Truck Accidents: The Importance of Hiring an Experienced Truck Accident Attorney

Posted by rozeklawoffice on July 31, 2011 under General, Truck Accidents | Be the First to Comment

All too often truck accident injury victims mistakenly believe that the large TV advertising personal injury mills are experienced in handling truck accident cases. Unfortunately, for the injury victim, trucking cases differ from car accident cases in significant ways. Following a truck crash, large trucking companies have a team of professionals dispatched to the scene to conduct an investigation. It is their job to preserve all evidence that is favorable to the trucking company in an attempt to limit the liability of the truck carrier and their driver. Implicit in this statement is the fact that the trucking company’s investigation team will turn a blind eye to the destruction of evidence that establishes liability on the part of the trucking carrier or their driver. As an experienced truck accident injury law firm, we dispatch our own team of investigators to the scene of a truck crash as soon as we are retained by the truck crash injury victim. Our investigators preserve all of the evidence before it can be destroyed.

Our office also immediately sends out a demand for preservation of evidence. Often the key to establishing liability on the part of the trucking company lies in the internal company documentation, which can include the hours of service driver logs, the bills of lading, credit card receipts, toll receipts, and gas cards. Our preservation letter sets out what must be retained. If the trucking company ignores our demand for preservation and intentionally destroys this evidence, then they can face severe sanctions later in the case. Most trucking companies have implemented internal policies that require the destruction of this key evidence after 6 months, as allowed by the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Regulations. Ideally, we prefer to file a lawsuit within 6 months following the truck crash in order to ensure that this key evidence is preserved. Unfortunately, many of our truck crash injury clients come to us after they realize their previous attorney lacks the experience to handle a trucking crash case. By then it is often too late and the evidence is already destroyed.
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Click here for more information about Wisconsin Truck Accident Law.

Good Personal Injury Attorneys Do Not Contact You First

Posted by rozeklawoffice on May 5, 2010 under Bicycle Accidents, Car Accidents, Motorcycle Accidents, Pedestrian Accidents, Personal Injury Cases, Truck Accidents | Be the First to Comment

In our 14 years of practicing law, we have never seen an individual who is prepared for an accident. No one anticipates being unable to work. Having their car banged up. Suffering pain that will not go away. We have had clients come into our office after an accident and seem pain-free. Then their condition worsens and they need surgery. We have also had clients come in after an accident in tremendous pain. Wearing the typical padded collars to ease whiplash discomfort, having trouble sitting, or having trouble standing. We have accepted these injuries cases and watched as clients heal quickly and are shortly back to their old self. The point I am making is that you never know if an accident will cause immediate injury, slow on-set injury, injury that will heal, or injury that will get worse and possible pain that will never go away. Even doctors do not really know if someone will heal and be back to how they were before the accident.

So, what should you do?

Unfortunately, in Wisconsin, and most predominately the City of Milwaukee, you do not have to do a thing. Attorneys, intermediaries, legal and medical coordinators, insurance agents and representatives of doctors offices will be flying to you. Your telephone may right. Someone may tell you that the hospital has assigned you a doctor or a lawyer. You Many find a business card in your door or mailbox. You may notice an attorney is now “following” you on twitter.Your mailbox is filled with promotional literature on personal injury attorney firms!

There are other variations of this scene and its important to know it is all a scam. “Runners” sometimes drive around with police scanners in their car. You may have an accident, and they appear asking if they can drive you to a doctor or lawyer. I have heard of tow truck drivers or body shops that also do this. There are reports of runners walking hospital hallways and entering rooms or striking up conversation in hospital waiting rooms, all while passing out their business cards. Runners may call themselves “Legal Referral Service” or “Medical Referral Service” or something similar. Don’t be fooled.

There are stories of people who have been injured and riding in the ambulance when the ambulance attendant passes them a cell phone to speak with an attorney. Others have reported that the tow truck drivers have dropped off their car at the auto repair shop and then offered to drive the injured person to a lawyer’s office.

The following are things that you should know if you have or are ever in an accident.

Hospitals do not assign anyone an accident or injury lawyer. A patients file including phone number and other contact information are kept confidential and never distributed without your permission. If the hospital refers you to a doctor other than your family doctor, they usually will give you a list of doctors with several names to chose from, which is ok.

The people running around with business cards, calling you, following yo9u on twitter, or offering to drive you to a doctor or lawyer (called “runners”) are not doing so out of pure kindness. They are getting paid. In the most outrageous cases, lawyers may offer you money directly. This is illegal. These are the kind of professionals that give all lawyers and doctors a bad rap. You should not want an attorney or doctor that gets patients this way. Any lawyer or doctor that would pay cash for a case can not be any good. The best lawyers act legally and ethically. They are the ones that do not call you first.

Insurance companies know who the dishonest lawyers are. They have departments staffed by retires law enforcement agents whose only job is to discover fraud. Even if you have a legitimate injury and case, if your lawyer is known to be dishonest, you may be investigated and watched.

So, how should you find an ethical personal injury attorney?

First and Foremost, you should be looking for an attorney that is not looking for you! Toss all the mail solicitations, block attorney “followers” on twitter, politely take business card from an y runner or person lingering in the medical facility and then throw them away. You have 3 options left: turn on TV and listen to 30 second attorney commercial (won’t learn much about the firm beyond “one call that’s all” or “don’t drop the ball, just call” ); pull out the yellow pages (not much here either since there is limited space and again filled with slogans and jargon; go to your computer and search for your type of accident or injury (finally, you will be getting solid facts, listings of experience and even free information). We would recommend searching for your type of accident using the location in your search terms (ex: Wisconsin Bicycle Accident Attorney) or your type of injury using your location in your search terms (ex: Wisconsin Brain Injury Attorney).

Once at the website, we recommend  spending some time, clicking around the site to find useful information that the firm provides. Are there any free guides that you can order? Are there any injury tools available such as a migraine diary? Are there any symptom checklists that you can print off for your use? Does the site have a blog that you can go to to find more information on your injury?

Once you have read over the information from various sites, contact the attorney using the contact method that you feel most comfortable. The firm should have on their website multiple contact options that you can choose from (i.e. instant chat, case evaluation form, email address, phone number, etc.).

Once you have contacted the attorney, ask him/her questions that help you determine who will actually be handling your case from start to finish, what is their experience with the particular injury you have sustain, who are their experts on these injuries, if the case does not settle, are they prepared to go to trial? (Very important note: If the attorney says he can get you a “quick” settlement, politely finish the conversation and move on to the next attorney. Quick settlement discussion at the onset of your case can only mean less compensation for you the injured individual).

Good luck in your pursuit for justice and your road to recovery, both financially and medically. If you would like to speak with an experienced Wisconsin Personal Injury Attorney, please do not hesitate to click on the link, view the website, and contact Attorney Randy Rozek.

Feds Ban Truck Driver Texting

Posted by rozeklawoffice on April 27, 2010 under Truck Accidents | Be the First to Comment

Because of their sheer size and resulting force, large commercial trucks involved in accidents frequently result in fatality. Although commercial trucks only make up approximately 3% of all motor vehicle registrations, they make up 12% of all traffic fatalities nationwide every year. Distracted driving and fatigue are the two leading causes of truck accidents.

According to the US Department of Transportation, there are 3 types of distracted driving as follows:

1. Visual: Taking eyes off the road

2. Manual: Taking hands of the wheel

3. Cognitive: Taking mind off of activity

The main reason that cell phone texting by truck drivers is so alarming is that it combines all 3 types of distractions. A  Research from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration demonstrates that drivers who text while driving take their eyes off the road almost 5 seconds out of every 6 an average. At 55 miles per hour, this means that the driver will travel the length of a football field (including the end zones), without looking at the road. Research shows that truck drivers are 20 times more likely to be involved in an accident if they are texting.

In 2009, the National Transportation Safety Board included a ban on commercial truck driver texting on their most wanted list of transportation safety improvements. They specifically requested that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration prohibit cell phone use by commercial truck and bus drivers.

On March 31, 2010, The Department of Transportation announced its proposal to make its interim ban on texting while driving permanent for commercial truck drivers and bus drivers across the U.S. The ban applies to drivers of interstate commercial trucks and buses over 10,000 pounds and was first put into effect on an interim basis in January, 2010. If a  truck driver is caught texting while driving, he will now face up to $2,750 in fines.

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If you or a loved one have been injured in an accident involving a commercial truck or bus, please contact an experienced Truck Accident Attorney who can help you investigate and prove the cause of the accident and your injuries.

Fatigue Causes Most Truck Accidents

Posted by rozeklawoffice on February 7, 2010 under Truck Accidents | Be the First to Comment

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, on average, people need about 8 hours of sleep per night. Sleep deprivation, over time, can make a person susceptible to fatigue. Being awake when one is typically asleep or being awake during the early morning hours when the body is use to sleeping, can also lead to drowsiness and fatigue.

The single leading cause of  truck accidents is Truck Driver Fatigue. Most truck accidents occur in the early a.m., a time at which the body is predisposed to sleep. Fatigued truckers are tired, sleep deprived and unable to focus and concentrate. Studies have also shown that the risk of fatigue causing truck accidents is directly proportional to the number of hours a truck driver is on the road.  And truck driver fatigue may be a factor is 30-40% of semi-truck accidents, making it the leading cause of truck accidents. Many feel the 30-40% estimate is quite low because it is based upon driver’s self-reporting fatigue.

Federal regulations require drivers to maintain a record of their status either by using an approved log grid or an automatic on-board recording device. However,driver logs do not provide an efficient and reliable means of tracking the number of hours a commercial driver drives and many truck companies are not aggressive enough in forcing strict compliance with these hours of service limits. For example, the logs may show the driver getting from point A to point B in a certain amount of time, however, when looking closer at the number of miles driven, it is apparent that the truck could not have traveled the documented distance in the amount of time listed in the log. In this example, there are three possible explanations: 1. the trucker was speeding; 2. the trucker was driving too many hours and intentionally falsified his or her log books; or 3.  the trucker kept inaccurate log books. In all incidences, the trucker, the trucking company, and their insurance company would likely be held negligent as a matter of law for this conduct.

Fortunately, there are new technology advances that can help alert a truck driver when he/she may be falling asleep. For example, Lane Departure Warning Systems (LDWS) monitor the location of the vehicle within the lane and alert the driver when the vehicle drifts from the lane. Research results have shown that LDWSs decrease lane departures, and system users have reported that LDWSs help them to maintain their vehicles’ lane  positions. Other systems that monitor the vehicle, such as steering position monitors, as well as systems that monitor driver behavior, such as one system that measures the driver’s eyelid closure, have also been developed to detect fatigue. These on-board devices can signal the drivers that their alertness was diminishing, both helping to increase their alertness in the short term and prompting them to seek opportunities to rest safely. Unfortunately, these devices are not yet mandated to replace the manual driving logs.

Whenever a semi-truck causes a crash there is a reason. Although commonly called an “accident”, the crash is not accidental. Usually a thorough investigation will lead to the conclusion that the crash was due to fatigue, driving too many hours, cell phone use, the use of drugs and alcohol, and inattentive driving. An investigation by an experienced investigator and trucking lawyer will expose the trucking company and/or driver’s faults. An experienced trucking attorney can review critical evidence in trucking cases such as log books, toll receipts, and credit card trip receipts and essentially recreate the trip of the negligent driver. There are specific rules requiring trucking companies to keep this documentation for a limited period of time. It is essential in trucking accident cases for the victim or their attorney to immediately notify the trucking company that they must not destroy this documentation. If the trucking company is properly notified and they do destroy the evidence, then the company can face severe sanctions.

If you or a family member have been injured as a result of a truck accident, be sure to Contact an Experienced Truck Accident Lawyer for you or your family member’s case.