Wheaton, MD Truck Accident Lawyer

Truck accidents have the potential to cause an enormous amount of destruction on a roadway. The odds are stacked against an ordinary sedan or SUV in a collision between one of those and a commercial truck. The occupants of the smaller vehicle end up with catastrophic injuries. Worse still, truck accidents frequently result in fatalities. If you were in a truck accident, you might be burdened with immense medical expenses, painful lingering injuries, or the loss of a loved one.

Our lawyers can help you through the difficult road ahead after a truck accident. We can help you determine which parties are at fault for your accident and help you file a truck accident lawsuit promptly and effectively. We will fight for you in court until the end of the case.

Don’t hesitate to call our truck accident lawyers at Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (410) 694-7291 for a free case review.

When to File a Wheaton, MD Truck Accident Lawsuit

You should file your truck accident lawsuit as soon as possible. There is a law called the statute of limitations that determines how much time you have to file a lawsuit. The statute of limitations for a civil personal injury claim in Maryland is three years.

This two-year time period is not flexible. If you try and file a lawsuit after the statutory period has run, your case will be thrown out, and you will not be able to recover any damages; two years plus one day is too late. Contact a truck accident lawyer right away to make sure you don’t miss the statutory deadline.

Some circumstances can cause the statute of limitations to be “tolled” or put on hold. A common reason to pause the statutory timer is being a minor when the accident happens. If you were under 18 when a truck accident happened to you, the statutory period will not begin until the day before your 18th birthday.

Who to Sue in a Truck Accident Lawsuit in Wheaton, MD

There is a good chance you want to sue multiple parties in your truck accident lawsuit. Who is at fault for your injuries will depend on the particular facts of your case.

Driver

The driver is possibly the first party you might look to blame for causing your truck accident. Truck accidents that are the driver’s fault are often due to negligence. Truck drivers are negligent when they act carelessly or do not act as a careful driver should. Examples of driver negligence include turning too wide or not hitting the brakes soon enough to stop the truck.

Trucking Company

While you might want to sue the driver, you should also include the driver’s employer as a defendant in your truck accident lawsuit. Truck accidents often leave the victim burdened with enormous medical expenses. The driver alone might not be able to compensate you adequately. In other words, the driver might be “judgment-proof.” Fortunately, the law allows employers to be sued for the on-the-job negligence of their employees. Employers are often better situated than their employees to make injured parties “whole again.”

Truck Loaders

Big-rig commercial trucks transport heavy cargo loads over long distances. Anyone who has ever taken a long-distance road trip knows that packing lots of things into a vehicle makes it heavier and less maneuverable. If a truck is loaded incorrectly, it can cause the center of gravity to move and make the whole vehicle off balance. A driver in an off-balance truck makes an otherwise safe decision on the road, but because the truck is acting differently due to how it was loaded, the truck reacts differently than expected, and an accident results.

Sometimes the truck driver themselves is responsible for loading the truck. Other times someone else with the truck company loads the trailer. Either way, the cargo should be inspected before hitting the road. If the loading was done incorrectly and contributed to your accident, the loading company or truck company might be liable.

Truck Manufacturers

Sometimes, an issue with the truck itself causes the accident. Legal claims based on a defective product fall into two main camps: design defects and manufacturing defects.

Design defects are inherent problems with the truck’s design. Even if the truck works as intended, a design issue will still cause a problem. For example, an 18-wheeler with brakes that aren’t designed to stop a truck of that size on time has a design defect. Even if the brakes work as they should, the truck is still dangerous because the brakes aren’t designed to handle the truck.

A manufacturing defect is a problem that arises during the manufacturing process. Contrasted with a design defect, a manufacturing defect occurs when something doesn’t work as intended. An example of a design defect in a truck accident would be if the power steering in the vehicle suddenly stops working on the highway.

If you believe a defect in the truck caused your accident, you might have a claim against the truck manufacturer or any mechanics who worked on the truck.

Types of Truck Accidents in Wheaton, MD

Because of their size and weight, 18-wheelers, semi-trucks, and other big-rig vehicles are particularly prone to some types of accidents. We’ll detail some of the accidents unique to these kinds of vehicles.

Jackknife Accidents

Jackknife accidents are unique to big-rig trucks that have a tractor/cab and attached trailer. A jackknife accident occurs when the turning of the truck causes the trailer to swing around the connection joint to the cab in a motion similar to a jackknife opening and closing. Since truck trailers are so large, a jackknife accident can potentially hit multiple vehicles.

Underride Accidents

An underride accident is when a vehicle behind or next to the truck collides with the trailer. Because of the height difference between a regular car and a truck trailer, the trailer often shears off the entire top half of the car. This is often fatal to the occupants of the car. Modern trailer designs have bars in place to prevent that from happening, but the results of an underride accident can still be devastating.

While it might initially seem that this type of accident is the other driver’s fault (they hit the truck, after all), that is not always the case. The truck driver hitting the brakes too late or not giving enough distance between their truck and your vehicle could also cause an underride accident.

Call Our Wheaton, MD Truck Accident Lawyers Today for a Free Case Review

Get in touch with our truck accident lawyers at Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (410) 694-7291 to talk about your case.