Bronx Truck Accident Attorneys
The Bronx is the third most populated county in the United States, with a population of 1.4 million. Bronx residents occupy 42 square miles of land. These roads have seen numerous truck accidents over the past ten years.
Most truck accidents in the Bronx occur in the following locations:
- Fordham Road (from Bronx River Parkway to University Heights, Bronx)
- Kingsbridge Road (from Fordham Road to Exterior Street)
- Grand Concourse (from East 138 Street to Mosholu Parkway)
- East 138 Street (from Madison Avenue, Bronx, to Locust Avenue)
- East 149 Street (from 145 Street, Bronx, to Oak Point Avenue)
- Southern Boulevard (from Louis Nine Boulevard to Fordham Road)
Truck accidents occur too often. If you suffered injuries in a truck accident, or you lost a loved one in a truck fatality, you need an experienced Bronx truck accident lawyer on your side.
The Law Offices of Ivan M. Diamond represent clients with severe injuries and extensive losses, often obtaining settlements and awards worth hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. Reach out to learn how we might assist you with your truck accident claim.
Table of Contents
- How do truck accidents happen in the Bronx?
- How serious are truck accident injuries?
- Types of truck accidents
- Which parties are liable for a Bronx truck accident?
- Call a Bronx truck accident lawyer from The Law Offices of Ivan M. Diamond
How do truck accidents happen in the Bronx?
Driver negligence and error are the leading causes of truck accidents. Mechanical errors are also prevalent in truck accidents, as are environmental factors.
However, the many causes of Bronx truck accidents include:
- Fatigue
- Drinking
- Speeding
- Distracted driving
- Inexperience
- Disregarding traffic rules
- Mechanical errors
- Dangerous road conditions
Trucking companies try to increase efficiency by shifting to late-night and middle-night truck schedules. The reason behind the shift is the constant congestion across New York. It takes longer to complete deliveries when traffic is constantly in a gridlock. Of course, that can result in more fatigued truck drivers, so even with these changes, a truck accident can strike you anytime at any intersection in the Bronx.
How serious are truck accident injuries?
Even a small delivery truck can lead to catastrophic injuries. Many truck accident victims require lifelong medical needs and treatment. When you suffer a permanent disability, you cannot work or participate in daily activities. When you can work, there are many physical limitations which can mean you will not work in the same field or capacity you did before your truck crash.
Some of the life-altering injuries truck accident victims suffer include:
- Spinal cord injuries and nerve damage: Truck accidents involve extreme force that can permanently harm your spinal cord. The outcome is paralysis, nerve damage, and loss of motor function. All of these conditions have life-altering consequences.
- Fractures: The amount of motion a truck accident causes to the human body places all of your limbs in danger. A bone can fracture or break. You can suffer a crushing or compound fracture. Treatment options exist, but you will be out of work for some time and have various physical limitations on the work you can do.
- Head and neck injuries: When in a passenger vehicle, your head will shake and move in unnatural and unexpected ways. You can suffer whiplash and a mild concussion. A traumatic brain injury can alter your cognitive state for years to come. There is the possibility that you will suffer from full or partial paralysis from these injuries. You may suffer a chronic condition that causes lifelong pain after a neck or head injury. These conditions will require years of medical attention.
- Burns and scars: Trucks carry various types of cargo, meaning an explosion or fire can occur when they collide with another vehicle. A burn injury does have treatment options, but even if it helps, it can lead to permanent scarring. You will suffer immense pain initially. The scarring will also result in emotional trauma for the victim. A burn may not seem like a significant injury, but its consequences are.
- Internal injuries: Even when you don’t see any external injuries, that does not mean the inside of your body is free of harm. Internal organ injuries can cause death and lifelong disability. Your kidneys, lungs, spleen, bladder, intestines, and pancreas are some organs that can sustain damage without a visible wound. You will also suffer internal bleeding, which can lead to varying consequences.
You can also suffer:
- Broken bones
- Broken ribs
- Cuts
- PTSD
- Amputations
- Shoulder and knee dislocation
A Bronx truck accident is ten times more likely to result in a fatality compared to a car accident. When your loved one dies in a truck accident, you have the right to file a wrongful death claim. You must file a claim within two years of their death.
Types of truck accidents
Commercial trucks, semi-trucks, and tractor-trailers can weigh as much as 80,000 pounds when fully loaded. Crashes involving large trucks can cause devastating injuries. There are several kinds of accidents these large vehicles can cause. While truck accidents often happen with cars, they also occur with pedestrians and motorcyclists.
When you travel around New York, there are many different types of trucks you will encounter, such as:
- Box trucks
- 18-wheelers
- Concrete trucks
- Tractor-trailers
- Dump trucks
- semi-truck
- Delivery trucks
- Garbage trucks
- Movings trucks
Most residents think truck accidents only encompass semi-trucks, but many other trucks are on the road. You can suffer an accident with any of these trucks, leading to severe injuries. After an accident, you will suffer serious injuries, and you must focus on healing while your Bronx truck accident attorney focuses on the legal aspect. There are several common truck accidents you can experience.
Tractor-trailers, in particular, cause:
- Rollover: Due to their weight, the commercial truck can overturn, causing the truck to land on other vehicles and people nearby.
- Jackknife: When there are issues with cargo, a trailer will not react when a truck driver brakes. The trailer will smash into the cabin, and the truck looks like it folds together. The truck or trailer may strike other vehicles in the path due to the loss of control.
- Undercarriage accidents: When a passenger vehicle becomes trapped under a semi-trailer.
- Cargo loss: Cargo must be secure on a commercial truck; when it is not, the cargo can move and even fall off the truck. Not only does an unsecured load go against all trucking regulations it is also a leading cause of accidents. While the truck does not strike another vehicle, the cargo can strike many vehicles on the road.
- Blind spot: All drivers must look around their vehicle to ensure it is safe to switch lanes. Trucks and cars have blind spots, and when a driver changes lanes with another vehicle in their blind spot, it can cause severe consequences.
Trucking technology
Trucking companies have begun tracking their drivers and promoting safety that can prevent truck accidents. These technologies will also serve as vital evidence in your truck accident case. However, just because this evidence is available at the time of the accident does not mean the trucking company will be willing to provide it to you and your Bronx truck accident attorney. There is essential evidence that we can request, such as maintenance records and service logs.
However, in-cabin technology and other tracking features provide additional evidence of driver error or negligence. Some companies implement in-cabin eye-tracking, which follows the truck drivers’ facial and eye movements. The tech will measure the size of the pupils and how many blinks the driver makes. The system will activate audio alarms and other tactics to keep the driver alert. When these tactics fail, the system sends video footage for analysis.
The DriveCam Video Event Recorder (VER) and black boxes collect data on speed, stops, acceleration, deceleration, abrupt movements, and collisions. Getting this information will be vital to showing negligence. Since trucking companies are privy to this data beforehand, they are unwilling to offer it freely.
A Bronx truck accident lawyer must move fast to file paperwork to preserve this critical evidence for your case. Some trucking companies can and will omit this evidence, intentionally and unintentionally. We can fight to make sure they immediately preserve the evidence and hand it over.
Which parties are liable for a Bronx truck accident?
Since there are many ways a truck accident can happen, several parties can bear legal responsibility for the damages the accident causes. While the truck driver is the at-fault party, their employer can also be a defendant in the case. Insurance limits will range by policy and trucking company.
Trucking companies will have higher insurance policy limits because their trucks will cause extensive damage. Most trucking insurance policies will range from $750,000 to $1 million. While these insurance policy limits and compensation options exist, that does not mean the entities behind them will pay you the compensation you deserve for your injuries.
Truck drivers will not admit fault. Since there is driver technology and many different truck driver protocols, the trucking company will receive a collision notification before the truck driver can even pick up their phone when an accident happens.
The trucking company will often train the truck driver on what to tell the authorities and what to keep to themselves. This action is intentional since trucking companies know the initial police report will heavily help their defense.
Innocent drivers do not have access to a coach at the scene and can make statements that hurt their claims. A Bronx truck accident lawyer can look at any underlying issues that led to the accident and find other liable parties. The more parties you name in your negligence claim, the better your chance of obtaining maximum compensation.
Depending on your accident, various parties may be held liable for trucking accidents, and you can file a claim against one or all of them.
The parties Bronx truck accident victims may name in a truck accident case include:
Truck driver
This party is evident since they were the primary cause of the accident. When negligent truck drivers cause an accident, they should be held liable. They will be the first entity you can file a claim against.
Trucking company
The trucking company is responsible for the actions of its drivers. They also play roles in negligence and other factors. When a trucking company overschedules a driver or fails to perform maintenance on one of their trucks, causing an accident, they hold legal and financial responsibility.
Manufacturing company
Trucks have many different parts and mustn’t have any defects. Tires and brakes are the biggest culprits of mechanical failures, and they are also essential parts for a truck and nearly any vehicle.
Shipping company
If your truck accident was caused by improperly loaded or secured cargo, the shipping company may be held liable. They are responsible for ensuring cargo is loaded onto the truck and secured in a way that does not pose a danger to other drivers.
With New York being a no-fault state, insurance claims against negligent parties can grow complex. Work quickly, as many provisions can affect your claim. Contact a truck accident lawyer immediately to discuss your options.
Compensation after a Bronx truck accident
Through a Bronx personal injury claim, you can recover compensation for the damages you suffer from a truck accident. You can request two types of payment: indirect suffering and direct economic loss.
Direct economic loss damages include:
- Loss of employer benefits
- Lost wages
- Medical bills
- Home health services
- Medical transportation
- Rehabilitation expenses
- Property damage repairs and replacements
- Prescription medications
- Future tangible losses.
Indirect suffering damages, on the other hand, are losses that do not produce a receipt, like:
- Mental anguish
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of pleasure in life
- Inability to perform daily functions
- Loss of spousal companionship
- Loss of education and career development opportunities
Indirect suffering damages are harder to calculate, and your Bronx truck accident attorney will need to work with various financial experts to calculate your claim.
When there is a loss of life in a truck accident, the surviving family can file a wrongful death claim in New York to recover financial compensation for funeral and burial expenses, medical expenses for the deceased, financial support, and more.
Call a Bronx truck accident lawyer from The Law Offices of Ivan M. Diamond
Ivan Diamond, Bronx Truck Accident Lawyer
The consequences of a truck accident can be debilitating and lifelong. You will never be the same physically or emotionally. To make matters worse, your truck accident injuries may have been prevented.
You must enlist the help of a Bronx truck accident lawyer to help you address the following issues:
- Provide legal advice and support through the claim process
- Hire experts to reconstruct the accident
- Investigate every aspect of the truck accident
- Communicate with the insurance company and trucking company
- Negotiate for fair compensation settlement in pre-litigation
- File your truck accident lawsuit in civil court if the insurance company won’t agree to fair compensation
- Represent you in court and advocate on your behalf
The primary goal of Ivan Diamond, Bronx truck accident lawyer, is to provide you with legal representation in your New York truck accident claim and obtain the maximum compensation you deserve to recover from these horrifying experiences.
Contact our office today at (718) 588-2000 for a free case evaluation and get started on your legal claim.
The Law Offices of Ivan M. Diamond
888 Grand Concourse Suite #1L, 10451
Phone: 718-588-2000
Client Testimonial
“Mr. Ivan Diamond is the definition of professionalism hard work. He’s my first experience with a lawyer (I retained him to represent me in two separate instances) … and he made it a pleasant one! He’s VERY hands on, very attentive, asked the questions, consistently checked up on me and prepared me for any and every possibility. Extremely knowledgeable. I recommend Mr. Diamond to friends and family who we’re all happy with outcome of their personal injury case’s. I consider Mr. Diamond to be family, because that’s how hard he worked for me and expressed real compassion for my circumstances. Hiring Mr. Diamond is a decision you will never regret..” – Bia S.
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January 2020
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The Law Offices of Ivan M. Diamond
888 Grand Concourse #1L Bronx, NY 10451 Phone: (718) 588-2000
Ivan M. Diamond is available for home and hospital visits, as well as weekend and evening appointments.