How Can Negligence Laws Affect Your Truck Accident Claim?

 Posted on August 06, 2024 in Truck Accidents

Truck accidents can cause extremely serious injuries and property damage. You probably know you might be able to collect compensation from the responsible party if you are injured in a collision caused by someone else, but what if the accident is partially your fault? Can you still get a settlement?

Large truck collision claims are usually complicated regardless of the circumstances, but adding your fault to the situation makes it even more complex. Fortunately, the personal injury attorneys at Mannarino & Brasfield, A Division of Schwartz Jambois, can successfully handle complex cases, including investigations and negotiations, for an optimal resolution.

What Is Negligence?

As a legal term, negligence means not doing what a reasonable person would do in the same circumstances. To prove that someone is negligent, you need evidence that shows:

• Someone owed you a duty of care.

• That party breached their duty of care.

• The breach directly caused an injury.

• You suffered damages and other losses as a result.

When it comes to driving, drivers have a legal duty to use appropriate care to avoid causing harm to others. That means drivers should pay attention to traffic, follow traffic signs and signals, comply with traffic laws, avoid driving when under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or fatigue, and other similar requirements.

What If You Share the Blame for Causing Your Truck Accident?

More than one driver often contributes to causing a collision. Every state has negligence laws that determine who can seek compensation from other at-fault parties and how much they can receive. Illinois uses modified comparative negligence in these cases. If you are less than 51 percent responsible for causing your truck accident, you can seek compensation. However, your payout amount will be reduced by your assigned percentage of fault.

How Can Liable Insurance Companies Use Your Negligence Against You?

Colliding with a truck can leave you with catastrophic injuries that require extensive medical treatments and a long recovery period. You will likely miss a lot of work, and your vehicle may need to be replaced. In addition, these devastating crashes can have a significant impact on your quality of life. Because of this, settlement amounts for truck accident cases are often very high.

The problem is that insurance companies do not want to pay you fairly. Instead, they often use different tactics and strategies to reduce what they owe. Accusing you of more than your fair share of fault is one of their favorites because it can reduce your payout or even make you ineligible to receive any compensation at all.

When trucks and cars collide, the occupants of passenger vehicles do not stand a chance against the truck’s massive size and weight. Even if you are partly responsible for causing your truck accident, you deserve compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, property damage, and other associated losses.

You may not have the resources or legal knowledge to successfully dispute an unreasonable share of fault that is assigned to you. Ensuring that your percentage of fault is accurate is one of the most important tasks your truck accident lawyer from Mannarino & Brasfield, A Division of Schwartz Jambois, does. We refuse to let insurers take advantage of you.

Contact Our Experienced Rockford, IL Truck Accident Lawyers Today

When you are injured in a truck accident, you need results, not excuses. At Mannarino & Brasfield, A Division of Schwartz Jambois, we have a proven track record of obtaining millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements. If you need a competent Winnebago County, IL truck accident attorney, look no further.

Call us at 815-215-7561 today to request your free consultation. You will not pay upfront fees because we only collect them if we win your case.