipts, evidence from medical experts, and employment records to determine an appropriate amount of compensation for a truck accident victim’s economic damages.

Recovering Compensation for Non-Economic Damages After a Washington Truck Accident

Although the economic expenses of a truck accident are easy to calculate, the physical and emotional impacts of serious injuries are the most devastating aspect of an accident involving a commercial truck. Financial compensation doesn’t erase the injury, but it is the civil court’s way of providing recompense to injury victims. A successful Washington truck accident case recovers compensation for non-economic damages like the following:

• Pain and suffering
• Emotional trauma, PTSD, anxiety, or depression
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Diminished quality of life

Depending on the individual circumstances, compensation for specific types of catastrophic injury damages might also be available, such as for loss of limb, disfigurement, scarring, loss of vision, hearing loss, or loss of consortium (the full physical and emotional relationship with a loved one).

Wrongful death benefits are available to the family members of a deceased truck accident victim.

Who Pays the Damages In a Truck Accident Claim?

Compensation for damages in most truck accident claims does not come from the truck driver’s pocket. Instead, it comes from the appropriate insurance claim. An experienced truck accident lawyer in Washington investigates the accident to determine the cause of the accident, the negligent party, and the appropriate insurance company.

The negligent party is liable for the damages, and their insurance company pays out on the claim once an attorney presents evidence of their findings. Common liable parties in truck accident claims include:

• The truck driver
• The trucking company
• A truck maintenance company
• A freight loading company
• The manufacturer of a defective truck part or tire

Less commonly, other parties cause or contribute to the cause of a truck accident, such as a negligent road maintenance agency or a third-party driver.

How Can a Truck Accident Attorney From Caffee Law Help?

Washington’s complex pure comparative negligence insurance laws require substantial evidence and meticulous attention to filing details for the best possible outcome. Contact the experienced truck accident lawyers at Caffee Accident & Injury Lawyers to investigate, document evidence of liability, and present a compelling case during negotiations for a settlement or in court.