Semi-Truck Accidents

Every day, semi-truck accidents claim lives and cause irreparable injuries. Some cause death, while others result in serious injuries and disabilities, including severe broken bones, loss of limbs, spinal cord injuries, paraplegia, quadriplegia, loss of cognitive functioning and severe brain injury.

Truck drivers have a responsibility not to operate their vehicles in a careless or reckless manner. And trucking companies must follow applicable weight limits and maintain their vehicles properly.

If you believe you have a claim, seek advice from a personal injury attorney who specializes in semi-truck accidents. That attorney can help determine the validity of your claim and the next steps you should take.

Have a Question or Need More Information?

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Q Does the government regulate semi-truck drivers?

A Yes. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations provide a great deal of laws about commercial drivers – everything from how they do their pre-trip inspections to how many hours they can drive in a day or a week. A lawyer must be familiar with these regulations, as they make many trucking cases different than ordinary automobile collision cases.

Q How often are people hurt in semi-truck accidents?

A In 2012, there were approximately 77,000 semi truck crashes causing injury. Statistics aren’t clear how many people were injured in those crashes, or how often the tractor/trailer drivers were at fault. Unfortunately, because of the size and weight of these trucks, the crashes are often very severe – over 44,000 people died in semi-truck crashes in the USA between 2003 and 2012.

Q What is my case worth?

A Each case depends on its own facts. Anyone who hears a little bit about your case and tells you what it’s worth doesn’t know what they’re talking about. The value of each case depends on many things – liability (whose fault was it), the severity of the injury, the amount of monetary damages (medical bills, lost wages, etc), the permanency of the injury, and many other things. With personal injury and medical malpractice cases, it can be difficult to predict what a jury would do. When we accept a case, we will let you know once the case is ready for potential settlement what we think a reasonable verdict range is, and then we will help you decide whether to settle the case or take it to trial.

Q How long will my case take?

A Each case is different. Some cases come into our office and are resolved in a few weeks – some take several years. Again, this depends on the nature of the case and severity of the injuries. In many cases we want to wait until you heal up before we try to get the case resolved. In other cases, that simply isn’t possible. We pursue all of our cases diligently – we want to get them done for you quickly and efficiently – but we don’t sacrifice quality to get them done fast.

Q Will I need money up front?

A In most cases, we don’t charge money up front. We typically work on a contingent fee – meaning that we get a percentage of whatever we get you. When we do that, we don’t charge you if we lose the case. We also don’t make you pay for case costs along the way. If we win or settle, those costs come out of your settlement. If we lose, you don’t owe us anything for costs. In some cases, we charge an hourly rate – usually because the case hopefully won’t take a lot of time and it would be unfair for us to charge a percentage of a relatively easily recovery. Either way, we discuss all fee issues with you up front before you sign up with us.

Q Do you do free consultations?

A We will talk to you about your case on the phone to see if we can help you. We won’t give you legal advice or tell you what to do when you first call us because we frankly won’t know enough about the case to give you the type of advice you deserve. If you come in to meet with us, you don’t owe us anything for the initial visit.

Q Do I need an attorney? If so, why Warner?

A In any serious case, it’s usually a good idea to have an attorney. Of course, we turn down cases nearly every day where we can’t help the person. Why do we do that? Because if we took those cases, the client wouldn’t be happy and we wouldn’t be happy (and frankly probably wouldn’t make any money). Call us, and we will do our best to tell you if you need an attorney. As for why you should pick us? We believe our bios and our success record speak for themselves.

Q Someone said I should pick a Chicago attorney. Is that true?

A No. While there are some great lawyers in Chicago, there are great lawyers right here in the Quad Cities. Look at our resumes and speak with us before you call someone from out of the area. We think you’ll find that we have the experience, skills, and personal touch you are looking for.

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