Steps You Should Take After a Jackknife Accident
by Lawrence Miller
Tractor-trailers weigh tens of thousands of pounds and can cause substantial damage to a car during a jackknife accident. If you are involved in this type of accident and manage to walk away, you will still want to receive medical attention. Then, you will need to speak to a tractor trailer accident attorney about how you should build a case.
What Occurs During a Jackknife Accident?
With a jackknife accident, the tractor-trailer wraps around your car and forms a shape that is similar to a jackknife. The injuries caused by this type of accident tend to be devastating. Generally, a jackknife accident will result from negligence on the part of the commercial truck driver and you may be able to build a case for why you deserve compensation for your injuries.
Common Causes of Jackknife Accidents
One of the common reasons for a jackknife accident is that the driver was speeding. Slamming on the brakes while speeding can cause the truck to end up in a jackknife accident. The driver might have also been trying to navigate sharp curves, or the driver might have slammed on their brakes when hitting a patch of ice and trying to slow down the commercial truck.
Black Box Data
Onboard the tractor-trailer will be a black box that will contain information that might be used to prove that the truck driver was speeding. Even if the driver wasn't speeding, your attorney may be able to determine why the jackknife occurred.
Witness Testimony
If there were any unbiased witnesses you will want to involve them in your case. Witnesses often see accidents whether they be pedestrians, other motorists, or even customers patronizing nearby stores. However, you will want to ask the witness what they saw before you ask them if they would like to serve as a witness. Then, write down contact information.
The witness can testify to the weather at the time of the accident and can argue that the roads were too slick for a driver to be able to safely drive on at a high speed. The witness might point out that the driver was traveling at a higher speed than the other motorists.
Putting It All Together
With all of the evidence you have gathered, and possibly with the testimony of an expert witness, you will be ready to pursue a settlement out of court or to file an official lawsuit against the truck driver.
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About Me
What kind of injuries can you hold someone liable for? How severe do the injuries have to be? When my husband was injured by a faulty saw, we weren't sure what we were going to do. At that time, we didn't have any health insurance and had to try to come up with the money for emergency and long-term medial treatment. This created an impossible time for my family. My husband was out of work and we had medical bills piling up because a product that we paid a lot of money for malfunctioned and injured my husband. So, what can you do when this happens? Read through my blog.