How Are St. Louis Commercial Trucking Accidents Different From Car Accidents?
How Are St. Louis Commercial Trucking Accidents Different From Car Accidents?
Commercial freight trucks or “big rigs” tend to push a weight of 80,000-plus pounds. Despite regulations from the National Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) that exist to ensure truck drivers do not drive more than 10 hours per day, they are often given financial incentives for traveling large distances faster, which can directly impinge upon your safety while driving. Other ways truck accidents differ from car crashes include:
Larger Insurance Policies
Truck drivers’ insurance policies are up to 50 times larger than car accident policies. This often puts the total value of insurance in the millions, so you can bet that the different insurance carriers named in your lawsuit will do everything in their power to prove they were not liable. Veteran insurance adjusters will be called in and employ tricks and tactics, such as offering a paltry, pennies-on-the-dollar settlement, when your case might be worth far more. All of this despite the trucking industry generating revenues of $792 billion in 2019, more than the insurance or commercial banking industries and greater than the GDP of Saudi Arabia. Having a trusted and experienced St. Louis commercial trucking accident attorney fighting in your corner can silence the insurance companies and make the entire process less stressful.
Increased Property Damage
As noted above, the weight and overall size of a commercial truck are much more than that of a common passenger vehicle. That means that any surrounding property is going to be affected much more than a crash involving two cars. The average cost of property-damage-only crashes, according to a study by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics from 2007 but adjusted with inflation, is $21,723.
More Serious Injuries
Similarly, the injuries that are common in car accidents are also far more severe and can include intensive and expensive medical care and ongoing bills. From serious whiplash and broken bones to brain trauma and severe lacerations, injuries following a commercial truck accident are often life-changing. It is estimated by HD Fleet that the average cost of a commercial truck accident where one person was injured is $148,279.
Much Larger Medical Bills
The amount of time spent in a hospital and in rehabilitation tends to be much longer than car accident-related injuries. If you sustained injuries in a commercial truck accident you may not be able to return to work for a prolonged period of time, if at all. By working with our St. Louis commercial trucking accident attorney, we can more accurately calculate your current and future pain and suffering to obtain the compensation you truly deserve. Call us right now at (314) 500-HURT or contact us online.