Have you been hurt in a crash with a big rig in Kentucky? If so, you may be facing life-altering injuries that leave you with long-term disabilities, unpaid medical bills, and financial stress. If a truck driver, trucking company, or other party was at-fault for the crash, you may hold them financially accountable for the injuries and financial losses you’ve suffered, including the cost of medical treatment, the income you’ve lost, and your pain and suffering.
Trucking companies and insurers will try to avoid paying the full compensation you need to rebuild your life. You’ll need the help of experienced truck accident lawyers who are ready to fight for justice and fair compensation. Contact Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer for a free case evaluation with a Kentucky big rig accident lawyer. We’ll explain how we can take on a trucking company and their insurance carrier and demand the fair compensation you need to move forward.
Know Your Rights After a Kentucky Truck Accident
After being in a truck accident in Kentucky, you may be worried about affording medical care, paying for recovery costs, and meeting everyday expenses if you cannot work due to your injuries. Our attorneys understand the many challenges you are facing if you or your loved one is dealing with severe or catastrophic injuries.
If the truck driver, trucking company, or another party was responsible for causing the crash, you may have the legal right to file a personal injury claim and demand a financial recovery. The attorneys at Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer are known for our Kentucky Courage when pursuing justice for our injured clients.
Why Truck Accidents Are Different: Proving Negligence
Accidents involving commercial trucks are generally more complicated to resolve than collisions involving only passenger vehicles. Several businesses may be involved in the operation of a semi-truck, and multiple parties may have liability in the event of a truck crash.
An experienced big rig accident lawyer will need to gather evidence to establish the at-fault parties. They may include the truck driver, trucking company, truck owner, truck manufacturer, or someone else who acted negligently and is at fault for the accident.
Complicating matters is that much of the evidence might remain in the hands of the trucking company, including:
- Commercial truck drivers’ hours-of-service logs that track how long a driver spends on duty and behind the wheel to ensure the driver’s compliance with regulatory limits on their hours of driving
- Truck drivers’ employment records and driving records and the results of random drug/alcohol tests
- Pre- and post-trip inspection reports written by truck drivers to highlight potential safety concerns with their vehicles
- Repair/maintenance records
- Cargo manifests
- Truck event data recorder logs
A trucking company may resist turning over such records to an injured accident victim. An experienced attorney may need to file a personal injury lawsuit and subpoena the trucking company’s records. The complexities of trucking regulations and truck accident lawsuits make it critical to have experienced truck accident attorneys guide you through the legal process and secure valuable evidence on your behalf.
The Power of a Kentucky Big Rig Accident Attorney
The attorneys at Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer have extensive experience representing accident victims in Kentucky. Our attorneys are proud to have recovered more than $400 million on behalf of injured Kentuckians. We’d like to help you too, if possible.
When you choose us to handle your case, you can expect us to work quickly to investigate your claim and gather evidence to identify all potentially at fault parties and avenues for compensation. We will calculate your past, ongoing, and future financial medical expenses related to the accident and determine whether you may also have a claim to recover compensation for intangible losses, such as pain and suffering. Our law firm will keep you updated at each step in the claims process.
Maximize Your Compensation: What Damages Can You Claim?
As part of a truck accident claim, you may seek compensation for the following:
- Medical treatment and rehabilitation
- Long-term disability care and services, such as home health care or housekeeping
- Lost wages from missed work or reduced earnings in a part-time/light-duty position
- Lost future earning capacity and employment benefits caused by permanent disability
- Pain and suffering
- Lost quality of life due to physical disabilities or permanent, visible scarring and disfigurement
The Deadline to Act: Kentucky’s Statute of Limitations
You have limited time after a crash to pursue financial recovery from a liable truck driver or trucking company. Under the truck accident statute of limitations in Kentucky, you have at least two years after a truck crash to file a lawsuit. A lot of work has to occur during that two-year period to develop a lawsuit. The court will likely toss out your case if you file after this deadline. For this reason, you should seek to protect your legal options by contacting a Kentucky truck accident attorney with Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer as soon as possible after a big rig accident.
The “No Fee If We Don’t Win” Advantage
We understand the stress you may be under due to financial difficulties caused by a truck accident. Medical bills and lost earnings from missed work can add up fast. You might be worried about how to afford the services of a personal injury lawyer. Our law firm offers a “No Fee If We Don’t Win” pledge. We handle truck accident claims on a contingency fee basis. You will not owe us any legal fees or expenses unless we win money for you through an insurance settlement or court award.
FAQs: Big Rig Truck Accidents
If you’ve recently been injured in a truck accident, you probably have questions about what to do next. Here are the answers to some questions clients frequently ask us.
How is a big rig truck accident different from a regular car accident?
Trucking accident cases are more complicated than ordinary car accidents. For example, state and federal regulations require trucking companies to keep numerous records of their operations. Truck accident lawyers must review the records after a crash for any evidence of fault, such as truck drivers exceeding their hours-of-service limits and driving while dangerously fatigued or cargo manifests showing excessive loads.
Truck accidents frequently cause more severe injuries than car accidents, which means truck accident claims involve bigger dollar figures. That can slow down the settlement process as truck companies and insurers seek to minimize their financial liability. Trucking accident cases may have multiple liable parties who fight to shift liability from themselves to other defendants. Trucking companies may use complex insurance coverage schemes or corporate structures that make it challenging to identify the correct party to sue or the amount of insurance coverage available for a case.
Do I really need a lawyer for a Kentucky truck accident claim?
Given the complexities of truck accident claims, having a truck accident attorney handle the claims process on your behalf can lift the burden off you. An experienced personal injury lawyer will have an informed perspective of the fair value of your claim and what is reasonable to expect in the way of compensation. A lawyer also can respond to attempts by the insurance companies to minimize the value of your claim. A lawyer can handle all the communications with the insurance companies so you can focus on your medical treatment and rehabilitation.
Can I sue if I was partially at fault in my Kentucky big rig accident?
In Kentucky, you can file a truck accident lawsuit even if you share some of the fault for the crash. Kentucky follows the pure comparative negligence rule in accident cases, which states that an injured claimant can recover compensation even if they share responsibility for causing their injuries.
However, the rule requires a jury or judge not just to assign each responsible party a percentage of fault. The court then reduces the claimant’s award for their losses in proportion to their percentage of fault. For example, if you would have been awarded $100,000 but were found to be 20% to blame, your final award would be $80,000. Our Kentucky truck accident attorneys will work to minimize your share of fault and maximize your potential recovery.
What if the truck driver claims he wasn’t at fault?
Hiring an established law firm with the resources to invest in developing a truck accident case offers you the best chance of securing the proof needed to prove truck driver negligence. The Kentucky truck accident lawyers at Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer will move quickly to recover all available evidence in your truck accident case. Our extensive experience means we know where to seek the proof needed to hold a truck driver or trucking company accountable for a devastating crash involving serious injuries or catastrophic injuries.
How much does it cost to hire a Kentucky big rig accident lawyer?
At Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer, our Kentucky Courage lawyers represent truck accident victims on a contingency fee basis. Our clients pay nothing upfront to hire our firm. Our truck accident attorneys get paid only if they recover financial compensation for injury victims through a fair settlement or court judgment. Our fee is a percentage of the total financial recovery we obtain for you. Our personal injury attorneys offer free case consultations, so you never have to worry about paying us for the experienced legal representation you need.
Contact a Kentucky Semi-Truck Accident Lawyer Today
Are you dealing with the painful aftermath of a big rig accident in Kentucky that you didn’t cause? Contact Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer today for a free, no-obligation consultation with an 18-wheeler accident lawyer in Kentucky to discuss how our firm can help you pursue the maximum compensation you need for your recovery.
