Any truck accident can cause significant damage, including severe injuries or fatalities. However, a T-bone crash is one of the most devastating truck accidents because of the sheer force and weight of the truck.
You can sustain damages that cause significant difficulties in your life after a T-bone truck accident. Sadly, your family member may have lost their life due to a truck accident T-bone. T-bone truck collision victim can die due to their injuries.
Whether you are a victim of a truck crash directly affected by the accident or a family member of a loved one that lost their life in a crash, you may seek compensation under the laws in the jurisdiction where the accident occurred.
Understanding the pervasive impacts of a T-bone truck accident can help you know what to expect regarding a claim or lawsuit for damages. A truck accident lawyer can guide you through preparing and filing a claim after a T-bone crash.
What Is a T-Bone Collision?
A T-bone accident is also called a side impact accident. T-bone refers to how the impact occurs between a truck and a vehicle, resulting in a T formation. During a truck T-bone crash, a truck impacts the vehicle on either of its sides rather than the front or rear end of the vehicle.
The location of the impact, in combination with the size of the vehicle hit and the location of the occupants in the vehicle, can affect the level of damage. T-bone collisions can cause injuries, fatalities, and the destruction of the vehicle struck.
How Can a Truck Impact the Severity of Damages in a T-Bone Accident?
Trucks such as big rigs, semis, or tractor-trailers weigh thousands of pounds and can carry thousands of pounds more as cargo. This significant weight makes the vehicle a moving mass of potential destruction.
Compared to even the most oversized passenger vehicles on the market, such as trucks and SUVs, a large truck far surpasses the power and force of any other car on the road.
As such, when a crash leads to a T-bone by a large truck into a passenger vehicle, the impacts are often devastating. Even a collision at lower speeds can cause destruction, injuries, or possible fatalities to the victims involved. The more damage that a T-bone truck accident causes, the higher the losses and the more compensation a victim may be eligible to pursue through a claim or lawsuit.
High Risk of Devastating Injuries
The injuries associated with a T-bone truck accident are more often than not severe and life-threatening. The impact itself can cause devastation, and the closer a vehicle occupant is sitting next to the point of impact on the vehicle, the higher the likelihood of catastrophic or fatal injuries.
T-bone accidents can also trigger a vehicle to lose control and go into a rollover scenario. A vehicle's repetitive impacts and unpredictability in a rollover can cause additional injuries to those involved. They can throw victims from the car due to the momentum and damage that occurs.
The injuries from a T-bone truck accident can lead to intensive emergency medical care and costly long-term treatment. Depending on the injuries sustained, a victim that survives a truck accident T-bone may have to live with the effects of their injuries for the remainder of their life. The injuries may require not only a lengthy hospital stay and recovery but can also cause you to be unable to work and earn a living for some time.
A truck accident lawyer can help you fight for the maximum compensation for your losses and impacts following a T-bone crash.
Common injuries a truck accident victim could sustain in a T-bone accident involving a truck include:
- Head injuries (TBIs)
- Neck or back injuries, including possible Spinal Cord Injuries
- Lacerations
- Broken bones
- Loss of a limb
- Burns
- Internal injuries
- Loss of blood
- Soft tissue injuries
Widespread Destruction of Property
Beyond the overwhelming injuries in a T-bone crash, the vehicles involved will likely sustain irreparable damage. How these accidents occur is likely to result in the total loss of the vehicle the truck crashes into.
As the victim of a T-bone truck collision, you can seek compensation for the losses revolving around your vehicle. If only repairs are necessary, then your attorney can help you fight for the cost of those repairs. However, the most likely scenario is that your vehicle is a complete loss following this type of collision, and your lawyer can fight on your behalf for the maximum value possible for your vehicle destroyed in the accident.
Additionally, a lawyer can help you seek money to reimburse you for temporary transportation costs after the accident.
Can Potentially Involve Multiple Vehicles
Another aspect of a T-bone truck accident that can affect the issues that arise during a claim and, ultimately, the possible settlements for compensation is the number of victims in the crash. T-bone truck accidents can happen with just one other vehicle or impact several vehicles simultaneously, becoming a multi-car accident.
The more vehicles and victims involved in a truck accident, the more complex the case can be. In many instances, victims file claims against the same policy coverage of a truck driver, which can lead to a shortage of money based on policy limits and may require a victim to pursue the total compensation of their losses through other means.
A truck accident attorney can evaluate your case, including the parties involved and overall damages, to determine the best course of action for you to seek the maximum compensation possible on your behalf in the case.
What Could Cause a Truck Driver to T-Bone Another Vehicle?
Sadly, nearly all truck accidents are preventable. The loss of life and property that commonly occurs in a T-bone crash involving a truck results from the negligence of one or multiple parties.
The truck industry and truck drivers may engage in actions leading up to a crash that endangers the life of the public traveling the roads around them. Truck drivers often live on the roads for weeks at a time and face mounting pressures from their superiors. They may take risks, purposely or recklessly, that increase the chance of causing an accident with another vehicle.
A T-bone accident can happen due to a number of factors, but typically, when a truck interferes with another driver's right of way, it is the truck driver's fault the crash occurred.
The actions of a truck driver that may lead to a T-bone accident include:
- Drunk driving or driving under the influence of drugs
- Distracted driving
- Speeding
- Reckless driving
- Running a light or traffic sign
- Failure to adapt to changing weather or road conditions
Who Can You Hold Liable for a T-Bone Truck Collision?
Although the truck driver's actions may have led to the accident, they may not be the only party liable for the accident and the damages to the victim. A truck driver engages in commercial activities and often acts on behalf of a truck company or contractor when hauling cargo along roadways.
When an accident occurs, various parties may become liable for the actions of a truck driver. Typically, the insurance in place during the crash may be responsible for paying the damages and losses to the victims.
Additionally, the truck company may also become liable when a truck accident occurs due to the driver's negligence or negligence of the company in maintaining or loading the commercial vehicle.
When you hire a truck accident attorney to represent you in a T-bone accident case, they can closely examine all of the parties involved and help you determine who you should file a claim against or take legal action as you work to pursue compensation for your damages.
What Compensation May Be Available to a Victim of a T-Bone Truck Accident?
As you try to sort through the messy aftermath of a truck crash, you may begin to realize the enormous impact and implications the accident will have on your life. As you work through your medical treatment, the bills can accumulate, and the interruption to your ability to work can take a serious toll on your finances and stability.
Figuring out how much compensation you may recover under insurance coverage or the law is not always clear. A truck accident lawyer can determine the damages you qualify for and seek maximum compensation for your losses following the truck accident. Your attorney can also negotiate with the liable parties to reach the best possible settlement in your case.
Compensation in a truck accident claim or case may include:
- Medical costs
- Income losses
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of quality of life
- Vehicle damage
- Wrongful death compensation
Is a Lawsuit the Only Option to Get Money for Your Losses?
Truck accidents can involve serious injuries and devastating damages that involve significant sums of money for the victim. Although a lawsuit is possible in any case, most truck accident claims resolve through a settlement with an insurer.
However, your lawyer can work to represent your best interests along each step. If the need arises for a lawsuit, they can advise you on your rights and what you can expect regarding the lawsuit process and potential resolution.
Should You Hire a Truck Accident Lawyer Following a T-Bone Crash?
A truck accident lawyer can make a difference in how an insurance company or court handles your case and the compensation you may receive for your losses. There is no drawback or risk in hiring a truck accident attorney to handle your case, but there can be a significant risk in choosing not to and moving forward with a truck accident claim on your own.
Truck accidents, particularly a T-bone collision, can cause damages that incur enormous financial and personal impacts on a victim. Having a lawyer representing your interests ensures you have the experience and knowledge necessary to fight the insurance companies for the money you need.
What Are the Benefits of Hiring a Truck Accident Attorney for Your Claim?
A truck accident lawyer handles claims against truck companies and insurance companies on behalf of victims as part of their everyday work. They understand the common challenges of handling these types of claims and the devastating injuries that leave victims with a trail of frustration and challenges.
When you hire a truck accident T-bone lawyer to help with your case, you have an individual advocating for your interests and prioritizing your needs against the other parties' competing interests.
Your lawyer can manage the parties, negotiate on your behalf, and work tirelessly towards reaching a solution in your case that provides you the compensation you need to address the damages left by the accident.
Is There a Statute of Limitations Applicable to Truck Accident Cases?
Truck accident victims must abide by the statute of limitations in their jurisdictions. Typically, most truck accident cases qualify as a personal injury matter due to negligence, and a victim has a specified window of time in which they must take legal action against the parties responsible.
When you hire an attorney, ask them about the statute of limitations in your state and how it would apply to your case. These statutes are different in each state but can affect your case significantly, and you must remain aware of the time limits you may be up against.
If you are a victim of a T-bone collision by a truck, contact a personal injury lawyer to discuss your options to fight for compensation for your damages.
Schedule a Free Initial Consultation Today!
Nicolette R. Nicoletti
Managing Partner
Nicolette R. Nicoletti is the founder and managing partner of the Nicoletti Accident Injury Lawyers. She was born and raised in New Port Richey, Florida. Nicolette attended Genesis Preparatory School and graduated salutatorian of her class. She then went onto Saint Leo University for her undergraduate education. She graduated magna cum laude from the Honors Program with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science. While at Saint Leo University, Nicolette was President of Pi Sigma Alpha (Political Science Honor Society), Secretary of Alpha Phi Sigma (Criminal Justice Honor Society), and an active member of Delta Epsilon Sigma (National Scholastic Honor Society).
Author's Bio