Multi-car truck accidents or vehicle pile-ups are some of the most frightening and devastating events that make headlines in the local news. These complex and devastating accidents become a challenging puzzle when it comes to determining liability.
Chain reaction crashes or multi-truck accidents create a unique set of challenges compared to typical car accidents. What sets multi-trucking accidents apart is the accident's severity due to the sheer size and weight of the semi-truck and the complex and oftentimes unclear legal landscape surrounding the trucking regulations and determining liability. These accidents can involve multiple vehicles as well as numerous external factors that create a complex accident that needs to be sorted out while you are just trying to ensure that your family is safe and medically tended to. An experienced truck accident attorney can help you and your family successfully navigate your legal options and investigate the accident.
What is a Multi-Vehicle Truck Accident?
Accidents can have devastating consequences, but the gravity and complexity of multi-truck accidents can have a profound and long-term impact on those involved. These accidents consist of a primary collision that triggers a series of crashes involving multiple vehicles or trucks, all creating this large-scale chain reaction crash. A fully loaded semi-truck weighing thousands of tons crashing into passenger cars has the potential for devastation and fatal injuries. It’s common to see complete destruction of vehicles and severe injuries. In the aftermath of a multi-truck accident, victims have the right to compensation for their pain, damages, and any future expenses that were due to the crash.
Common Causes of Multi-Vehicle Trucking Accidents
When there is a multi-vehicle crash, piecing together the complex puzzle to determine precisely what happened, who was liable, and where to seek compensation can be immensely difficult. When it comes to determining what exactly caused the crash, it will rely on an investigation with footage, witness statements, debris, and professional analysis to complete the puzzle of devastation.
Causes of multi-truck accidents are commonly:
- Driver Error: When a driver is speeding, distracted, or tired, they can make a poor judgment call that can trigger a multi-vehicle pile-up
- Adverse Weather: Semi-truck accidents, especially multi-vehicle accidents, are 10 times more likely in poor weather conditions. Things like rain, fog, snow, and ice can significantly increase semi-truck accidents because they lose visibility on smaller vehicles. Also, maintaining traction and complete control of the large truck is more complicated.
- Mechanical Failure: On the rare occasion that a brake or a tire issue triggers a severe multi-vehicle accident, the result is catastrophic. A large thousands of pounds semi truck careening into traffic uncontrolled is every driver's worst nightmare. Regular maintenance and pre-trip checks must never be neglected
Even after an extensive investigation from law enforcement your truck accident attorney may still need to have a separate investigation to definitively determine the specifics. Having an experienced attorney involved as soon as possible in the investigation process is crucial to your family receiving fair compensation.
Who is Liable in Multi-Vehicle Trucking Accidents?
When it comes to multi-vehicle accidents, multiple parties can be held liable. Depending on the crash's circumstances, multiple parties could be held liable, and they all have their own claims and legal requirements that should be navigated with a truck accident attorney.
Some of the parties who can be held liable are:
- Truck driver
- Trucking company
- Loading facility
- Truck manufacturer
- Servicing company
- Other drivers who contributed to the cause of the accident
- Government entities
In these complex pile-up accidents, liability and responsibility must be determined to navigate the legal landscape correctly. Without this established, responsible parties cannot be held accountable, and victims cannot receive the compensation they deserve.
How to Protect Your Rights After a Multi-Vehicle Truck Accident
The best way to protect your rights after a multi-vehicle trucking accident is to have an experienced truck accident attorney with a proven history of success on your side as soon as possible. After a major accident, you should always seek medical attention, even if you don’t feel injured. Although you want to focus on your injuries and getting well, most statutes of limitations are just one to two years. Other parties involved in the crash will be working to satisfy and protect their own interests, so it is vital that you protect yours. Without an experienced attorney by their side, accident victims may be unaware of all the parties that should be named in lawsuits and claims and can leave a lot of financial compensation on the table. Truck.Law provides expert legal services to the wrongfully injured and their families.
How Truck.Law Can Help You Navigate Your Claim
At Truck.Law we are dedicated to helping victims of trucking negligence and their attorneys obtain the maximum compensation they deserve. Multi-vehicle accidents involving a semi-truck often come with devastating injuries and financial ruin for families trying to recover. While trucking is one of the most demanding jobs in the United States, if a company or a driver is negligent, it could leave a family with unspeakable losses. Truck.Law can provide your family with the legal guidance it needs during this devastating time. Contact us at (904) 356-6071. Our national team is ready to help.
