Trucking / 18-Wheeler Tractor Trailer / Semi Accidents

Huntsville, Alabama trucking lawyer Randy Ferguson understands that highway safety is an issue of great concern to most Alabamians. In addition to personal injury and auto accident cases, the Huntsville and Decatur, Alabama personal injury lawyers at Ferguson & Ferguson handle accident cases involving trucking accidents, safety and trucking litigation. Semi truck and eighteen wheeler accidents present unique issues not necessarily associated with a typical motor vehicle accident. Cullman, Decatur and Huntsville, Alabama all have interstates that carry thousands of eighteen wheelers a day down their roads. When a tractor trailer truck is involved in a accident, there is a greater likelihood of serious injuries or deaths, negligent hiring and supervision claims, negligent maintenance claims, unique insurance coverage issues and governmental regulation. Due to size disparities and the basic laws of physics, any trucking collision between a commercial truck and a passenger car is likely to result in serious injuries and significant property damage. Every year, hundreds of Alabama residents along with thousands of Americans are injured or lose their lives in accidents involving tractor-trailers, semis, 18-wheelers, big rigs and other large commercial vehicles.Many of the accidents happen in Huntsville, Decatur, Cullman and Birmingham, Alabama.

Trucking is a big business, and trucking accidents happen way more than they have to in this country. A trucking or traffic accident involving a commercial truck, such as an eighteen-wheeler or other large freight carrier, can be much more catastrophic than an ordinary car accident. A typical fully-loaded large commercial truck can weigh 80,000 pounds or more, while an average passenger automobile weighs approximately 3000 pounds. Because of this size disparity, and due to the basic laws of physics, any trucking collision between a commercial truck and another vehicle is likely to result in serious, even fatal, injuries. While statistics show that truck drivers are generally much more careful on the road than automobile drivers, and thankfully the incidence of fatal crashes involving trucks and other large vehicles has declined in recent years, large truck crashes still accounted for 5350 fatalities and 133,000 injuries in 2001.The unique danger posed by commercial truck accidents can be made worse depending on the nature of the freight the truck is carrying. Many times trucking accidents in Alabama involve trucks with dangerous chemicals or fuel. For example, if hazardous or flammable materials are on board the truck, secondary injuries attributable to such dangerous cargo can result, including burns and respiratory injuries. Numerous Alabama trucking accidents have caused extensive property damages from explosions after the accident.

Trucking litigation is a burgeoning area of personal injury law. Our Huntsville, Alabama trucking lawyers keep up with all current federal laws. Our attorneys spend countless hours in seminars related to trucking. With the explosion of trucks on Alabama highways, literally and figuratively, accidents between cars, motorcycles, and semi-trailer trucks are on the rise. We represent accident victims nationwide. We have handled trucking cases in Mobile, Atlanta, Montgomery, Birmingham and all over the southeast. We currently have cases in Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and many more states. We have handled trucking cases all over the country. Truck accidents often occur when trucks are traveling in an unsafe manner or are loaded in an unsafe manner, causing injuries to other drivers. We understand the unique legal and practical problems associated with truck crashes and have experience dealing with the issues that arise in such cases. Our goals in trucking cases include protecting the individual where litigation is necessary, but also providing resources to help educate the public when injuries are caused by the negligence or carelessness of trucking companies, in hopes of increasing road safety.

Trucking is vitally important for interstate commerce. A person who believes a trucking accident is just a bigger car wreck is terribly naive. Most people want to believe that truck drivers who pilot forty ton rockets down the interstate are highly trained and error free. While that may be true for some truck drivers, it definitely is not true for many of the drivers. Those who negligently or wantonly crash a tractor-trailer are likely to cause serious injury or death. If you or your loved ones have been injured or killed in a trucking accident, don't delay in finding a trucking accident attorney to represent your claim. We can handle a trucking case from Huntsville to Mobile, or Maine to California.

Trucking accidents are not like typical motor vehicle accidents. Special rules and regulations apply to truckers and truck companies, and the damage caused by big rig crashes can be devastating. Truck crashes involve professional drivers operating extremely large vehicles for profit, often under conditions in which the companies provide incentives for speed rather than for safety. There are clear standards of care for safety spelled out by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. We provide high quality legal services to victims of trucking accidents in Huntsville, Decatur, Cullman, the Southeast, and throughout the United States.

When a eighteen wheeler or trucking tragedy has struck you or your loved ones, you need a nationally known trucking accident attorney who knows the rules and knows how to get the most for your claim. The investigation and legal issues in truck wreck cases are often complex. A fully loaded over-the-road semi truck is a huge vehicle. When you put something like that on the road at speeds in excess of 70 miles an hour you get a missile that can run over anything in its path. Drivers are under constant pressure to move cargo and then, add the growing problem of driver fatigue, and you have a major risk on the roads. Some drivers drive in excess of 16 hours a day. In a catastrophic accident involving a tractor trailer or other large truck, it is vitally important to quickly hire a qualified trial lawyer who can act fast to collect the evidence of the trucking company’s negligence. At Ferguson & Ferguson, our extensive experience in handling semi tractor -trailer crashes means that we know what to look for when conducting an investigation, and what is fair compensation for your injuries.

Quick action is essential to preserve evidence in an eighteen wheeler accident. If the evidence is not gathered quickly, most will be lost intentionally or otherwise. When truck collisions do occur, trucking companies involved in the accident often send representatives to the accident scene. These agents work to handle everything at the scene of the accident so that they can limit or mitigate their company’s liability. Many times trucking, hauling and leasing companies dispute whose insurance will provide for victim compensation. These companies’ representatives know that the ideal time to confront an accident victim is immediately following the event. In the aftermath of a truck accident, the traumatized victim will need to make important decisions that will impact their future. Grieving, anxious and injured people are pressured by trucking and insurance companies’ tactics. Too often the victims and their families injured by eighteen wheelers struggle through the difficult after effects of truck collisions alone.

Further, the trucking company and its insurer may vanish. While many truckers are good, honest, hard working men and women, most trucking companies play shell games to avoid financial responsibility to people they injure or kill. Many self insured trucking companies and foreign insurers vanish once a bad accident happens.

Accidents involving tractor trailers and commercially owned and operated trucks are different from your average motor vehicle accident and require a high level of expertise in the Federal Highway Traffic Safety rules, as well as knowledge of local and state rules and regulations that govern commercial vehicles. Under Alabama 's laws, if you have been killed or injured in a vehicle accident caused by another person’s recklessness or negligence, you may be entitled to recover damages for paralysis, disfigurement, emotional distress, lost income, loss of earning capacity, medical costs, property loss, pain and suffering and punitive damages in death cases.

Even if you were careless and partly caused an accident with a commercial truck, in most states you can still get at least some compensation from anyone else who was also careless and partly responsible for the accident. In Alabama, which is a contributory negligence state, you can not be at fault at all to recover. If you are partially at fault, you are legally unable to recover anything from the other party. You can not be responsible at all in Alabama to recover` The amount of the other person's liability for the accident is determined by comparing his or her carelessness with your own. That party's portion of liability determines the percentage of the resulting damages he or she must pay. This rule of comparing fault is known as "comparative negligence." In most states, you can't recover anything if your own carelessness was 50% or more responsible for the accident.

There is no formula for arriving at a precise number for a person's comparative negligence in an eighteen wheeler accident. During negotiations, your attorney and an insurance adjuster will discuss all of the factors that might have caused the accident. Then, the question of your own carelessness will be considered, along with all the other factors that determine how much your claim is worth -- such as the seriousness of your injuries and the amount of your medical bills.

If you've been injured, an experienced trucking accident attorney can help you receive fair compensation for your injuries including lost wages, hospital bills, pain, suffering, and damages for loss of companionship, love, and comfort. If you have a wrongful death claim, we can recover only punitive damages in Alabama, but may recover for loss of earnings, medical and funeral bills, your family's pain and suffering as well as the loss of love, guidance and support in other states.

The attorneys and staff at Ferguson & Ferguson will help you in the event you have been injured, no matter what the cause. We understand that personal injuries and deaths not only cause physical pain and suffering, but also emotional and financial disaster through loss of a steady paycheck, mounting medical bills, and tremendous stress place upon injured individuals and their families. If we find the truck driver or the trucking company involved in the accident was negligent or wanton, Ferguson & Ferguson may recover a settlement for your physical and emotional pain and suffering, lost wages, and medical bills. Our trucking accident attorneys assist clients in Huntsville , Birmingham , and the Southeast, and often throughout the United States in the pursuit of serious truck accident claims.