Our law firm helps clients and families injured in traffic and other accidents. Much of the time, personal injury actions settle outside of the courtroom. Sometimes they do not. With complicated matters, such as in a collision involving a truck and an automobile, litigation is usually the best way to get results.
According to figures released in November by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there was a 3.7 percent jump in the number of people killed in large truck accidents across the country last year.
Unlike passenger car accidents, collisions with tractor-trailer are more complicated, requiring thorough investigation into factors that include:
- Identification of parties: In addition to the operator of a vehicle, parties to a truck accident could include the trucking company, manufacturer, maintenance staff or loading crew.
- Regulations: Recently revised regulations limit the number of hours a long-haul truck driver can operate a truck during a work week. Logs and on-board data recorders reveal hours of operation and other information necessary to determine a regulatory violation.
- Accident cause: Was the driver fatigued or distracted? Was there an equipment malfunction or was the cause of the accident driver error? The underlying cause of a truck accident can sometimes be attributed to more than one factor.
It is the hope of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA) that revised hours of service reduce the number of truck accident fatalities. Until that time, if injured in a truck accident in Lancaster, PA, talk to an attorney with our firm for experienced legal counsel.
