Detroit Truck Accident Lawyer: Call Our Semi Truck Accident Attorneys Now!
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The Best Truck Accident Lawyers In Detroit Are At Michigan Auto Law
An experienced truck accident lawyer is who you need when you or a loved one has been injured by a semi truck crash in Detroit, MI. An experienced personal injury attorney who specializes in trucking can help you recover the full compensation and money damages you’re entitled to.
Fortunately, there is no lawyer or law firm more experienced than Michigan Auto Law when it comes to handling Detroit semi truck accident cases. Our law firm has recovered the largest trial verdict for a truck crash in Wayne County Circuit Court more times than any other law firm in Michigan, as well as the largest truck crash settlement of any attorney or law firm in Michigan. We are the only law firm in the state that has a board certification in truck crash law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, which is the highest designation of skill and experience available, and one of our attorneys, Steven Gursten, is a past-president of the American Association for Justice Truck Accident Litigation Group, and has been one of only three attorneys in the entire country to be awarded the Truck Accident Lawyer Hall of Fame Award (out of approximately 110,000 attorneys in the country who say they handle semi truck crash cases). Get the maximum settlement possible in your case. Get all of the No-Fault benefits the law entitles you so you can pay your medical bills and continue to support your family. Our Detroit truck accident lawyers prevent the trucking company from destroying the evidence you will need to fully uncover all their acts of truck accident negligence. Most importantly, our attorneys make sure that all of the responsible parties are held fully accountable for all of the losses and harms you have suffered.
Talk to one of our experienced Detroit semi truck accident lawyers today to find how he or she can help you.
Use our settlement calculator to find out how much your case may be worth.
Over 2,000 5-Star Reviews
The attorneys at Michigan Auto Law always provide personalized, caring attention to our clients. We have received over 2,000 five-star reviews because we are willing to work harder to keep our clients informed throughout the case process, answering every question promptly and doing everything we can to make the challenging time surrounding an injury after an automobile crash easier for the victim and their loved ones. If you are injured in a semi truck crash in Detroit, call our truck accident lawyers now for a free consultation. We are here to help.
What should I do after a truck accident in Detroit?
After a Detroit truck accident, you should do the following: (1) seek medical attention for yourself; (2) seek medical attention for others; (3) move to a safe area if possible; (4) call 911; (5) document the scene; (6) get witness information; (7) get the truck driver’s license and insurance information; and (8) hire an experienced and specialized truck accident lawyer for your Detroit semi truck crash case.
Why do I need a lawyer for a truck accident in Detroit?
You need an experienced truck accident lawyer after a semi truck crash in Detroit because these cases are more sophisticated and far more difficult than car crash cases. The problem is how few personal injury attorneys truly understand trucking. Most treat these as car crash cases but with bigger insurance policy limits, but they don’t understand trucking law and the federal and state rules and regulations that make these cases different. There can be multiple defendants and hidden layers of insurance. There can be broker-shipper liability.
The sad truth is that while there are plenty of lawyers on TV and on billboards throughout Metro Detroit who advertise for truck accident cases, most have no experience and knowledge on how to litigate these cases.
Lawyers in Detroit can advertise for truck accident cases, but that certainly doesn’t mean they know how to properly handle them. Don’t let you or your loved ones pay for their mistakes.
How can an experienced truck accident lawyer help after a crash in Detroit?
An attorney who specializes in trucking litigation can help: (1) get bigger settlements, faster; (2) stop the trucking company from destroying key evidence once the mandatory retention periods have passed; (3) identify the key safety violations that led to your crash; (4) find the top experts to prove the various aspects of your case; (5) identify and hold all responsible parties fully accountable; and (6) stop the trucking company and its attorneys from sweeping acts of negligence under the rug by admitting negligence.
Here is more information about how an experienced Detroit semi truck accident lawyer can help:
- Bigger settlements in less time – An inexperienced personal injury attorney who doesn’t specialize in this area of the law can and will miss the crucial federal and state safety violations and will fail to identify all of the negligent parties – and all of the insurance coverage. This means your settlement will end up far less than it should have been. But an attorney who understands trucking can maximize settlement results. The insurance industry’s own research shows that settlement amounts can be up to 4x greater when crash victims are represented by skilled, experienced attorneys who have a track record and a reputation for obtaining favorable settlements and trial verdicts.
- Stop the trucking company from destroying key evidence – Motor carriers can and will legally destroy evidence that will prove your negligence case if they are not specifically asked to preserve the evidence within a certain amount of time once the retention period has expired. This can be as soon as 90 and 120 days after your crash, depending on what federal motor carrier regulations are at issue. Once that time has come and gone, so will your evidence as it heads to the shredder. An experienced truck accident lawyer will serve the necessary “preservation of evidence/spoliation” letters on the trucking company or can go to court to file temporary restraining orders to preserve this evidence that you will need to prove your Detroit semi truck crash case.
- Show where trucks and trucking companies have violated federal and state safety regulations – Your attorney’s extensive knowledge with the federal and state safety regulations that apply to trucks will allow you to identify every violation that led to your crash. When most truck crashes occur, in Motown or anywhere else in Michigan, are not random, unforeseeable acts. These are usually the results of broken safety systems that make these crashes not only foreseeable but even sadly predictable. The time and the place and the unfortunate person injured or killed may be by chance, but broken safety systems, unfit and unsafe drivers with terrible driving records, and little or no supervision, monitoring, and training make these trucking crashes foreseeable.
- Recruit the nation’s top experts to join your legal team and help build your case – Our truck accident lawyers know the most commonly used experts in truck crash cases in Detroit include: (1) accident reconstruction experts; (2) federal and state safety regulation experts; (3) driver training experts; (4) mechanics; (5) toxicologists who can speak to whether a driver was under the influence of alcohol, drugs, and/or prescription medication; and (6) life care planners who can explain to judges and juries what a crash victim’s life will be like going forward and what his or her medical needs will be.
- Make sure all of the responsible, negligent parties are held accountable and legally liable – This is not as easy as it may sound. Seldom are all of the defendants in a truck crash case readily identifiable from the start. The trucking companies and the corporations involved in the trucking industry create complex corporate entities so they can hide layers of insurance and assets. An inexperienced attorney won’t be able to find them in you Detroit semi truck crash case but an experienced and specialized truck accident lawyer will. Failure to identify and name a proper party as a defendant can mean the loss of millions of additional dollars in applicable insurance coverage that can be used to protect families when tragedy strikes.
- Access liability insurance coverage and assets to increase your settlement – Just as it is vitally important to identify all of the parties whose negligence caused a truck crash, it is equally important to identify all of the financial resources that those parties have available to contribute to a settlement amount that reflects the true value of your case. Your Detroit semi truck accident lawyer will discover not only the insurance policies that the defendants readily admit, but also the corporate and umbrella policies that they try to hide. Your attorney will also do asset checks on the defendant – many of whom are well-heeled corporations – to verify their ability to contribute to a settlement or trial verdict that exceeds their insurance coverage limits.
Types of compensation after a truck crash
After a truck crash, you, a loved one or your family may be able to recover compensation for: (1) pain and suffering; (2) current and future medical expenses; (3) current and future lost wages; and (4) wrongful death damages including lost financial support and loss of your loved one’s society and companionship.
To recover these types of compensation, under Michigan law you will need an experienced and specialized truck accident lawyer to be able to prove that the truck driver and any other responsible parties acted negligently and that their negligence caused the crash in Detroit that resulted in your injuries.
In the case of pain and suffering compensation, Michigan law will also require that you prove that your injuries caused you to suffer a “serious impairment of body function,” which means that your injuries have affected your general ability to live the “normal” life you were living before the crash.
Who can be held liable after a truck crash?
The parties that can be held legally liable after a truck crash are those whose negligence led directly to the crash or played a causal role in the crash. This will always include the truck driver, but it can include: (1) the truck broker or shipper; (2) the trucking company; (3) the owner of the tractor and trailer; (4) the maintenance company; (5) the loading company; and (6) the shipping company.
How long do I have to sue for a truck accident in Detroit?
You have three (3) years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit for pain and suffering compensation and money damages. This is Michigan’s statute of limitations for all truck accident lawsuits, MCL 600.5805(2).
If you don’t file your lawsuit on time, you will lose all of your legal rights to sue the responsible parties and to hold them accountable for injuries, harms and/or deaths that their negligence has caused.
What types of evidence can be used in a lawsuit?
The types of evidence that can be used to prove your truck crash lawsuit include:
- Police reports
- Photos of the crash scene
- Surveillance video or dash cam video of the crash
- Witness statements
- Expert opinions
- Medical records
- The truck driver’s electronic logging device (ELD) data which tracks the driver’s “hours-of-service,” i.e., the hours that he or she been driving and the hours that he or she has rested
- The “black box” or “electronic control modules” (ECMs) data which record data about the truck’s operation such as speed and braking
- The truck’s vehicle maintenance and inspection records
- The trucking company’s employee file for the truck driver
- The results of a post-crash toxicology test to determine if the truck driver was under the influence of alcohol, drugs and/or prescription medication
- Cell phone records from the truck driver and the trucking company
- The truck driver’s and trucking company’s records of safety violations
Common causes
The common causes of truck crashes include:
- Speeding
- Fatigued driving
- Distracted driving
- Impaired driving (alcohol, drugs and/or prescription medication)
- Reckless driving
- Careless driving
- Violation of traffic laws
- Disregarding traffic signals
- Failure to use the ordinary care that a reasonably careful driver would use
- Following too closely
- Mechanical malfunction issues due to improper or inadequate inspection, maintenance and repair
- Failure to adjust to dangerous road conditions
- Failure to safely monitor and account for blind spots
- Cargo issues due to overloading and/or improper loading of cargo
- The trucking company’s negligent hiring, training and retention of unsafe truck drivers
- Trucking companies forcing unsafe trucks that should be kept out-of-service back onto the roads
Common injuries
Injuries that frequently result from truck crashes include:
- Neck Injuries including disc herniations
- Back Injuries including disc herniations
- Head Injuries including traumatic brain injuries, concussions, and brain bleeds
- Fractures, broken bones and dislocations
- Spinal cord injuries which can result in temporary or permanent paralysis
- Injuries to internal organs
- Internal bleeding
- Burn injuries
- Amputations
- Crush injuries
- Nerve damage
- Paralysis
- Lacerations
- Emotional trauma
- Psychological trauma
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Wrongful death
More Detroit Truck Accident Lawyer FAQs
Can I still seek compensation if I was partially at fault for the crash?
You can still seek compensation if you were partially at fault for the crash so long as you were not more than 50% at-fault. Under Michigan’s comparative fault rule, a crash victim’s compensation will be reduced by the percentage of his or her comparative fault for the crash.
Only if the crash victim is “more than 50% at fault” for a truck crash will the comparative fault rule completely eliminate the victim’s ability to recover any compensation.
Should I give a statement to the insurance company’s adjuster?
Our Detroit truck accident lawyers recommend that you don’t give statements to insurers or adjusters and never sign releases or documents presented by insurance claims adjusters until you have talked with an attorney first. You can tell the insurance adjuster that you will talk, but only after you’ve consulted with your attorney.
After a truck accident in Detroit, our lawyers know it is common for the trucking company’s insurer to request a statement from you. It is crucial to approach this situation with extreme caution. The insurance adjuster’s goal is to protect the insurance company and keep to a minimum the amount of compensation or benefits it must pay out on behalf of its insured whose negligence caused your truck crash. As much as he or she can, the adjuster will want to get you to make statements that limit or eliminate the truck company’s liability and, thus, the insurance company’s obligation to pay you compensation and money damages for your injuries, pain and suffering, and damages.
Ultimately, it is important that you cooperate with your own insurance company to collect your auto No-Fault insurance benefits (also known as PIP benefits). It’s also one of the contractual terms in your own auto policy. But your duty to cooperate with YOUR insurance company does not extend to the insurance company that insures the truck that caused your crash, and even with your own insurance company this duty to cooperate does not in any way prohibit you from seeking the advice and counsel of a lawyer first.
The insurance company has its attorneys who look out for the insurer’s best interests.
After a semi truck crash in Detroit, you are entitled to have a truck accident lawyer who is looking out for your best interests as well.
How much does a truck accident lawyer cost in Detroit?
There is no upfront cost to hire a truck accident lawyer for your Detroit semi truck crash case . You will not be asked to pay anything while your case is pending. Only after your case has been resolved and we’ve recovered a winning settlement or trial verdict for you will we ask you to pay our 1/3 contingency fee.
This means that the attorney fee you pay is a percentage – 33% – of the amount that we recover for you.
In other words, you don’t have to pay a fee unless we win for you.
How to choose the best truck accident lawyer for a crash in Detroit?
To get the best truck accident lawyer for your Detroit semi truck crash case, pick an attorney who has these qualities: (1) specialized experience; (2) a proven record of winning settlements and trial verdicts for victims like you; (3) respect, compassion and patience with clients; and (4) a fair and reasonable fee structure.
Injured In A Detroit Truck Accident And Need A Lawyer? Call Michigan Auto Law For A Free Consultation
If you were injured in a truck crash in Detroit, call now (855) 960-3320 for a free consultation with one of our experienced truck accident lawyers. There is no cost or obligation. You can also visit our contact page or use the chat feature on our website.
Michigan Auto Law is Michigan’s largest and most successful law firm that specializes exclusively in helping people who have been injured in truck and motor vehicle crashes.
Our secret? Our attorneys deliberately handle fewer cases than other personal injury law firms. This allows us to focus more time and attention on our cases.
Unlike other law firms, our Detroit truck accident lawyers are never too busy to promptly return phone calls and answer questions.
We have more than 2,000 5-Star reviews that reflect this care and attention to detail.
More importantly, this client-focused approach leads to better and faster settlements for our clients. Michigan Auto Law has recovered more million-dollar settlements and trial verdicts for motor vehicle crashes than any other attorney or law firm in Michigan. We’ve also recovered the highest-ever reported car crash and truck crash settlement in the state.
If you are injured in a semi truck crash in Detroit, call our truck accident lawyers now so we can start making a real difference for you.
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Insurance companies always try to settle auto accident claims as cheaply as possible. Find out what your case is really worth. Request your free consultation today.