Sep 22, 2023
Examining the Average Settlement Value of Miami Truck Accident Injury Cases
On the highway, few objects are bigger or more dangerous than a fully-loaded semi-truck. They can weigh 50,000 pounds, and their visibility and maneuverability are not nearly as easy as your average car on Florida roads. Truck accident injuries are usually very serious, and it is big business for insurance companies to try to lessen; if you are involved in an accident, you deserve fair financial compensation for your injuries.
If you have suffered an injury in a truck accident, then you need the services of a truck accident lawyer. Truck accident settlements can be high, but without proper legal services and know-how, you could easily be taken advantage of in your settlement with a trucking insurance adjuster. This post will examine the alleged average settlement values and how a truck accident attorney will work for you.
Why Can Truck Accident Settlements Be So High?
Semi-truck traveling at highway speeds are incredibly dangerous. The driver and the other motorists involved in the crash are at terrible risk of fatal injuries. Fully loaded trucks are usually the most significant danger on the road to personal vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles, mopeds, scooters, and pedestrians – and even to other truckers.
They are twenty times heavier than most passenger cars, far larger (longer) and less maneuverable, and sometimes carry hazardous material; some of those materials are explosive or highly toxic. Big rig drivers are supposed to be extensively trained and have special physical capabilities to drive 18-wheelers, but accidents happen, and corners can frequently be cut to keep to a load on schedule.
Any car accident can result in serious injury, but with the sheer size and inertia of semi-trucks (a/k/a tractor-trailers or 18-wheelers), they are much more common even with low-speed crashes. Common injuries include the following:
- Body wounds
- Torn ligaments
- Bruises
- Whiplash
- Loss of limb or body parts
- Internal bleeding
- Brain damage (TBI or mTBI)
- Burns (from airbag or other)
- Incapacitation
- Poisoning when toxic material is involved
- Fatality (wrongful death)
The consequences can be severe, thus so are the settlements. Do not let yourself be low-balled by an insurance agency worrying over their own finances.
Economic Damages
When working out your settlement, there are different damages to consider. Chiefly among them are “economic damages”, which are medical costs (past and future), lost wages (past and future), and repair/replace property. You can also be paid out for future anticipated costs, medical bills, and lost earning capacity down the line.
This is the most essential aspect of your settlement and the bare minimum you should expect. Someone, through negligence, has hurt you and your property, and you deserve to be reimbursed for the costs.
Medical bills can be very expensive, and facing one without the proper compensation can leave your life in financial ruin. Your vehicle can easily be totaled against the full weight of a semi-truck, leaving you with no transportation and serious loss of property. A truck accident lawyer will ensure to fight for clients to have enough to live comfortably after an injury, both now and in the future.
Non-Economic Damages
Medical expenses and property loss are far from the only damages from a truck accident injury. You may have gone through a horrifying experience, enduring pain, suffering, and other types of psychological suffering along the way. Your quality of life could very well be diminished, sometimes severely. Someone you love may very well have been killed.
Non-economic damages account for these emotional (a/k/a human) costs, and making sure you receive fair compensation for the strain of what you have gone through is part of the legal help provided to our clients.
A personal injury law firm can work with you to determine how much pain and suffering you have been through, and how much compensation you may be owed. You could be reimbursed for every bit of mental anguish, inconvenience, and even frustration brought on by the accident.
If your loved one has been killed in a truck accident, damages include the pain and suffering they went through in their death as well as your loss of companionship. In Florida, only certain people can file a wrongful death claim – usually, there is a personal representative of the decedent’s estate, along with the spouse and/or children of the loved one that passed away.
Punitive Damages
When those responsible for the accident have been found to have caused the accident through wanton negligence or malice, or sometimes from conscious disregard (reckless behavior), you can pursue punitive damages. For example, the driver may have been severely impaired, or the company could have willfully ignored proper safety precautions.
Not all truck accident cases will involve punitive damages, and they can be difficult to seek out without the aid of the proper truck accident lawyer.
Calculating the damages can be complicated, which is why a truck accident lawyer is your best bet for claiming the reimbursement you deserve. They are familiar with the calculations, and can help determine which damages you have sustained and how to prove it in court. You may have gone through something horrible, but with a truck accident lawyer, your life and financial future could be placed in good hands.
What Elements Can Decrease Your Settlement Value
Unfortunately, there are aspects that can decrease your settlement value. Comparative negligence can limit the amount you receive, as well as severity of injuries. That simply means that the defendant can assert that you were also negligent in the accident and thus also responsible in some way or another, and while you may not have to pay, your value would be deduced (subtracted) by that percentage and thus receive less in a settlement.
For example, you may have been injured by a truck, but you may have been speeding. During the court case, it may be determined that you are 15% at-fault. That may not seem like much, but it will reduce the amount of your claim by 15%; therefore, you would only receive 85% of your compensation in that case.
A lawyer can assist you against cases like this, fighting for your payout to be as high as possible and avoiding any potential wrongdoing in your accident. If you feel you could be accused of fault in your truck accident, it is vital to seek out a lawyer as quickly as possible.
Contact Your Attorney
In the state of Florida, you have two (2) years to claim for negligence (injury). If you have been in an accident the first thing you should do is contact a Miami truck accident lawyer.
Nunez Law P.L. will fight to get you the maximum possible settlement that our clients deserve. If you have questions or would like to schedule a free consultation, then contact us by calling or filling out our online contact form.