The phrase “tanker truck accident” is enough to strike fear, as most people know tankers often carry hazardous material. While any truck can cause severe damage due to its weight, potentially toxic or combustible materials in a tanker further heightens the risk.
You must know what to do if you suffered injuries or a loved one tragically lost their life because of a tanker truck accident. Seek immediate medical attention and just as urgently find a truck accident lawyer to hold liable parties financially accountable for you.
Why Tanker Truck Accidents Place Lives in Danger (and Cause Severe Injuries)
It does not take much more than common sense to understand why tanker trucks, and trucks in general, pose an outsize risk of causing injury and death.
Some common types of tanker trucks include:
- High-pressure tube tank trucks, whose pressurized cargo can release violently, resulting in an explosion, fire, or both.
- Corrosive cargo tankers, whose corrosive cargo can scar or cause even worse health outcomes if they contact a human.
- Compressed gas tankers, which pose a massive risk of injury or death if they explode in a collision.
These are just three of multiple types of tankers traveling America’s roads at any given moment. A tanker truck may carry gasoline, propane, acid, or a host of other materials that are dangerous for several reasons.
In addition to the materials the tanker is hauling, the sheer size and weight of a tanker means they can crush, injure, maim, and even kill those they collide with.
Tanker Drivers Need Special Training and Skill, but These Alone Do Not Prevent Accidents
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) requires tanker drivers to obtain endorsements. Such endorsements can reflect a driver’s knowledge and skill, which are prerequisites for driving specific types of tankers.
The “N” and “X” endorsements are among those you might find on a tanker driver’s license. In some cases, a driver may lack the necessary endorsements, which is just one of many types of negligence that can contribute to a tanker truck accident.
Common Types of Negligence Causing Tanker Truck Accidents
Truck accident lawyers answer a key question: Why did my client suffer injuries or lose a loved one? In other words, why did this tanker truck accident happen?
The answer to that question is almost always some form of negligence. When negligence happens, someone fails to act as they should have, causing an accident due to their unreasonable actions (or failures to act).
Many parties involved in the transportation ecosystem can be negligent in ways that lead to tanker accidents, including:
Trucking Companies
Trucking companies occupy a dangerous and complicated industry.
Owners, operators, and high-ranking employees at these truck companies must:
- Ensure that every employee is qualified, trained, and held accountable
- Test employees (including drivers) to ensure nobody is drunk or on drugs
- Suspend, terminate, or otherwise discipline employees who break the rules
- Maintain, repair, and replace equipment (including tanker trucks and trailers) as necessary
- Use all available technology to reduce the risk of accidents
- Instill a culture where safety comes before all else
Even when owners and high-level employees at trucking companies fulfill their duties, the company is generally liable when a tanker driver causes an accident.
Truck Drivers
Truckers must receive specialized instruction and training before legally operating a tanker. It’s not enough for the driver to possess the necessary training and knowledge, though.
A truck driver must also:
- Operate the tanker in a manner that reflects a truck’s crushing power and the danger of cargo in the tanker
- Abide by the speed limit
- Refrain from all forms of distracted driving
- Be alert
- Be sober
- Drive defensively
- Adjust appropriately to changing road and weather conditions
Driving is just part of a tanker truck driver’s responsibilities. The trucker must also inspect the vehicle regularly, adhere to drive-time limits, get service when necessary, and follow other best driving practices.
Vehicle and Trailer Manufacturers
Defective tankers and tanker trailers can prove fatal. Defects often result from trucking companies and drivers failing to inspect and maintain their vehicles and cargo-hauling instruments.
However, some vehicles and components are defective from the moment they:
- Are designed
- Are assembled
- Are sold
If your tanker truck accident lawyer determines that a manufacturer is responsible for the defect, you may pursue a product liability lawsuit—and your lawyer will lead the way.
Municipalities
Every road in America must safely suit a tanker truck (and other vehicles).
Municipalities must maintain roads and you might hold them liable when a tanker truck accident results from:
- Work zones that pose a hazard to drivers
- Potholes
- Cracks or uneven pavement
- Defective traffic lights
- Defective signs (such as the absence of a stop sign where one should be)
- A lack of weigh stations to ensure a tanker truck is not overloaded
- Any other road-related conditions that increase the chances of a truck accident
You can hold other parties liable, and your attorney will investigate the details of your accident to identify every person and organization that owes you compensation.
Let a Tanker Truck Accident Lawyer Lead Your Fight for Total Financial Recovery
You should have one primary priority if you were in a tanker truck accident: Recovery. This can mean seeking ongoing medical care, mental health services, rehabilitation, and getting plenty of rest.
One roadblock can stand in the way of you recovering as needed—the insurance claim or lawsuit related to your tanker truck accident. The moment you hire an attorney to oversee your case, you prioritize your health (while your lawyer gives your case the attention and investment it requires).
When you hire an attorney, you:
- Place your case in capable hands: Your case is important, but handling insurance claims and lawsuits may not be your strong suit. Lawyers don’t just know how to resolve claims and lawsuits—it’s their job and an essential feature of their craft. Place your case on the path to success by consulting a lawyer and the skills they offer.
- Receive an attorney’s financial support: Hiring a lawyer means a client receives far more than just the lawyer. When you sign with an attorney, you also receive critical financial support for your case. Your law firm will pay all case-related expenses and may even retain experts at no additional cost.
- Must only follow your lawyer’s advice: When participating in your tanker truck accident case, just remain in touch with your lawyer. They will call you regularly, and they will explain if there are any tasks or duties you need to take care of. Truck accident lawyers typically want total control of your case, so expect your case-related responsibilities to be minimal.
- Still have full control over your case’s outcome: Plaintiffs and defendants can typically settle before a trial becomes necessary. Sometimes, insurance companies even pay truck accident victims without the need for negotiation—though that’s relatively rare. You may need to decide whether to accept settlement offers, file a lawsuit, or go to trial. While your lawyer can help you make these decisions, you will be the one to make such pivotal calls.
- Get the advice and protection of an experienced legal counselor: Many accident victims need a sounding board they can rely on. This is one of the many valuable roles a truck accident lawyer will serve for you. For advice you can trust and protection from those who oppose your case, hire an attorney.
Recognize the Challenging Nature of Truck Accident Claims and Lawsuits
Some civil cases are far more difficult to win than others. While it’s often unwise to generalize, there’s no way around it: Truck accident cases are complex by nature.
While you rest and receive the treatment you require, your lawyer will:
- Gather evidence from a liable trucking company, which may require them to file a legal document called a letter of spoliation.
- Interpret complicated evidence, including data from the truck’s black box.
- Navigate the technical aspects of your accident, including any defects that contributed to the collision.
- Review the trucking company’s records to identify any violations or negligence that contributed to your accident.
- Identify all your accident-related damages, which may be a complicated web of economic and non-economic damages.
The best attorney lives for challenging cases, so you should not hesitate to hire such a lawyer to lead your case.
How Your Attorney Will Build a Compelling Claim or Lawsuit for You
While each lawyer has their own methods and resources, most truck accident lawyers follow the same path to an eventual settlement or verdict. This path requires:
Keeping the Insurance Companies Away from Their Client
Let your attorney deal with insurers. Whether it’s your auto insurance provider, a truck driver’s insurer, a trucking company’s auto insurer, or another insurance company, your lawyer will:
- Ensure that insurance representatives do not bother you as you recover
- Provide all relevant evidence to insurers
- Pass along documentation related to your injuries and other losses
- Arrange settlement negotiations
- Make any necessary statements to insurers
A lawyer handles every aspect of tanker truck cases, including every step in the claims process.
Obtaining Evidence Proving Fault for the Tanker Truck Accident
Your lawyer will remove any doubt about why your accident happened (or who is at fault).
Some common types of evidence used in truck accident claims and lawsuits include:
- Testimony from eyewitnesses who saw the accident (or saw events that led to the accident, like a truck driver failing to inspect their vehicle)
- Expert testimony about who caused the accident
- Video of the tanker colliding with your vehicle
- A reconstruction of the accident
- Data from the truck’s black box
- Employment records and incident reports from a liable trucking company
Lawyers are uniquely able to find and utilize evidence, which is a key piece of every truck accident case.
Documenting the Client’s Economic and Non-Economic Damages
Your attorney will argue for a fair settlement by presenting convincing documentation of your damages.
Such documentation may include:
- X-rays.
- CT scans.
- Photographs of injuries.
- Medical bills.
- Invoices for vehicle repairs and temporary transportation.
- A mental health expert’s diagnosis of your pain and suffering.
- Several other types of documentation.
Your lawyer will consider not only damages with an obvious financial value (economic damages) but also those with less obvious costs (non-economic damages).
Calculating an Evidence-Based Case Value
Your lawyer must have a precise target to hit during settlement talks. They will establish this target by calculating the total financial value of both economic and non-economic damages. This includes damages that will affect you in the future, such as ongoing pain and suffering and rehabilitation costs.
Working with Qualified Experts
Your attorney will welcome the help of:
- Doctors
- Mental health professionals
- Experts in the trucking industry
- Crash dynamics experts (who may be engineers)
- Any other experts whose insights or services benefit your case
The help of such experts will factor into your lawyer’s fee structure.
Negotiating a Settlement or Leading the Client Through Any Necessary Lawsuit or Trial
Your attorney will strive to negotiate a fair settlement as efficiently as possible. If liable parties don’t have the same goal, you can sue and go to trial. You and your attorney can make this decision if your case requires it.
Damages an Effective Truck Accident Lawyer Accounts For
Your attorney will seek fair compensation for:
- Accident-related medical bills
- Pain and suffering
- All professional harm stemming from the collision (including lost income)
- Any reconstructive procedures you need (cargo in a tanker can cause burns and other visual injuries)
- Vehicle repair costs
- All other economic and non-economic harm resulting from the tanker truck accident
Do not wait to hire a personal injury attorney who will fight for the entire settlement or verdict you deserve. Your attorney may have a limited time to file your case, so now is the time to begin your lawyer search. Seek your free consultation today with a trusted truck accident attorney.
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).
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