Dayton Truck Accident Lawyer

Truck accidents can have devastating consequences for all involved, often resulting in serious injuries or fatalities due to the massive size and weight of commercial vehicles. In Dayton, victims of truck accidents need a legal team that specializes in these complex cases, understanding the regulations governing the trucking industry and the dynamics of such collisions. The Dayton Personal Injury Lawyers at The Fitch Law Firm LLC are experienced in confronting these challenges head-on, committed to securing the maximum compensation and justice for our clients.

The path to recovery after a truck accident can be long and fraught with obstacles, from dealing with extensive medical treatments and rehabilitation to navigating the financial impact of lost wages and mounting bills. Victims need to have access to skilled legal representation that can effectively manage their claims against powerful trucking companies and their insurers. Call The Fitch Law Firm LLC for your free consultation.

Our Lawyers Get Results for Truck Accident Victims in Dayton

We have three decades’ worth of experience handling personal injury cases involving motor vehicle crashes. For example, some of our top case results for truck accident claims include:

• A $ 5,000,000 settlement in a wrongful death case
• A $1,150,000 settlement for a victim who suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) from a truck accident
• A $1,000,000 settlement for a victim who suffered a TBI resulting from a truck collision

We’ll work to get you the settlement or court award to which you’re entitled. It’s the least we can do after you or a loved one suffered a truck accident.

Potentially Recoverable Damages in Dayton Truck Accident Cases

The value of your truck accident case will largely be determined by your physical, financial, mental, and overall suffering. If the other driver in the crash is found liable for the truck accident, they may be held accountable for any economic and non-economic damages their negligence caused you to experience.

Our legal team will review your case to determine which compensatory damages you may qualify to claim in your case. We can also collect evidence to assign financial value to your damages, which may involve retrieving medical invoices, tax information, and testimony from economists or vocational rehabilitation experts.

You can count on us to accurately calculate your damages and pursue them from the liable party.

Common Types of Damages You Might Recover

Examples of some types of recoverable damages in truck accident cases include:

• Medical bills related to treatment and recovery (past and future)
• Lost income and benefits (past and future)
• Pain and suffering
• Mental anguish
• Diminished quality of life
• Property damage costs, such as those to repair a vehicle or purchase a new one if it is beyond repair
• Reduced earning potential
• Damages related to living with a permanent disability or physical disfigurement, including amputation or burn scars

This list does not cover all the damages you might recover in your truck accident case. Our lawyers will review the losses you have sustained and construct a demand letter for the insurance company showing the amount we seek on your behalf.

Surviving Families May Qualify to Pursue Damages for a Deceased Loved One

If your loved one was unable to survive their injuries in a truck accident, you may qualify to file a wrongful death claim or lawsuit on their behalf and recover compensation. Unfortunately, when large vehicles like trucks are involved in accidents, the risk of fatality increases.

We understand financial compensation cannot replace your loved one. However, this money can serve as a practical step toward dealing with the aftermath of their death. Our legal team will guide you throughout your legal journey and serve your interests. In our pursuit of compensation, we may recover damages such as:

• Funeral arrangement costs
• Loss of consortium
• Loss of parental guidance
• Loss of inheritance
• Loss of love, affection, and companionship
• Loss of financial support or inheritance
• Medical debts inherited by the decedent

Coping with a loved one’s death can be emotional, which is why we offer to manage your case for you. This arrangement can give you space to deal with personal matters while still receiving updates about your case from our team.

Identifying the Liable Party After a Truck Crash

If an individual’s or entity’s negligence caused your collision with a big rig or 18-wheeler, that party can be held liable for any losses and pain and suffering you have had to endure since the accident. Truck accidents are complex. This makes identifying all the negligent parties a complicated process.

Other Parties Besides the Truck Driver May Share Liability for the Dayton, OH Accident

A court could hold other parties liable for your damages even if a truck driver’s behavior causes an accident. The trucking company, for example, may be held vicariously liable for anything their drivers do in the course of their work.

If the employer pressured the driver to work beyond the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)’s required hours of service, this violation only deepens the carrier’s level of negligence.

Other parties may be listed as liable in truck accident cases, such as:

• A shipper or loader if cargo shifted en route, causing the truck operator to lose control of the vehicle
• A service provider that failed to properly maintain the truck, causing it to malfunction
• A manufacturer that supplied defective brakes, tires, or other parts that contributed to the accident
• A municipality that failed to repair poor conditions on the road, such as potholes or snow/ice on the road
• A third-party driver who crashed into the truck, causing a multi-vehicle pileup that injured you in the process

Our Dayton truck accident attorneys can investigate the facts surrounding your case to identify which party or parties may be held liable for your damages. If multiple liable parties exist, your attorney may suggest filing multiple actions to pursue compensation.

Truck Accident Attorneys Get Paid on a Contingency Fee Basis

When you hire a truck accident lawyer, you don’t have to worry about paying an expensive fee upfront or getting charged a high hourly rate. Truck accident attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, which means that their fee is based entirely upon the compensation they are able to recover on your behalf.

Should your attorney succeed in getting you compensation, their fee will be assessed as a fixed percentage of the money you recover. On the other hand, failure to get you paid will result in your attorney not collecting a fee for their services.

This setup both permits all accident victims to hire representation and ensures that truck accident lawyers will do everything in their power to secure as much money for their clients as possible.

Getting an Early Start Before Ohio’s Statute of Limitations Expires

Our legal team will immediately get to work investigating your truck crash. We will gather evidence to support your claim of negligence, causation, and damages. This may take a long time. Ohio’s statute of limitations, Ohio Revised Code Section 2305.10, in general, gives you two years from the date of your truck accident to file a lawsuit.

You also have two years to file a wrongful death action, per Ohio Revised Code Section 2125.02. Although most personal injury cases never make it to trial, if the insurance company refuses to agree to a fair settlement, we may want the option of filing in civil court. The earlier we begin on your case, the more time we have to meet this important deadline.

A Dayton truck accident lawyer at our firm will work to build a case from the day we begin working together. Failure to file a civil suit by the legal deadline could be a forfeiture of your rights to compensation. There are some exceptions, so we recommend speaking to an attorney as soon as possible to determine if there are any that may apply to your truck accident in Ohio.

Don’t Trust the Insurance Company

Insurance companies will go to great lengths to deny or devalue a claim. Despite the persona they attempt to create in their ads as a friendly, helpful neighbor, these companies are far more concerned with money than they are with the well-being of accident victims.

The best way to protect yourself against the predatory practices used by these companies is to hire a Dayton truck accident lawyer shortly after your crash. Your attorney will take over all communications with these companies, forcing them to play fair.

How Your Truck Accident Happened Can Affect Your Compensation

Negligence on Dayton’s roadways is all too common, with most truck accidents being caused by drivers who fail to uphold safe driving practices. Driving under the influence, speeding, and other common forms of negligence can change a victim’s life in an instant.

Truck Driver Behaviors that Lead to Collisions

While factors like driver intoxication do play a role in some truck accidents, the most common acts of driver negligence include but may not be limited to:

• Driver distraction
• Driver fatigue
• Reckless driving
• Driving too fast for weather conditions

Driver Distraction

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there are numerous ways to become distracted while driving, especially when it comes to big rig truck drivers who drive for long periods. Forms of distraction include texting behind the wheel, tuning the radio, eating, and generally “spacing out” to their surroundings.

Driver Fatigue

This condition causes drivers to lose their motor functions and delays their reaction times. You do not have to be asleep at the wheel to be found liable for an accident due to driver fatigue. Simply being sleepy can cause a driver to violate the rules of the road and put other lives at risk.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), fatigue contributes to 30% to 40% of all heavy truck accidents. A truck driver’s duties and lifestyle lend themselves readily to exhaustion and diet deficiency, which increase the fatigue drivers may feel. Causes of driver fatigue include:

• Irregular schedules
• Driving for long periods at night
• Insufficient nutrition due to on-the-go eating
• Lifting heavy items while loading and unloading cargo

The U.S. government put federal hours of service regulations in place to reduce the number of fatigued truck drivers on the road and improve safety for everyone. These regulations restrict how long a driver can travel during a single stretch and the number of driving hours they can log each week. It also requires drivers to rest for a certain amount of time between shifts.

Reckless Driving

This behavior includes any dangerous act committed on the road where truck drivers disregard the safety of others. Examples of reckless driving include making dangerous turns at high speeds, driving on the shoulder of the road, attempting to make illegal passes and other forms of aggressive driving like tailgating.

Driving Too Fast for Weather Conditions

During Dayton winters, large trucks often carry a tremendous amount of weight and may need extra time to compensate for sudden changes on the road. This compensation becomes much harder when the roads are already slick or damaged by the weather.

Our attorneys may conduct a separate investigation to determine which causal factors led to your truck accident. This may involve reviewing the official crash report and notes written down by the reporting officer, contacting eyewitnesses who can confirm details about the accident, and even consulting accident reconstruction experts.

We may also file motions to retrieve information from the trucking company.

Why Work With Us on a Dayton Truck Accident Case?

Our Ohio-based legal team has more than 30 years of experience. Throughout this time, we have honed our ability to build a compelling case. We protect our clients’ interests in every case. If you choose us to represent you, we will demand fair and full compensation for all your injuries and losses under the law.

Unfortunately, legal reforms have been enacted in Ohio in the past two decades that have encroached on a victim’s ability to recover everything they may be entitled to receive. That’s why it’s all the more important to seek legal help from a lawyer who has experience with injury cases.

Our injury lawyers have won millions of dollars in settlements and court verdicts for clients seeking justice. We work hard to manage every aspect of your Dayton commercial truck injury case, including:

• Keeping you updated on your case’s developments and explaining all laws that apply to your case
• Handling necessary case paperwork
• Managing communications with other parties, including insurance companies
• Collecting evidence to prove the other party is at fault or liable for the accident
• Compiling documentation indicating losses (bills, medical records, etc.)
• Securing expert testimony to support your case, such as that from an accident reconstructionist, independent medical professional, etc.
• Negotiating a proper settlement
• Filing your personal injury lawsuit in court
• Advocating for you at trial, if necessary

Common Injuries in Dayton Semi-Truck Accidents

Passenger vehicles struck by an 18-wheeler or other large truck suffer devastating consequences. The size and weight of the semi-truck and the inability of the driver to stop quickly increase the chances of serious bodily harm and fatalities. Common injuries that a commercial truck accident can lead to include:

• Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
• Fractured or broken bones
• Neck and back injuries, such as herniated discs
• Paralysis and other neurological damage
• Wrongful death

Dealing with complex legal matters on top of suffering a severe injury or taking care of a loved one who is suffering is a burden you shouldn’t bear alone. Our attorney will work tirelessly, so you don’t have to.

Our Dayton Truck Accident Attorneys Do Not Shy Away from Tough Cases

Here at The Fitch Law Firm LLC, we want victims to know that our Dayton truck accident lawyers will always be there to walk them through the legal process. We understand that legal proceedings can be complex and difficult during this time after an accident. We will gladly handle all aspects of your legal case. You deserve to take this time to recover.

Call Now for a Free Consultation

For more information about how we can help fight for a victim’s rights, call The Fitch Law Firm LLC today for a free consultation. A compassionate team member is standing by to learn your case’s details, discuss your options with you, and determine the best route for your case.

You can depend on our team to fight for the best possible outcome for you. You worry about your health and well-being; we take care of everything else.