Truck accidents often result in serious, life-changing injuries in Greenburgh. Fortunately, victims can recover compensation for the injuries they sustained.
Numerous types of commercial trucks litter the roads in and around Greenburgh. Nearly all of them can cause catastrophic accidents. Our experienced Greenburgh truck accident lawyers can help you with the complex recovery process. The first step will be to file an insurance claim for damages, but we can also evaluate your case to determine if filing a lawsuit is the appropriate next step. There are barriers to filing a lawsuit, but if you can show you suffered serious injuries in your accident, you could recover more compensation that would be available from insurance.
If you were injured because of a truck accident, our Greenburgh truck accident lawyers can help you obtain the financial compensation you deserve. Contact The Martello Law Firm at (718) 841-0083 for a free case review.
Types of Trucks that Can Be Involved in a Greenburgh, NY Truck Accident
Greenburgh sits just outside New York City, one of the world’s busiest hubs for commercial trucks. As such, numerous commercial trucks come in and out of the area to conduct their business. Each type of truck accident case is different and will depend heavily on the type of truck that caused your accident. The following are some common types of trucks that victims are injured by in Greenburgh:
- Tractor-trailers, also known as 18-wheelers
- Amazon Trucks
- Rental moving trucks
- Cargo trucks
- Refrigerator trucks
- Flatbed trucks
- Oil tanker trucks
- Garbage trucks
- Tow trucks
- Dump trucks
- Concrete mixers
- Mail delivery trucks
- Fire engines
Truck accident cases are often complex because multiple parties could be liable for your injuries depending on the type of truck involved. Our Greenburgh truck accident lawyers can help you recover compensation for your injuries regardless of the type of truck that injured you.
Determining Liability for a Truck Accident in Greenburgh, NY
In many cases, the truck driver will be the person most likely to be responsible for causing a truck accident. However, numerous other parties could have contributed to bringing about the accident and can also be held liable for their negligence in a Greenburgh lawsuit.
Truck Driver
Truck drivers are required to follow all traffic laws, as well as New York and federal trucking regulations. For instance, truck drivers are required to inspect their trucks before taking them on the road to ensure all systems are working properly and whether any maintenance needs to be done. Truckers can be sued for damages if they fail to inspect their vehicle and cause an accident. Drivers must also drive a certain number of hours before taking a mandatory break.
Truckers must also observe all traffic laws. If a driver causes an accident because they were speeding or illegally changed lanes, they can be sued for basic negligence. However, they are usually not the only party responsible for causing an accident.
Trucking Company
Suppose a trucker caused an accident while performing within the scope of and in furtherance of their job duties. In that case, their employer trucking company can typically be held vicariously liable for their employee’s negligence. Trucking companies can also be held accountable for their own negligence too. For instance, if the trucking company hired a dangerous and incompetent driver and should have known about the driver’s history, the trucking company could be sued for negligent hiring.
Other Drivers
Lastly, other drivers could share liability if multiple cars were involved in your truck accident. Sometimes other drivers act recklessly around a truck, like cutting the truck off, which can cause a truck driver to lose control or have to swerve to avoid an accident, striking your vehicle in the process. If those drivers are known, or their identities can be discovered, they can be named in your lawsuit for their part in causing your injuries. Our Greenburgh truck accident lawyers can review your case to ensure that every party that shares the blame is sued for damages.
Recovering Compensation After a Truck Accident in Greenburgh, NY
The process to recover compensation for your truck accident injuries can be complex if you are unfamiliar with New York’s no-fault insurance rules. Truck accident victims can start by filing an insurance claim to recover damages, but there are additional challenges to filing a lawsuit if additional compensation is needed.
Filing an Insurance Claim
New York is a no-fault state, meaning that a victim injured in a traffic accident will be able to file a claim with their own personal injury protection (PIP) insurance to cover their injuries. The benefit of this structure is that victims can recover compensation without having to prove fault. The tradeoff, however, is that most victims will be barred from filing a lawsuit to recover the full amount they could be entitled to.
Truck accidents often result in severe injuries. Fortunately, New York allows victims that have suffered “serious injuries” to file a lawsuit against the negligent party.
Filing a Lawsuit
Truck accident victims can file a lawsuit if they can overcome New York’s “serious injury” threshold. New York recognizes several categories of injuries that qualify as serious for the purposes of filing a lawsuit. For example, broken bones, loss of a body part, or a permanent loss of body function would be considered serious injuries. Of course, the death of a loved one is considered serious, as well as if the victim suffered a miscarriage as a result of the truck accident. Lastly, your injuries are considered serious if they prevent you from performing normal functions for 90 of the first 180 days following an accident. Our Greenburgh truck accident lawyers can help you determine if your injuries pass the threshold and prepare your lawsuit to file.
Our Greenburgh, NY Truck Accident Lawyer Can Help
Our Greenburgh truck accident lawyers are here to help truck accident victims get the justice they deserve against negligent drivers. For a free case evaluation, call The Martello Law Firm today at (718) 841-0083.
