Question 1

I’ve been hurt in a Seattle area truck-related accident. What’s the first thing I should do?

Accepted Answer

See a doctor. Do not wait. Do not pass off your injury as something inconvenient to suffer through or that it’s no big deal. Check-in with a doctor as soon as possible after any motor vehicle accident, even if you don’t think you’re too badly hurt, or hurt at all. Why is seeing a doctor so important? For several reasons. First, because your health takes priority, and the sooner you see a doctor for any health condition the better off you are. Additionally, some injuries typical of motor vehicle accidents take days or more to show symptoms, but are easy for doctors to diagnose and begin treating right away. Second, because not seeing a doctor risks all sort of complications: Health complications, from letting an injury go untreated or undiscovered, leading to worse health outcomes; Insurance complications, from failing to give your (or someone else’s) insurance company notice of your injury, which could cause you to lose benefits; Legal/financial complications, from failing to take the simple, practical steps necessary to protect your rights and to prevent someone from claiming you brought an injury on yourself. From the legal standpoint, seeing a doctor soon is critically important if you ever hope to prove the truck accident caused your injury, the extent and prognosis of your injury, or the past, current, and future cost of treatment for your injury. Your lawyer will thank you.

Question 2

What are some steps I can take as a motorist to avoid a truck-related accident?

Accepted Answer

Sometimes getting hurt in an accident is simply unavoidable. You can drive as safely as possible, but you can’t control how others on the road act. Still, there are affirmative steps you can take to reduce your risk of getting into a truck accident. Perhaps most important is by avoiding No Zones, the large blind spots that surround tractor trailer trucks. The typical tractor trailer No Zones are: 20 feet in the lane directly in front of the truck; 30 feet in the lane directly behind the truck; One lane-width in the driver-side blind spot extending from just behind the truck cab to mid-trailer; and Two lane-widths in the passenger-side blind spot extending the bumper-to-bumper length of the truck. Not sure if you’re in a No Zone? Just remember: if you cannot see the truck driver in the truck’s rear-view mirror, then the truck driver cannot see you, either. Other steps you can take to steer clear of accidents with large trucks are to give yourself a safe distance behind trucks on the highway (especially in windy or slick road conditions), anticipate trucks’ wide turn radius, and never pass trucks or cut in front of them on downhill stretches of road.

Question 3

Whom can I sue for damages after getting hurt in an accident involving a truck?

Accepted Answer

That’s a complicated question. Without getting into the legal technicalities, who you can sue for your injuries or for the loss of a loved one generally depends on whose actions caused the accident and/or whose actions could have prevented the accident, but didn’t. Skilled attorneys like the team at Boohoff Law understand it’s not always obvious at first look who those people or companies are in a truck accident matter. That’s primarily because a loaded commercial truck typically has multiple people and legal interests associated with it: the driver, the driver’s employer, the truck and trailer owners (often two separate parties), and the owner of the cargo. Every one of those parties could have legal liability to anyone hurt in a truck-related accident. So could numerous other parties, like other drivers on the road, car and truck equipment manufacturers, commercial mechanics, and even local and state government entities. Not to mention that some, but not necessarily all, of those parties may carry insurance. Bottom line: most of the time, you can’t know for sure who you can sue for damages after a truck accident without having an attorney do a preliminary investigation into the facts and circumstances of the accident, and the legal interests of all of motor vehicles, businesses, and people affected.

Question 4

How much is a typical truck accident injury claim worth?

Accepted Answer

That’s another tricky one. In all honesty: any lawyer who tells you right-off-the-bat what your truck accident injury claim is worth is probably blowing smoke. At best, it’s an educated guess with a LOT of wiggle room. At worst, it’s just a number the lawyer pulls out of thin air. What a case is worth, by which we mean, how much money you can reasonably expect to recover in damages for your injury or loss, depends on a huge range of factors, including: The severity of the injury or loss to you; What maximum recovery from your injury looks like and your probability of reaching it; Your age, general state of health, employment status, and income at the time of the accident; How badly you’ve suffered physically, emotionally, and financially because of the accident; The amount of insurance carried by anyone with potential liability to you; and The ability of anyone with potential liability to you to pay damages in excess or in the absence of insurance. Those are just a few of the relevant factors, mind you. Making definitive statements about the value of a case at the outset is, as we said, not something responsible lawyers like us do (We can, however, point you to our track record of having recovered millions of dollars in total for our former clients, so long as you understand there are never any guarantees: every case is different). What we can say definitively is that, in most cases, Washington law permits recovery of fixed, knowable, present and future expenses associated with an injury or loss (medical expenses, lost wages, etc.). Washington law also allows for recovery of subjective pain and suffering and loss of consortium type damages, but only up to a maximum of 43 percent of the average annual wage in Washington (a number set by law) multiplied by your life expectancy at the time of the accident (which can’t be less than 15 years).

Question 5

How long does it take to recover money for my truck-accident injuries?

Accepted Answer

You’re probably getting tired of hearing this, but again, it all depends on the facts of your case. First things first, however. If you carry health insurance, it will typically cover the cost of your medical care after an accident, subject to your policy’s applicable co-pays, deductible, and limits. If you end up recovering compensation from others for your injuries later on down the road, then your health insurance company will slide in and recover what it paid to your medical providers through a legal principle called subrogation. You may be thinking: “Okay, but that’s just my medical care. I have other expenses because of this accident, plus I’m out my co-pays and deductibles! How do I get that money, and fast?” We hear you. Generally speaking, aside from your own health insurance coverage, money for injuries and losses caused by truck accidents comes from the defendants’ insurance or from the defendants directly. How long it takes for those parties to pay out, and how much they’re willing to pay, depends on factors including: Whether they recognize their legal liability to you; Whether they accept your view of how much money you should receive; How much less than maximum damages you are willing to take to get paid quicker; and Whether the money is coming from insurance or directly from the defendant. On one hand, we have seen cases settled for at-or-near insurance policy maximums in a matter of weeks when liability is clear and damages are indisputable. On the other hand, we have also seen cases take years to resolve when parties dispute liability and the case goes to trial. At Boohoff Law, we hesitate to predict how fast a case will go or how soon you can recover money (assuming you can recover money at all). Instead, we promise to work our hardest to get our clients the best available outcome for their cases, and to listen to your needs so that any outcome serves your interests as well as possible.

Question 6

I was offered a settlement. Should I take it?

Accepted Answer

We’re going to answer that question with a question. Do you have a lawyer? If your answer is no, then so is ours. In our years of experience, we have never seen a settlement offer made anyone who doesn’t have a lawyer that’s as good as the one they’d get if they did have a lawyer. Insurance companies and parties with legal liability to you want to minimize their own financial pain. If they recognize their liability and see they could be on the hook to you for a mountain of damages, then they’re going to do what they can to get themselves off the hook for as few dollars possible. They also bet you could use that money, so they try to tempt you with a quick payment. What do they want in return? Usually, a full-and-complete release of themselves and anyone associated with them from liability to you forever and always. That includes a promise not to sue them later if you discover you’re more injured than you thought, or if someone else successfully sues them for far more than they paid you. We understand the emotional and financial pressures to take a fast settlement offer. It feels like free money. But, it’s not. In our experience, a fast, unsolicited settlement offer might as well come with a message reading “These people think they owe you a lot more money than they’re putting on the table!” More often than not, saying “No, thank you,” and letting an experienced truck accident lawyer take over negotiations from there is your best bet for recovering maximum compensation.

Question 7

How much does a lawyer cost?

Accepted Answer

Not as much as you might think. For starters, an initial consultation with the skilled truck accident attorneys at Boohoff law is free, confidential, and comes with no obligation to move forward with us as your attorneys. For the rest, we almost always represent our clients on a contingent fee basis. Basically, that means we don’t get paid unless our clients do. More specifically, it means we enter into an agreement with our clients that says we receive a percentage of any settlement or judgment our client recovers, and lays out how the other expenses of the case will be paid. We like this type of arrangement, because it lines up our interests with our clients’. In essence, we put our own financial wellbeing on the line right next to our clients’.

Question 8

How Many Truck Accidents Occur in Washington and Across the Nation Each Year?

Accepted Answer

The FMCSA estimates 4,237 fatal crashes including 4,761 fatalities involving large trucks across the nation in 2017, an increase from almost 3,900 in 2016, and a little over 3,600 in 2015. Although these numbers represent an increase from an all time low of under 3,000 crashes in 2009, they are much lower than the high amount of crashes in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Injury collisions involving trucks remain plentiful. In recent years, more than 100,000 large trucks were involved in injury crashes on United States roads and highways, representing a drastic increase since 2009’s all time low of 53,000 large trucks involved in injury collisions.

Question 9

Who Is Involved in Truck Accidents?

Accepted Answer

Female and male drivers of all ages have been involved in truck accidents, but some groups are more prone to accidents than others. Some statistics regarding particular groups of people and truck accidents include: The vast majority of the 4,600 truck drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2017 were between the ages of 25 and 66. Only 270 were under the age of 25, and 299 over the age of 66. The majority of those killed in fatal truck crashes in 2017 were between 26 and 35 years old, which is consistent with most previous years’ data. When factoring sex into the equation, the majority of fatalities for males (17 percent) fell in the 26 to 35 age range, while the majority of female truck accident fatalities (16.5 percent) were between 18 and 25. More than double the amount of males (3,423) died in truck accident fatalities than females (1,366). Many different people might be involved in a fatal truck accident, but truck drivers, who are protected by their big rigs, don’t die as frequently as other motorists. According to the FMCSA, those who were killed in large truck accidents in 2017 include: Driver of Large Truck (591) Driver of Other Motor Vehicle (2,327) Passenger of Large Truck (74) Passenger of Other Motor Vehicle (685) Pedestrian (337) Bicyclists (55)

Question 10

How Often Do Certain Types of Truck Accidents Happen?

Accepted Answer

Many different types of collisions occur between trucks and other vehicles, but some are more common than others. The FMCSA gathers data on the frequency of each of the following types of fatal truck accidents: In 2017, 28.7 percent of all fatal truck accidents were angle collisions. Angle collisions often occur on highways when a truck or another driver is changing lines. A little more than 24 percent of fatal truck accidents in 2017 were rear-end collisions, often a result of vehicles or trucks following too closely, especially in heavy traffic. Head-on collisions constitute 14.4 percent of all fatal truck collisions in 2017. Sideswipes in both directions made up approximately 7 percent of fatal truck crashes in 2017.

Question 11

When Do Truck Accidents Occur?

Accepted Answer

You might get injured or lose a family member in a truck accident at any time, day or night, but the data show truck accidents occur with a higher frequency at some days and times more than others. According to the FMCSA, the most likely time of day to die in a truck accident is between noon. and 3 p.m. In 2017, 18.8 percent of fatal truck crashes occurred during this time period. A little over 16 percent of fatal truck crashes occurred between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. in 2017. Approximately 15 percent of 2017’s fatal truck crashes occurred between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., and between 9 a.m. and noon. Those who drive between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. are least likely to be involved in a fatal truck accident, suggesting the traffic level has more to do with fatal truck accidents than the actual time of day. Less than 8 percent of fatal truck crashes occurred between 9 p.m. and midnight and between midnight and 3 a.m.

Question 12

Under What Conditions Do Truck Accidents Occur?

Accepted Answer

Many different factors come into play when a truck accident happens. Some factors which might play a part include weather conditions, road conditions, and light conditions. The FMCSA provides data about all of these conditions during fatal truck accidents. Weather Conditions Typically, more than two-thirds of fatal truck crashes take place on clear days. In 2017, 66.1 percent of fatal truck accidents were on clear days. 14.6 percent of fatal truck accidents occurred on cloudy days in 2017. 8.1 percent of fatal truck accidents occurred when it was raining in 2017. Surprisingly, only 1.6 percent of fatal truck accidents occurred during snow in 2017. In fact, 1.8 percent of fatal truck accidents occurred when fog, smoke, or smog was present. Road Conditions Many assume traffic accidents always occur on wet or snowy roads, but in 2017, 82.6 percent of fatal truck accidents occurred on dry roads, consistent with previous years’ data. 12. 6 percent of fatal truck crashes occurred on wet roads in 2017. Ice, frost, slush, standing water, mud, dirt, gravel, and sand comprise less than 3 percent of road surface conditions for fatal truck accidents in 2017. Light Conditions Each year, a little more than 61 percent of fatal collisions involving large trucks occur during daylight hours. Less than 5 percent of fatal truck crashes occurred at dawn or dusk in 2017. Of the fatal truck accidents which occurred when it was dark in 2017, 24.1 percent occurred in unlighted areas, and 9.6 percent occurred in areas which were well lit.

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