After a truck accident, having the right legal team to support you in this difficult time can be the difference between a settlement that falls short of your needs and one that fully compensates you for your injuries, emotional distress, lost income, and ongoing care.
Many people affected by truck accidents are drawn to large law firms that focus on settling cases quickly rather than truly prioritizing your best interests. These high-volume firms, pressured to close cases swiftly, missing the potential for much higher compensation specific to truck accident cases. That’s not the approach you’ll find at Advocai.
Our lawyers, members of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association, have the expertise to handle the complexities of truck accident law. Combining our experience and commitment, we work to ensure you receive the full compensation that you’re entitled to for your loss. We ensure to treat every client with the respect, care, and attention they deserve, relentlessly pursuing accountability for those responsible. When you partner with Advocai, you’re not just hiring an attorney—you’re gaining an advocate who is fully committed to securing the compensation you’re entitled to.
Why Are Truck Accidents Cases So Complicated?
Truck accident cases are significantly more complex than typical motor vehicle accidents for several reasons. Victims often endure severe, life-altering injuries while trucking companies and their insurers aggressively work to minimize payouts. Investigating these incidents requires a thorough review of multiple sources of evidence, including extensive records mandated by federal and provincial regulations.
The trucking industry involves various parties—drivers, trucking companies, and third-party contractors—any of which may share responsibility for the crash. Given the severity of the injuries caused by truck accidents, it is essential to identify and establish liability among all potential at-fault parties. This requires painstaking investigation and discovery by the legal team of the accident victim.
Further complicating these cases is the layered insurance coverage typically held by trucking companies. These companies often have multiple insurance policies “layered” on top of each other. This adds complexity, as one policy is not activated until another's coverage limits are exhausted and requires more defence lawyers and more insurers to get involved.
Example of Layered Coverage:
A trucking company might have insurance on the same driver/vehicle where Insurance Company A covers the first $1,000,000 of loss, Insurance Company B covers any loss between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000 and Insurance Company C covers any loss between $2,000,000 and $10,000,000.
Types of Truck Accidents
Truck rollover accidents are among the most catastrophic and terrifying incidents on the road. With their high center of gravity, tractor-trailers and large commercial trucks are far more prone to tipping than standard cars. If a driver takes a turn too sharply or fails to account for road conditions, the trailer can flip, causing the entire truck to roll onto its side. This creates an extremely dangerous, often deadly, hazard for everyone nearby.
The most common type of truck accident is the rear-end collision. The size and weight difference between a commercial truck and a passenger car can easily result in smaller vehicles being crushed on impact. Since commercial trucks are heavy and slow to maneuver, truck drivers need extra time and distance to slow down, avoid hazards, or come to a complete stop. When truck drivers engage in risky behaviours—such as driving while distracted, speeding, or tailgating—their negligence can lead to catastrophic rear-end accidents.
When drivers act recklessly, negligently, or simply lose control of their vehicles, they can veer out of their lane and into oncoming traffic, leading to head-on collisions. Fatigue can also contribute to this negligence and is a common factor in truck accident cases. These devastating crashes can also occur at red lights, stop signs, or intersections when drivers fail to yield the right-of-way.
A sideswipe accident typically involves vehicles travelling side-by-side in the same direction. Sideswipe crashes often occur when truck drivers fail to check their many blind spots before changing lanes or merging. Other contributing factors include tire blowouts, road obstacles, high winds, fatigue, or poor weather, which cause drivers to lose control. These accidents are especially dangerous, as the sideswiped car can be pushed into neighbouring lanes, triggering multi-vehicle pileups and extensive damage.
T-bone accidents, also known as side-impact collisions, are among the most common crashes at intersections due to their nature. These incidents often occur when truck drivers disregard traffic signals, such as running red lights, ignoring stop signs, or failing to yield the right-of-way, resulting in a collision. For occupants of passenger vehicles, these crashes can be catastrophic, as the immense weight and force of a truck’s impact are absorbed directly by the side of the car.
Red Flags When Hiring a Truck Accident Lawyer
Not all law firms share the same values. High-volume firms often have an incentive to settle high-value claims, like truck accident cases, quickly and for far less than their true worth. Insurance companies are often willing to pay what seems like a substantial amount, yet these offers fall short of the full compensation a case deserves. Choosing a lawyer who will fight for everything you’re entitled to is essential.
The complexity of truck accident claims demands experienced, highly trained attorneys who stay personally involved in every detail of the case. You need to consider whether you are going to have direct and easy access to the lawyer representing you, or, if you are going to be dealing with assistants, clerks, paralegals or junior lawyers? If it’s the latter, consider this a red flag—your case deserves the full attention of a dedicated advocate. If you are trying to figure out what type of attention you are going to get from the lawyer representing you consider: (A) who answered your first phone call, email or chat message; (B) how quickly they responded; and, (C) whether the lawyer you spoke to offered you their cell phone number.
Finally, be wary of any lawyer who uses pressure tactics that might include arbitrary time limits (you have 2 years to sue and virtually all other deadlines are flexible); unreasonable promises about the outcome of your case (which is typically subject to significant changes based on your recovery and other factors); or, pressure to sign on the spot.
Why Hire Advocai?
At Advocai, our lawyers bring the skills, experience, and resources needed to help you obtain full compensation for your losses. We’re committed to representing you in a way that treats you with dignity, respect, and compassion at every step of the legal process. We do so to minimize your stress and ensure that you can focus on your recovery.
Over the years, we’ve helped many victims of truck accidents, both those injured and the families of those lost, maximize their claims. Because of the severity of truck accident injuries we typically meet with potential clients and their families for free consultations while they are in hospital or recovering at home. Contact us if you have any questions or would like to arrange a no obligation, no pressure, free consultation.
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Contact us for more information about our services and to discuss your claim.