Have you been injured in a commercial truck accident in Atlanta? If someone else’s negligence caused the collision, you deserve to seek compensation for your medical expenses, vehicle repairs, lost income, and pain and suffering. However, motor carriers and insurers will fight hard to avoid liability for your recovery expenses and other losses, and going up against them on your own could mean walking away with nothing.
Let the skilled Atlanta truck accident lawyers at Bayuk Pratt help you stand up to insurers to demand justice for the harm you’ve suffered. Our truck accident law firm has a distinct edge in personal injury law: founding partners Frank Bayuk and Bradley Pratt previously worked as senior partners at some of the country’s most prestigious insurance defense law firms. They know how insurers defend against injury claims, and they use their knowledge and insight to give accident victims a critical advantage when pursuing compensation.
Let us put our talents, resources, and 50 years of combined experience to work on your truck accident injury case. Contact an Atlanta truck accident attorney today for a free initial case review to discuss your options for obtaining financial recovery and justice from a truck driver or trucking company.
Benefits of Hiring an Atlanta Attorney for Your Truck Accident Claim
The injuries you suffer in a truck accident may put you on a long path toward medical treatment and rehabilitation. You deserve to focus your time and energy on healing. Let the legal team at Bayuk Pratt handle the details of your claim while you work on putting your life back together after a devastating accident.
Our Atlanta truck accident law firm can help you seek financial recovery and justice by:
- Investigating the crash to obtain evidence showing who caused the accident
- Documenting your injuries and losses to persuasively argue for your right to maximum compensation
- Identifying liable parties and applicable insurance coverage
- Pursuing the financial resources you need and deserve, whether through a settlement or by taking your case to court to demand accountability for your losses
What to Do After a Truck Accident
When you’ve gotten into an accident with a semi-truck, 18-wheeler, big rig, or other kind of commercial truck, you can take steps to prepare for a legal claim to recover compensation for your injuries.
After a truck accident, you shoul:
- Reporting the accident to law enforcement and obtaining a copy of the police crash report
- Seeking prompt medical attention and following your treatment plan and recovery instructions
- Obtaining copies of your medical records
- Keeping all bills, invoices, and receipts for expenses you incur during your recovery
- Gathering your pay stubs or income statements if you need to take time off work or temporarily transfer to a part-time or light-duty position
- Notifying your car insurance provider about the accident
- Not posting anything about the accident to social media, as anything you post could be used against you by the other party’s insurer
Finally, remember to contact an Atlanta truck accident lawyer from Bayuk Pratt as soon as possible to discuss your legal options for recovering compensation. We can help you hold the truck company and insurers accountable.
How We Investigate Atlanta Truck Accident Cases
Determining the cause of a truck accident may require reviewing various trucking company records and physical evidence to find proof of fault for the crash.
At Bayuk Pratt, we build each truck accident case by relying on critical evidence such as:
- The truck driver’s hours-of-service logs
- Post-accident alcohol and drug test results
- The truck’s cargo manifest
- The truck’s event data recorder (“black box”) logs
- The truck’s inspection, maintenance, and repair records
- Post-trip inspection reports
- Post-accident truck inspections
- Police accident reports
- Accident scene photos and videos
- Eyewitness statements
- Surveillance and traffic camera footage
- Dashcam or in-cab camera footage
- GPS data
- Cell phone records
- Accident reconstruction or engineering expert reports and testimony
Why Trucking Accidents Are More Complicated Than Other Motor Vehicle Crashes
There are several reasons why you may find a truck accident claim more complicated than a claim involving another motor vehicle accident.
Truck accidents are complex because:
- You May Have Suffered a Severe Injury – Truck accident victims tend to suffer more severe injuries than people hurt in other auto accidents. As a result, truck accident cases may involve higher compensation due to the more intensive medical treatment needed for severe injuries.
- The Case May Involve Complex Evidence – Identifying a truck accident’s cause(s) may require reviewing trucking company records or computer logs.
- Multiple Parties May Bear Liability for Your Injuries – Resolving a truck accident claim may become more complicated if the case involves multiple liable parties, as those parties may contest their share of financial responsibility for your injuries.
- Trucking Companies May Have Complex Insurance Coverage – Truck accident victims may struggle to evaluate settlement offers since trucking companies use complex, layered insurance policies that make it difficult to calculate the available insurance coverage.
Compensation You Could Recover in an Atlanta Truck Accident Claim
After suffering injuries in a truck accident, you can pursue financial recovery for ongoing and future expenses or losses you incur during your recovery.
A successful truck accident claim can provide you with compensation for your:
- Medical treatment and rehabilitation
- Long-term disability care and replacement services, such as housekeeping or childcare
- Lost income, including reduced earning capacity and lost employment benefits after becoming disabled from work
- Lost quality of life due to disabilities or permanent scarring or disfigurement
- Car repairs or reimbursement of your car’s value if the collision totaled it
Further, the family of a person killed in a fatal truck accident may have the right to recover compensation for losses such as:
- Lost income and benefits the decedent would have earned
- Loss of the decedent’s care, companionship, and counsel
- Final medical expenses
- Funeral and burial expenses
