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Distracted Driving Truck Accident Attorney in Harrisonburg, VA
According to the Virginia Highway Safety Office, over 21,500 crashes in the Commonwealth in a recent year involved a distracted driver. These collisions become all the more frightening when the distracted driver is behind the wheel of a commercial truck. When truckers fail to pay attention to the road, the residents of Harrisonburg pay the price.
If you suffered injuries in a commercial motor vehicle accident caused by an inattentive truck driver, you could be entitled to financial compensation under Virginia law. A distracted driver truck accident attorney from Kendall Law Firm can explain your legal rights and options after reviewing your case.
With over 30 years of legal experience, our law firm focuses exclusively on helping accident victims recover meaningful compensation so they can rebuild their lives. We’re not here to protect big businesses and accept whatever the insurance company offers. We stand up for you — and we demand justice from those who harmed you.
Contact our office today for a free consultation with a Harrisonburg distracted driving accident lawyer.
How Can a Truck Accident Lawyer Help Me?
Commercial truck accidents are more complex than the average car accident for several reasons. First, the injuries from a semi-truck wreck tend to be severe, even catastrophic. The greater the injuries, the more complicated it gets to calculate fair compensation that accounts for the victim’s medical expenses, lost wages, and quality of life changes. Severe injuries also drive up the value of a truck accident claim, so insurance companies are more likely to dispute it and make lowball settlement offers.
Truck accident cases are also challenging because more than one entity may be responsible for the crash. Recovering the evidence needed to prove liability for every at-fault party takes time. Often, the most compelling evidence — like cell phone records, black box data, hours-of-service logs, and safety inspections — belongs to the truck driver or trucking company, making it difficult for the average person to obtain. A distracted driving truck accident lawyer can subpoena the evidence it takes to build a substantial claim.
At Kendall Law Firm, we will work diligently to establish that the truck driver’s inattention caused the crash that injured you. It takes compelling evidence to show that a driver was distracted precisely at the moment of the crash, but our legal team has what it takes to build a solid case and demand maximum compensation for you.
What Is Distracted Driving?
Distracted driving happens when anything takes a driver’s attention, hands, or eyes away from the safe operation of their vehicle. Some distracted truck drivers may be doing nothing worse than communicating with their employers through some sort of dispatching device. It only takes a second of inattention to cause a life-altering crash.
Dangers of Distracted Driving with Commercial Trucks
A study from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) highlights the hazards of distracted truck driving. Researchers found that truck drivers take their eyes off the road for just 4.6 seconds to read a text message. At 55 miles per hour, a tractor-trailer can travel the length of a football field during that time. That is an enormous distance to travel without knowing what is happening around you.
Size and weight also make the dangers of truck distracted driving accidents even more pronounced. Fully loaded 18-wheelers can weigh as much as 80,000 pounds. When vehicles this heavy and powerful hit passenger vehicles, the toll on truck accident victims can be catastrophic. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that at least 72 percent of those killed in large-truck collisions are the occupants of other vehicles.
Common Causes of Truckers’ Distracted Driving
Long-haul commercial trucking can be a tedious and stressful job. Meeting tight deadlines and working long hours on boring stretches of road can tax drivers physically and mentally. Unfortunately, some truckers turn to diversions to get through boredom or save time. Common causes of distracted driving truck accidents often include:
- Talking on a cell phone
- Texting
- Watching videos
- Eating or drinking
- Using a GPS or navigation system
- Checking a paper map
- Talking to co-workers
- Listening to loud music
Who Is Legally Responsible for Distracted Driving Truck Accidents?
Establishing liability is one of the most challenging parts of any truck accident case. Although it is easy to blame the distracted truck driver, the trucking company may also bear partial liability for the crash if the driver is an employee. If the trucker is an independent contractor, your claim would be against the driver directly. Enlisting the help of an experienced attorney is the best way to determine who should be held responsible after a semi-truck accident.
How to Prove Distracted Driving Caused the Truck Crash
Proving that distracted driving caused a truck accident requires convincing evidence that the driver’s attention was somewhere else when the crash occurred. Uncovering evidence that the trucker was distracted often requires legal intervention to secure information such as black box data, dash camera video, and mobile phone records. Witness statements, police reports, and other information can also help support your truck accident case.
A skilled attorney has the resources to investigate the cause of the crash and collect and preserve evidence before it can be lost or destroyed. A distracted driver truck accident lawyer can also engage an accident reconstruction expert to analyze the accident scene for proof of the driver’s distraction. For example, the pattern of the skid marks could show the truck driver delayed braking in the moments before the collision.
Contact a Harrisonburg Truck Accident Lawyer for a Free Consultation
If a distracted truck driver hit you, you deserve full and fair compensation for your injuries and losses. Don’t go up against an insurance company or truck company alone. A Harrisonburg truck accident lawyer from Kendall Law Firm will demand maximum compensation for what you endured so you can rebuild your life.
We have a track record of obtaining multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements for truck accident victims in Virginia. Contact our firm today to arrange a free consultation.