Glastonbury Truck Accident Attorney

Trucks and truck drivers ensure that essential supplies get to where they need to go. Unfortunately, when tired and overworked drivers are forced to hit the road, everyone is at risk. If you happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, or are involved in an accident involving a truck, you may find yourself in need of a Glastonbury truck accident lawyer’s services.

The odds of you walking away from a truck accident in Glastonbury, CT, without any injuries are low. You will likely need to take legal action to recoup compensation for your injuries. Learn more about truck accident injuries and other related topics by going through the rest of this article.

What to Do Following a Truck Accident in Hartford County

You may find yourself disoriented following your involvement in the truck accident in Hartford County, CT. At that point, you may be at a loss regarding what to do. No matter what, you must avoid panicking in that scenario.

Take a deep breath to regain your bearings. After that, you will need to do a few things to make your ordeal more manageable. Our Glastonbury truck accident attorney’s have detailed the important things you must do below.

Examine Yourself and Your Passengers for Injuries: Car accidents are devastating incidents that can leave the people involved hurting and hobbling. Replace one of the vehicles involved in that accident with a truck and imagine how worse things could get. There is a good chance you have sustained some significant injuries from the crash.

Examine yourself and look for any injuries. Do the same thing for your passengers. If you are too hurt to do that, you should proceed immediately to the next step.

Dial 911: Calling 911 is a must immediately after the truck accident. Ask the dispatcher to send emergency responders to the scene right away if someone in your vehicle is hurt. Even if no one received injuries, you should still call 911 and request police presence at the accident site.

Obtain the Truck Driver’s Information: If you can walk around following the accident, you should approach the driver and ask for their name, contact details, and insurance information. Do not forget to write down their plate number as well.

While you are at it, you should also ask the truck driver about their employer. You should specifically ask about their employer’s contact details. Reaching out to them later may be necessary, so it would be best to have that information now.

Avoid Accepting Any Blame: During your talk with the truck driver, they may attempt to heap some of the blame for the accident onto you. Do not allow them to do that and do not even acknowledge their efforts. If you already have their information, you can cut the conversation short and tell them that you and your truck accident lawyer in Glastonbury, CT, will get in touch if you need something else.

Collect Pieces of Evidence: Next, you can leave your vehicle and start looking for evidence at the scene of the accident. Take pictures of your vehicle, the truck, and the surrounding area so you have proof of what happened. You should also speak to any witnesses present, ask for their statements, and then write down their contact details so you can reach them later.

Share What Happened to the Police: At this point, the police officers should already be at the scene. As soon as they arrive, you can start telling them about the accident from your perspective. Make sure that they hear your version of the events because the truck driver will likely provide theirs as well.

This is also a good time to hand over any pieces of evidence you collected. The police officers can use the evidence you provide as they put together their reports. Remember to ask for the contact details of the police officers so you can ask for a copy of the report when it is ready.

Head to the Doctor: Some of the injuries you may sustain from a truck accident can have permanent effects on you. Understand the reality of your condition right away by going to the doctor. We will get to the injuries truck accidents commonly cause a bit later in this article.

Partner with a Truck Accident Attorney in Glastonbury: Suing the truck driver and the company may be the only way for you to obtain the compensation that is rightfully yours. Hire an experienced attorney before filing your lawsuit so you can be confident about what you are doing and make the legal battle easier to manage.

What Does a Glastonbury Truck Accident Lawyer Do?

Glastonbury residents involved in truck accidents should strongly consider hiring legal representation. Hiring a Glastonbury truck accident lawyer to help in your accident case can make your life much easier. Some of the things a lawyer does includes:

Prove Your Version of the Events

Before long, the truck driver and their employer may put out a retelling of the accident that absolves them and passes the blame onto you. Deploying that tactic may be the only thing they can do to avoid liability in your case. You can rely on your lawyer to refute those claims.

With evidence in hand, your attorney can put together an accurate retelling of what happened on that fateful night. They can prove that your testimony is truthful, and that is a gigantic step toward you winning the case.

Investigate the Accident

Currently, you may not have enough evidence to definitively prove that you are the one being truthful in your case. Your Glastonbury truck accident attorney can change that. They can investigate your case and collect additional pieces of evidence that will bolster your lawsuit.

Negotiate with the Other Side

Many personal injury lawsuits get settled before they ever reach the courtroom. After finally admitting they are responsible for the accident, the other side may be open to negotiating a settlement. Leave those negotiations up to your lawyer. A good lawyer will land you a solid settlement that you only need to sign off on it.

Offer Legal Representation

Not all defendants will admit blame even if doing so will benefit them. They would prefer to take the matter to court in a last-ditch effort to turn things around. Even if things reach that point, you can stay confident because your lawyer will be there to represent you.

Common Causes of Truck Accidents in Connecticut

Truck accidents that occur in and around Hartford County are hard to miss. Often, the accident sites turn into spectacles for passing motorists. Those disastrous crashes can happen for different reasons. We have detailed some of the more common causes in the following section.

Driver Fatigue: Regulations currently in place dictate that truck drivers should only be on the road for 11 hours at a time. Per this article from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, many truck drivers routinely stay on the road well past that time limit.

Driving for over 11 hours straight can be exhausting for anyone. Even experienced truck drivers will feel fatigued from being on the road that long, which makes them more susceptible to committing mistakes.

Distracted Driving: Truck drivers go on long journeys frequently and experience those trips solo most of the time. To combat boredom and isolation, they may listen to songs or start using their phone.

Distracted truck drivers can be dangerous. Once they take their eyes off the road, all kinds of disastrous events could occur.

Aggressive Driving: Aggressive driving is not something truck drivers should engage in. When truck drivers ignore the speed limit or follow other vehicles too closely, they endanger everyone around them. Drivers must ignore those impulses behind the wheel.

Improperly Set Cargo: Improper arrangement of cargo can also lead to accidents taking place. Trucking companies must take all the necessary precautions while loading cargo or they run the risk of causing an accident.

Types of Truck Accident Injuries

The devastating potential of a truck accident dwarfs that of a typical car crash. You can tell as much from the severity of the injuries you may sustain following a truck accident. Highlighted below are some of the common injuries that truck accidents are known to cause.

• Broken Bones: If a large truck rams into your standard-sized car, your body can get twisted in all sorts of ways. That is why broken bones are par for the course when it comes to truck accidents. Your back, neck, and extremities are especially vulnerable during those crashes.
• Brain Injuries: The impact generated by a truck as it hits your car may be strong enough to propel your head into the side window or the dashboard. Once that happens, you may sustain a serious brain injury. Immediate treatment would be necessary if you suffered a brain injury due to the accident.
• Death: All types of vehicle accidents are deadly, but the ones involving trucks are especially frightening in that regard. According to the National Safety Council, 71% of the people who died in truck accidents back in 2020 were the occupants of other vehicles. If your loved one passed away because of the injuries they sustained from a truck accident, you may be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the negligent parties.

Do I Need to Hire a Glastonbury Truck Accident Attorney?

How important is it to hire a truck accident attorney in Glastonbury? That is a question you may be asking yourself in the wake of your accident. You may figure that working with a legal representative is not necessary because the facts of your case already speak for themselves.

While that line of thinking is understandable, it also underestimates the capabilities of truck companies. Truck companies will not hesitate to use aggressive defense lawyers to avoid making a hefty payout. You may be unprepared for that, and your inexperience will make you more susceptible to committing a costly mistake.

Working with a truck accident lawyer in Glastonbury, CT, is also a must to ensure that you receive adequate compensation. If you cannot highlight the facts of your case properly, you may not justify your claims to the court. Even if they ultimately deem the other side responsible for the accident, they may only obligate them to provide a small payout. You need to get a lawyer to prevent that kind of thing from happening.

Determining Responsibility in a Semi-Truck Accident

Who is to blame for the truck accident? Answering that question will be crucial if you plan to sue for compensation. You may be surprised to learn there are several parties you can hold responsible for that tragic occurrence, so let’s discuss them in greater detail.

• The Truck Driver: Let’s start by discussing the truck driver’s role in the accident. They may be the ones who should accept the bulk of the blame if they were driving aggressively or distracted prior to the crash. The evidence accumulated during the investigation should reveal if the truck driver is the one who truly deserves the blame.
• The Truck Company: Truck companies may also be responsible for accidents if they force their drivers to work grueling and illegal schedules. Those companies will also have to bear responsibility if they fail to maintain their vehicles properly.
• The Partner Company: You can also blame one of the partner businesses of the trucking company if the incident in question occurred due to improper loading. The people who loaded the cargo may not have followed safety precautions while doing so. That could have led to the cargo rolling off the truck and causing mayhem on the road.
• The Other Motorist: Motorists who share the road with truck drivers are not absolved from blame if an accident occurs. You are to exercise caution when you are driving near a truck. Failing to exercise that proper level of caution could lead to an accident.

Experienced Attorneys in Glastonbury, Connecticut

Increase the odds of your truck accident lawsuit being successful by working with an experienced truck accident attorney in Glastonbury. Here at Hassett & George, P.C., we have the expertise and skills to handle your case. Contact us today and let us work together on your lawsuit.

In addition to Glastonbury, some of the other locations our law firm serves includes Simsbury, Hartford, Bridgeport, New Britain, Waterbury, and the surrounding areas.