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Yes, you may be able to file a lawsuit against the manufacturer of the airbags and particularly if the maker of those bags happens to be Takata. You may recall the massive, worldwide defective airbag recall involving numerous deaths and serious injuries when poorly made air bags exploded and shot shrapnel onto drivers and passengers. If you want further information on the types of vehicles involved in the global recall, please visit: https://www.nhtsa.gov/equipment/takata-recall-spotlight
If your car has air bags not manufactured by Takata, you can still file a suit against the air bag maker. Contact a personal injury attorneys at Schuelke Law for a free consultation.
Your uncle and his family would be best advised to hire the services of a truck accident attorney as soon as possible after the crash and in some instances, the same day as the crash. In most accidents involving an 18-wheeler or a commercial vehicle, the trucking company typically has lawyers on the scene before the vehicles are removed. Some defense lawyers actually fly a team of attorneys and investigators to the accident site to assess the scene, take notes, interview witnesses, photograph the scene and speak to police. This gives them a leg up in working on a defense for the trucker’s behavior or involvement in the collision.
If you have your own attorney, they perform similar services for you, but are on your side to provide evidence that demonstrates negligence on the part of the trucking company and/or driver. The sooner you have an attorney, the better and the easier it is for that attorney to mount a case on your behalf. Having your own lawyer at the scene of the wreck also ensures evidence does not go missing, such as the driver’s log book. We realize this is hard and often unrealistic, but the sooner someone is out there, the better.
We had a case a few years ago where this timing could have made a huge difference. We were hired late in this case, and when we received the police crash report, it was wrong. It had our clients coming from a completely different direction. Fortunately, we had an understanding police officer who was willing to listen and correct his police report. But that is often not the case. The sooner you can gather evidence and talk to the investigators, the easier it is to make sure things are as accurate as possible.
Someone in an incident like this should speak ONLY to their personal injury truck accident attorney. They should not talk about their accident with an insurance adjuster or anyone else. They should ensure all correspondence, calls or letters are channelled through their attorney. Insurance adjusters that work for the trucking company are not one’s friends and their main focus is to limit, reduce or deny that one has a claim.
Most adjusters call an accident victim before they may have a chance to contact a lawyer. Accident victims should NOT speak to them other than to say their attorney will contact them. Instead, they should simply ask for the adjuster’s name and number and advise that their lawyer will call them.
Accident victims should NOT answer any questions a trucking adjuster asks, including any question about how they are feeling or how their children are doing. Instead, they should ask for the trucking adjuster’s business card, and tell them their lawyer will call. The reason one should say nothing is because anything one says can be twisted to be used as harmful information that can reduce one’s claim.
As with any personal injury case, each situation is different, which dictates what may be awarded in various circumstances. However, generally speaking one may be eligible for compensation for pecuniary loss (loss of the care, support, services, advice and counsel that one expects from a spouse), loss of companionship and society, mental anguish and loss of inheritance (the extra amount that one’s spouse would have contributed to one’s estate). A spouse’s estate might also be able to recover funeral and burial costs, costs of any medical care incurred before their death, and an award for any pain and mental anguish that they experienced before death.
An attorney would advise someone in this situation how to proceed to file a wrongful death lawsuit and what may be expected for compensation based on the nature of the case and the determination of liability of those involved.
In order to file a personal injury claim, multiple elements need to be considered. These elements include:
No, it does not mean you cannot file a lawsuit. It is possible that you may have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage through your own insurance carrier. If you do have such coverage, it pays out benefits if you have been in an accident due to the negligence of another and that individual does not have insurance or does not have enough insurance to pay compensation.
Each case is different and it is best to consult with a personal injury attorney to find out not only about your legal rights, but what insurance coverage you do have. Additionally, in many instances where an individual does not have auto liability insurance, they also may not have much property you could recover against. This, too, is something that needs to be discussed with your personal injury attorney.
It is important to have a complete and detailed investigation done by a trucking accident attorney as soon as possible. The evidence needs to be preserved and items such as the trucker’s logbook and/or onboard black box need to be recovered and analyzed. Hiring an attorney as soon as possible ensures these things are done promptly.
Having an attorney at the accident scene as soon as possible is crucial since the company’s insurance carrier will be there as soon as possible after the crash. Facts that may put the trucker or trucking company in a bad light will be protected by your attorney. As the victim, your interests need to be protected.
Typically, in every trucking accident case we have handled, both the driver and the company they works for is responsible. While the trucker was driving the rig and is likely responsible for the accident, the fact is that companies can and do push drivers past safe limits to meet deadlines. Some put drivers on the road without much training. Some companies keep drivers on the road despite them having a track record for accidents. There could be a myriad of reasons why a driver is on the road when they perhaps should not be. In cases like that, the company and the trucker are liable for negligence.
When we use the term “commercial truck”, we’re talking about trucks that are larger than the standard pickup seen on the road. Those driving them must hold a commercial driver’s license, and they are used to haul various commercial goods across the nation and across Texas. All big rigs and 18-wheelers are commercial trucks, but there are other types of commercial trucks as well. Other examples include tanker trucks, large freight trucks, cement trucks, tractor-trailers and delivery vehicles.
No, it is not just 18-wheelers involved in the vast majority of trucking accidents. In fact, trucking accidents refer to any accident in which a commercial motor vehicle is involved.
Commercial motor vehicles include, but may not be limited to: