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Most Truck Accident Cases Settle?
Generally,
most accidents involving a motor vehicle, be it a passenger
vehicle or a commercial motor vehicle usually settle out of
court. However, this assumes that both parties to the lawsuit
agree and understand how the accident happened and who was determined
to be at fault.
Truck accident cases have the potential to be more complicated
and to involve more issues than auto accidents. Often, it
is necessary to retain experts to give their opinions on issues
such as air brake adjustments, steering, speed, driver fatigue,
maintenance and "no zone" accidents.Moreover, truck
accidents, more than auto accidents, lend themselves to potential
defective products cases. These cases also require expert
testimony.
When a case involves more complicated issues and facts, they
frequently take longer to settle. Some of them even require
a trial to sort out the issues. Cases where the fault is hotly
contested also do not settle often.
Many people erroneously assume that if a big truck is involved
in a serious accident with serious injuries, then the truck
driver must be at fault. However, statistics prove that this
is not a valid assumption. Most accidents involving a large
truck have some component of fault on a motorist operating
a passenger vehicle.
Motorists frequently do not understand the limitations a
truck places on its driver's ability to respond to a sudden
emergency. Motorists also wrongly assume that a truck can
see them when they make sudden unsafe lane changes. Because
of the size of trucks, it is true that they usually cause
more damage and injuries. However, this is not an accurate
measure of fault.
Federal law also requires that trucks carry larger insurance
limits than most passenger cars are required to carry. This
means that in a serious accident, more money is at stake.
When more money is at stake, the insurance company is more
likely to authorize it attorneys to defend the case more vigorously.
This means that truck cases do not settle as quickly as some
auto cases.
Since many states only require auto owners to carry minimum
limits of $10,000 in coverage, cases which involve injuries
clearly in excess of this minimum settle very quickly for
payment of all of the policy proceeds. This happens less in
truck accident cases where some minimum limits are $750,000.
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