Truck Accident Lawyer New York
Commercial trucks make up a relatively small portion of the total vehicles on the roadway, but they are involved in a disproportionately high number of serious injury and fatal collisions. According to the National Safety Council, “In 2022, 5,837 large trucks were involved in a fatal crash, an 1.8% increase from 2021 and a 49% increase in the last 10 years. The involvement rate per 100 million large-truck miles traveled is up 3% from 2021, and up 24% in the last 10 years.” The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration estimates that in 2024 there were 4,783 truck accidents in New York, which resulted in 114 fatalities.
A fully loaded commercial truck can weigh 80,000 pounds. Even a low-impact collision can leave victims with catastrophic injuries and permanent disabilities. It is vital that victims of truck accidents take certain steps in order to preserve their health and legal rights. They should seek the guidance of experienced legal counsel. The New York truck accident attorneys at Gersowitz Libo & Korek, P.C. can help victims. If you’ve been injured in a truck accident, they can help you get the medical and financial support that you need in order to recover. Our law firm can evaluate the unique facts of your case free of cost and let you know if you have a claim that can be pursued. You can reach out to our office anytime at (800) 529-9997.
Why Choose Our New York Truck Accident Law Firm
Gersowitz Libo & Korek, P.C. is one of the oldest and most respected personal injury firms in New York. They have successfully recovered over $1 billion for their deserving clients. This includes numerous seven-figure verdicts and settlements on behalf of people injured in truck accidents.
- We recovered a $12.5 million settlement for a working mother who was seriously injured after being hit by a New York City Department of Transportation pickup truck in Queens.
- We recovered a $9.5 million settlement for a motorcyclist seriously injured after being hit by a sanitation truck in Queens County.
- We recovered a $7.25 million settlement for a bicyclist injured after being hit by a delivery truck.
- We recovered a $5 million settlement for a bicyclist who sustained a foot injury after being run over by a private truck in New York City.
Our law firm is committed to a client-focused approach that puts your needs first. There’s absolutely no cost to have us evaluate your case. If you do hire our law firm, there are also no out-of-pocket costs. We get paid entirely from the opposing insurance provider if we are able to successfully resolve your case.
Common Causes of New York Truck Accidents
Truck accidents can be very complex events. The factors that contribute to any truck accident could easily take place hours, days, weeks, or even months prior to the incident. What follows are some of the most common causes of truck accidents.
- Driver Fatigue: There are legal limits with respect to how many hours a truck driver can work in a day and week. Truck drivers have a 14-hour window in which they can only work a maximum of 11 hours each day. Truck drivers cannot work more than 60 hours in any seven-day period. When these limits are ignored, accidents are much more likely to occur.
- Distracted Driving: Another major cause of truck accidents is driver distraction. This may include instances where a truck driver is looking at their phone or eating.
- Speeding: Truck drivers must operate their vehicle at a safe speed at all times. Depending on the prevailing conditions of the roadway, this may necessitate that they drive substantially below the speed limit. Driving at excessive speeds dramatically increases the stopping distance of commercial trucks and makes accidents more likely.
- Mechanical Failures: Commercial trucks are constantly on the road and have a very high utilization rate. This puts a tremendous amount of strain on key components like tires and brakes. It is essential that all parts of a truck are well-maintained in order to avoid collisions.
- Cargo Issues: There are limits with respect to how much weight a truck can transport. Exceeding these limits can make operating a truck much more dangerous. Improperly loaded cargo can also make a truck top-heavy on one side and contribute to a rollover collision.
- Driving Under the Influence: Though relatively rare, some truck accidents are caused by intoxicated truck drivers. What many truck drivers don’t understand is that there are many substances that could potentially intoxicate them besides alcohol. This may include over-the-counter medications and prescriptions.
- Inclement Weather: Poor road conditions and inclement weather are major contributing factors to truck accidents. Roadways slicked by rain and snow routinely cause serious truck crashes.
Preventing truck accidents requires that truck drivers adhere to all relevant safety protocols. But in far too many situations, carriers push their drivers to complete delivery schedules on unrealistic timelines. This can dramatically compromise a truck driver’s ability to operate their vehicle safely.
Types of Truck Accidents We Can Handle
Our law firm has ample experience handling many different types of truck accidents. This includes accidents with box trucks and larger tractor-trailer trucks. Here are just a few of the types of accidents that we can help you with.
- Rear-End Collisions: Semi-truck drivers have a legal obligation to maintain a safe distance with the vehicles ahead of them. When this does not happen, the truck driver may end up hitting another vehicle from behind.
- Jackknife Accidents: A jackknife accident occurs when a truck driver loses control and the cargo trailer and the front of the truck fold in on themselves. This may occur due to excessively sharp turns.
- Underride Collisions: Semi-trucks have a high ground clearance, which can occasionally lead to vehicles becoming trapped underneath the back or side of the truck.
- Override Collisions: An override collision occurs when the front portion of a truck runs over a smaller vehicle and gets trapped on top of it.
- Rollover Accidents: Semi-trucks are top-heavy by nature and are therefore much more susceptible to rollover collisions. This can lead to situations where the cargo portion of the truck lands on top of another vehicle.
- T-Bone Accidents: T-bone collisions involve a truck hitting another vehicle that is traveling parallel to it. These usually happen at intersections when either the passenger vehicle or the truck runs a red light.
- Blind Spot Accidents: Commercial trucks have large blind spots that can easily obscure the presence of vehicles and pedestrians. Truck drivers should always check their blind spots before making turns at an intersection.
- Multi-Vehicle Pileups: Given the speed and weight of semi-trucks, it is common for them to hit multiple vehicles before coming to a stop in an accident. If you were hit by a vehicle that was struck by a semi-truck, we can still help.
Even if you were partially at fault for a semi-truck accident, our law firm may still be able to pursue damages on your behalf through a civil claim. Injury claims in New York are adjudicated on the basis of pure comparative negligence. When a court finds that a person is partially at fault for a collision, any awarded damages are reduced proportionately by the percentage they are deemed to be at fault.
Who Can Be Liable For A Truck Accident
Depending on the facts of any case, there could be numerous liable parties for a truck accident. The circumstances leading up to the crash and the actions taken by the truck driver will help determine who could be held at fault. It is relatively common for there to be multiple liable parties for the same collision.
- Truck Driver: People who drive commercial trucks have a legal obligation to get a commercial driver’s license. They must exercise a great deal of care in order to avoid collisions given the incredible danger that trucks can pose. These drivers can be liable for collisions that are caused by their own negligence.
- Trucking Companies: Any company that operates a truck could also be held liable for collisions. In general, companies are liable for the wrongful acts of their employees.
- Vehicle Manufacturers: The company that manufactured a truck or any of its component parts could potentially be liable for an accident. Companies are liable for accidents that are caused by latent design defects with their products. For example, the tires on a truck may have been improperly chemically bonded prior to a blowout.
- Maintenance Companies: Truck companies routinely rely on third-party maintenance providers in order to keep all of their vehicles properly functioning. If these companies failed to perform adequate maintenance and this led to an accident, they could potentially be held liable for what happened.
- Cargo Loaders: Cargo loaders have a legal obligation to obey cargo weight restrictions on trucks. Overloading a truck could easily lead to an accident and expose the loading company to liability.
- Municipal Entities: A government agency could be liable for a truck accident if it was caused by a dangerous condition on public property. This may include road defects that contributed to a truck accident.
Evidence is critical in determining what entities could potentially face liability for a truck accident. One piece of evidence that can be particularly useful is the event data recorder (EDR) on the truck involved in the crash. These devices can reveal important details about a truck, including the speed it was traveling prior to a crash.
Steps to Take After Being Injured in a New York Truck Accident
It can be hard to know where to begin if you’ve been injured in a New York truck accident. Accident victims often contend with major injuries that require hospitalization and extended periods of time away from work. In order to get a favorable outcome after a truck accident, several steps should be taken.
- Seek Medical Attention: Many of the injuries associated with truck accidents will not be immediately obvious. A thorough medical evaluation can help reveal internal injuries and other trauma that may have gone unnoticed.
- Report the Accident: Every truck accident should be reported to the police. This will help create an official record of the event, which can be enormously helpful in a civil claim.
- Gather Evidence: Any person injured in a truck accident should gather as much evidence as possible. Photos and videos of the crash site should be taken. The contact information for any potential witnesses should be collected.
- Avoid Giving Statements: Be mindful about who you speak with after a truck accident. Insurance providers will often urge accident victims to give a statement, only to then use that statement against them down the road.
- Contact an Attorney: Any person injured in a New York truck accident should contact a New York truck accident attorney. They can evaluate all the unique facts of your case for free and let you know if you have a claim that can be pursued.
An attorney will play a critical role in helping you get compensation after a truck accident. They will do this by getting to know you as a person and learning about all of the ways that you’ve been impacted.
Compensation Available for Truck Accident Victims
Truck accidents can affect every part of a person’s life beyond the physical injuries that they sustain. Many victims lose money from time off of work. Others may need to contend with long-term disabilities that impact their daily lives. If you’ve been injured in a truck accident, you may be entitled to compensation for numerous items.
- Medical Expenses: Compensation is available for all of the medical expenses that victims incur. This includes current as well as future medical expenses.
- Lost Wages: Compensation is available for lost wages from time away from work. It is also available for the loss of earning capacity that a person suffers due to their injury.
- Pain and Suffering: Compensation is available for the non-economic harm that a person endures. All truck accident victims will experience at least some pain and suffering as a result of their ordeal.
- Property Damages: Compensation is available for the property damage caused by a commercial truck accident.
- Wrongful Death: Family members of a person killed in a truck accident are able to be compensated for what they’ve gone through.
- Punitive Damages: If the conduct of a truck driver was particularly egregious, a court may choose to award a plaintiff punitive damages as a means of punishing the defendant.
One of the key benefits of working with a New York truck accident lawyer is that they can take into consideration all of the damages that you’ve suffered. They can help put your case in the best possible light so that you can receive as much compensation as possible.
How Our New York Truck Accident Attorneys Can Help
If you’ve been injured in a New York truck accident, there are a number of ways that our attorneys can help with your case. Here are just a few of the ways we can assist you.
- Investigation: We can investigate all aspects of your accident and gather crucial evidence in order to demonstrate that one or more parties are liable.
- Negotiation: We handle all negotiations with insurance companies. Our experienced attorneys understand the tricks and tactics that insurance providers will commonly use in order to avoid paying fair settlements.
- Filing a Lawsuit: We can file a lawsuit on your behalf and represent you in court if insurance providers are not willing to offer a fair settlement.
Our legal team understands how traumatic and disruptive a truck accident can be. You can rest assured that we will leave no stone unturned when it comes to ensuring that you are given full and fair compensation for what you’ve gone through.
Getting Legal Help After a New York Truck Accident
Achieving a positive outcome for a truck accident case often comes down to having skilled attorneys who will fight aggressively on your behalf. Insurance companies make money by paying accident victims as little as possible. New York truck accident attorneys have the exact opposite set of incentives. They will do everything in their power to hold truck companies and their insurance providers accountable.
Have you or someone that you care about been injured in a New York truck accident? Our truck accident law firm is here to help you. The attorneys at Gersowitz Libo & Korek, P.C. have decades of experience helping accident victims, and they focus entirely on injury claims. There are absolutely no out-of-pocket fees at any time, and we only get paid if we are able to successfully resolve your case. We are available 24/7 to discuss your situation. Whether you just have legal questions or are thinking about hiring an attorney, we are committed to serving your needs. You can reach out to us anytime for a risk-free consultation at (800) 529-9997.
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