Columbus Truck Accident Lawyers

Columbus is a large city along the Chattahoochee River in western Georgia, popular for its longest urban Class-V whitewater course in the world.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reports that roughly 415,000 tractor-trailer accidents occur yearly in the United States, resulting in catastrophic and frequently fatal injuries. Crashes involving semi-trucks are handled differently than passenger vehicle accidents, and you need a skilled lawyer with experience. If you have suffered injuries or lost a loved one in a tractor-trailer accident, our Columbus truck accident lawyers at Childers & McCain, LLC can help.

What Types of Truck Accidents Does Childers & McCain, LLC Handle?

Our Columbus commercial truck accident lawyers at Childers & McCain, LLC have represented numerous injured victims and the families of those killed in accidents. Common truck accident cases we handle include:

Head-on collisions
Jackknife accidents
Rear-end accidents
Rollover accidents
T-bone accidents
Underride accidents

What Are Common Causes of Truck Accidents in Columbus?

Truck accidents occur for many reasons, though determining the exact cause is often difficult due to the extent of damage that occurs. The most common causes of truck accidents include:

Distracted driving
Drunk driving
Drowsy driving
Equipment or safety system failure
Improperly loaded or unsecured cargo
Inexperienced drivers
Poor maintenance
Poorly maintained roads
Reckless driving
Speeding
Tailgating
Unsafe company practices and policies
Weather

What Types of Injuries Are Common in Semi-Truck Accidents?

Fully loaded semi-trucks can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, creating such a massive impact force that the resultant injuries are almost always catastrophic. In fact, 97 percent result in fatalities. A truck’s height is also dangerous, and smaller vehicles are frequently pinned underneath the trailer during an accident. Those who do survive the accident often suffer severe life-altering injuries, the most common being:

Broken bones: Fractured, broken, and crushed bones are inevitable and often puncture internal organs, causing further injury.
Disfigurement: The magnitude and severity of injuries result in permanent scarring and disfigurement in nearly all truck accidents.
Death: Few people survive an accident with a semi-truck due to the injuries’ severity, extent, and complications.
Psychological trauma: Survivors of truck accidents frequently experience lingering psychological effects of the trauma, such as PTSD.
Severed or crushed limbs: Crushing and severing injuries are common due to the sheer size and force of impact of commercial trucks against passenger vehicles.
Severe burns: Semi-trucks hold hundreds of gallons of explosive diesel fuel that can ignite a fire when ruptured in an accident.
Spinal cord injuries: Due to the force of impact, spinal cord injuries are common, often resulting in paralysis.
Traumatic brain injuries: Brain injuries sustained in truck accidents are also common, severe, and can be permanent.

Who Is Responsible for the Accident and My Injuries?

Commercial truck accidents are much more complex cases because there are frequently multiple parties who may shoulder a percentage of responsibility, such as:

Truck driver: The driver would likely be at least partly responsible if they were operating the truck dangerously, such as speeding, tailgating, running others off the road, or weaving in and out of lanes.
Trucking company: Liability in truck accidents often falls on the driver’s employer.
Owner: Commercial trucks are often owned by a third party, including drivers, who could be liable if they did not meet federal safety regulations, were improperly maintained, or failed inspection.
Manufacturer: If a defective part or safety system ultimately caused the accident, the manufacturer could be responsible, particularly if they did not inform the truck owner or continued to manufacture and distribute a product they knew to be defective.

Evidence is crucial in commercial truck accidents. Federal truck regulations regarding record-keeping provide valuable evidentiary data easier to obtain than accidents involving only passenger cars. This data can also shed light on which parties may be responsible for the accident through:

Black box data
Cargo loading manifests
Driver’s driving and violation records
cell phone use data
Dashcam images
Driving maneuvers
Maintenance reports
Service records
Speed before the accident

How Can a Truck Accident Lawyer Help Me?

Commercial truck accidents cause severe, life-changing injuries requiring extensive recovery times and often life-long rehabilitation or care. Truck accidents also result in significant financial costs, such as medical bills and lost income.

Our Columbus truck accident lawyers at Childers & McCain, LLC can investigate the scene, review police reports, work with your medical team on ongoing medical care, hire experts, negotiate with insurance companies, and represent you in court. Childers & McCain, LLC has earned a reputation for recovering high compensation awards for our clients.

Compensation for a Truck Accident

Given the severity of injuries and magnitude of damage in collisions involving semi-trucks, compensation is significantly higher than in accidents between passenger cars. Medical bills alone can be staggering.

Compensation for personal injury claims ranges widely, especially in accidents involving semi-trucks, and the extent and seriousness of your injuries. Compensation is based on a combination of economic and non-economic damages.

Economic damages are the actual expenses related to the accident and your injuries, such as medical expenses, rehabilitative care, lost wages, property damage, and home modification.

Non-economic damages are the unspecified costs associated with your physical and mental pain and suffering from your accident and injuries, such as amputation, disfigurement, loss of quality of life or companionship, and emotional distress.

What Is the Statute of Limitations for Filing a Personal Injury Claim?

The statute of limitations to file a personal injury claim in Georgia is two years from the date of injury or death.