Trucking Collisions

It's as basic as Isaac Newton's second law of motion. The heavier the object, the greater the amount of force it wields. In today's world, sharing the road with commercial trucks means traveling with vehicles whose sheer size and weight have the ability to do you massive or catastrophic harm, even in a low-speed crash. In 2017, Oregon saw nearly 1,100 trucking collisions caused by the trucker. These crashes left 380 people seriously hurt and 31 dead. At Kaplan Law LLC, we diligently represent the interests of people who are hurt by trucking collisions and people who have lost loved ones in these kinds of accidents.

There are many different people and/or entities who may be liable for the harm you suffered in a commercial truck accident, and possibly many different reasons why the law could impose that liability

Certainly, there's the driver of the truck but behind almost every truck driver, there's a trucking company that employed that driver and/or a client that contracted for that driver's services. This matters because many trucking collisions cases involve massive amounts of harm. That means that it will take a large sum of damages to compensate you fully. A case that successfully pursues more than just the driver better positions you to get that full recovery.

The law in Oregon has many potential ways you might do that. Was the truck driver who hit you driving while drunk or high? If he/she had a history of driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol and the trucking company that employed him/her knew about it (or should have known about it,) then you may have a strong case against that employer. Was the trucker who hit you driving over the "hours of service" limits imposed by federal regulations? Often, drivers who do that do so either at their employers' behest or at least with their employers' knowledge. This is another circumstance where the right proof (such as documentation of the employer's demands or copies of logbooks that the employer falsified or "doctored") can mean employer liability.

Did the trucker who hit you do so because his/her vehicle malfunctioned? A case like this, depending on the evidence you unearth, could mean a lawsuit that targets multiple entities, including the employer, as well as those who were responsible for inspecting, repairing, and maintaining the truck.

The right legal representation can help you amass the proof you'll need for success in your trucking collision case. Crash scene evidence (like photographs of skid marks and debris,) police accident reports, traffic citations, witness statements, the trucker's driver logbooks, and the trucking company's operational records may all help bolster your case.

The truck's "black box" (a/k/a the electronic control module/ECM or electronic data recorder/EDR) may have electronic data vital to proving your case. For example, if you were seriously injured in a rear-end truck crash, and the black box contained no data indicative of the driver braking before the collision, then that might be very powerful evidence that the trucker was impaired, distracted, or asleep.

These are just a few of the many ways that drivers and trucking entities might be liable, and that injured people might be successful in proving it. Each case is unique in one way or another, which means that the path to success will be individualized to a certain degree, as well.

What all trucking collision injury cases have in common is that they benefit from skilled legal representation. The sooner you retain a qualified attorney, the sooner they can investigate the case thoroughly and accurately. Waiting too long means risking losing some pieces of crucial evidence that may be gone forever.

The diligent and detail-oriented Oregon trucking collision attorneys at Kaplan Law LLC are here to provide you with representation that is both highly effective and also highly personal. Call Kaplan Law LLC at (503) 226-3844 or contact us online today. We have successfully advocated for clients with situations much like yours and we're here to discuss how we can help you.

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