Paducah Truck Accidents
Truck Crash Lawyers Assisting Paducah Residents
Paducah is emerging as an important transportation center. Located at the convergence of the Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio Rivers, boats transport goods through the area every day. In addition, Paducah is located halfway between Nashville and St. Louis, and also close to Memphis. The popular roadways in the area – such as U.S. Interstates 24 and 57 and U.S. Routes 45 and 62 – are dense with big rigs and commercial trucks. Therefore, it is vital to stay aware of your surroundings to avoid trucking accidents. Despite how carefully you may drive, however, accidents can still happen. If you or a loved one has been injured in a collision with an 18-wheeler or big rig truck, contacting a Paducah truck accident attorney at Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz can help ensure you recover all that you may be entitled to. Contact us today for a free consultation on how we can help you.
Helping Paducah Accident Victims Recover Adequate Compensation
Truck accidents, though not as common as collisions between passenger vehicles, are some of the most devastating on the road today. Big rigs can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, and when traveling down the highway at speeds in excess of 70 miles per hour, can inflict significant damage upon smaller passenger vehicles. High impact truck accidents can cause devastating results, including paralysis, disfigurement, or wrongful death. However, injuries can even take place during collisions at low speeds due to the size and weight disparity between the vehicles.
Truck accident cases may revolve around negligent conduct of the truck driver or trucking company. In other words, an injured plaintiff must show that the defendant truck driver operated his or her vehicle in an unreasonable manner. Examples of negligent conduct in the truck driving context include:
- Speeding
- Drinking and driving
- Fatigued driving
- Driving over federal hours of service standards
- Violating a federal or state statute
- Driving with a suspended Commercial Driver’s License (CDL)
- Unsafely transporting hazardous materials
- Improper loading
How We Can Prove Your Case
By law, interstate trucking companies are required to carry commercial insurance policies larger than individual Kentucky citizens must carry on their personal auto policies. Thus, the stakes are often high, and big trucking companies pour significant resources into defending injury claims. It is important for Paducah victims to have a truck accident attorney on their side to fight for their legal rights. Our firm can get started immediately by obtaining police reports, speaking with witnesses, and retaining experts as needed. It is critical to take steps to prevent spoliation of evidence like driver logs, personnel files, and data from the truck itself, such as the black box. If the trucker was acting in the course and scope of employment when the wreck occurred, the trucking company could be responsible for your damages under Kentucky’s vicarious liability laws.
Developing the damages portion is a critical part of any Kentucky personal injury case. Even if the trucking company were to admit responsibility, they could still contest the amount of damages suffered. Comparative negligence may be a decisive factor in a case. In Kentucky, your compensation can be reduced by any fault attributed to you by a judge or jury. This is important to note, especially if you or a loved one suffered catastrophic injuries that are permanent in nature. For example, you can recover the cost of medical treatment, past and future, including bills for hospitalization, primary care visits, surgery, prescriptions, and other forms of treatment. Lost wages are another element of damages, including diminished future earning capacity.
Unique Issues in Truck Accident Cases
In a collision involving two passenger vehicles, the plaintiff typically recovers from the other driver. In the truck accident context, however, an injured plaintiff may be able to recover directly from the defendant driver’s employer. This concept is known as respondeat superior, and states that an employer is liable for the damages its employee causes if the employee was acting within the scope of employment at the time the injuries or damages occurred. Another concept to be aware of is known as the statute of limitations period, which puts a time limit on how long an injured plaintiff has to file a personal injury lawsuit. In Kentucky, an injured plaintiff has two years from the date the accident occurred to reach a settlement or file a lawsuit in the appropriate court.
Speak With a Paducah Accident Lawyer Today
With over 30 years of experience handling a wide range of personal injury cases, our Paducah personal injury attorneys have the resources and expertise to handle your case from start to finish. The over 30 attorneys and 100 support staff at NST have helped our clients recover over $1.5 billion. We have served clients across Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Missouri, including the greater Paducah area, such as Lone Oak, Round Knob, and Symsonia. To set up a free consultation with one of our motor vehicle crash attorneys, call our office toll-free at 800-529-4004 or complete our online form. With just one call, you will be convinced NST is the way to go if you need an experienced Paducah truck accident lawyer to represent you.
Most car accidents are preventable and occur as a result of errors by one or more drivers. To prove liability, you will need to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the driver owed you a duty of care, which was breached, and that your injuries resulted from the driver’s carelessness. Damages that may be available in these cases often include medical expenses, lost income, mental anguish, loss of consortium, and pain and suffering.
Truck drivers are required to follow numerous detailed regulations, including rules related to hours of service, keeping a logbook, and maintenance procedures. Many of these regulations are intended to protect other people on the road from harm. In some states, if a driver violated a law that was enacted to protect the public, the violation can create a rebuttable presumption of negligence. Trucking companies are also required to follow a number of regulations, including rules related to background checks of drivers and proper supervision. They often may be held directly or indirectly liable for a truck accident.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) evaluates applications for disability benefits. Although many people pay into this system throughout their lives, many legitimate claims are initially denied, and this process may be less straightforward than claimants expect. The SSA uses a five-step sequential evaluation to determine whether to grant benefits to an applicant. Each step is considered in a set order. We can present your case in a persuasive manner and help you appeal a denial of a meritorious claim if needed. This could include representing you in a hearing before an administrative law judge.
Workers’ compensation functions slightly differently in each state. In Tennessee, for example, businesses that employ five or more employees must carry workers’ compensation insurance. If you are injured on the job, you may recover benefits, such as medical costs and disability. Neither your employer’s nor your own culpability for your injuries will prevent you from collecting these benefits. However, it may still be a struggle to obtain benefits from your employer’s insurer. We can help you navigate this challenging process.
If you were harmed by a health care professional’s failure to use the appropriate level of care in providing treatment to you, you may be able to recover compensation. Most medical malpractice lawsuits require retaining an expert to determine the accepted standard of care and explain what the defendant did that fell short of this standard, as well as how the inappropriate conduct caused the patient’s injuries.
When you buy a toy, car, medication, or other product, you do not expect to be hurt. If you are injured, you may have grounds to file a product liability lawsuit. There are three types of defects that may be actionable: manufacturing, design, and marketing (also known as failure to warn). Manufacturers may be held accountable under multiple different theories, including strict liability, negligence, breach of warranty, and concealment. For example, if you take a drug that causes you to develop cancer, but you were not told that a potential side effect of the drug was developing cancer, you may have grounds to hold the manufacturer strictly liable for its failure to warn you of the risk.
Nursing home residents are often elderly or disabled, and thus they are especially vulnerable to neglect, physical abuse, and exploitation by staff members. Unfortunately, many nursing homes are understaffed or employ staff members who are inadequately trained to deal with potentially frustrating situations. Nursing homes are required to protect their residents from physical, mental, and emotional harm by providing a safe environment, as well as adequately training and supervising staff. A failure to do so may be grounds for a nursing home negligence lawsuit for damages.
Property owners have a duty to keep their property reasonably safe. In most situations, this includes an obligation to inspect the property for dangerous conditions and fix them or provide warnings about them so that visitors are not harmed. One type of dangerous condition, which may present a particular problem in apartment complexes or shopping centers, consists of inadequate security measures such as broken locks, poor lighting, or a lack of security guards. A failure to take security measures when appropriate may allow third-party criminals to assault, rob, rape, or otherwise harm visitors and tenants. You may be able to recover damages if you can prove that the defendant knew or should have known about a history of attacks similar to yours and taken appropriate security measures to reduce the risk of further incidents.
Consult a Personal Injury Lawyer in Memphis or the Surrounding Regions
If you are dealing with a devastating injury or medical condition, the Memphis personal injury attorneys at Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz can evaluate and explain your options. Our firm has 30 attorneys and more than 100 staff members, and we serve injured people in many areas of Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kentucky, including Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Jonesboro, Little Rock, Jackson, Meridian, Tupelo, Columbus, Grenada, Starkville, Oxford, Hayti, and Caruthersville. Contact our office toll-free by calling 800-529-4004 or by completing our online form to set up a free consultation with a personal injury, workers’ compensation, or Social Security Disability lawyer. Once you have learned more about our vigorous advocacy for the rights of the injured, you will realize that NST is the way to go.