Tractor Trailer Accidents

Do these stories sound all too familiar?

    • On November 21, 2008 a tractor-trailer on Interstate 81 in Virginia hit several other vehicles before it rear-ended a Ford Escort, killing a grandmother and two small children.
    • On December 1, 2008 a tractor-trailer hauling sand rammed several vehicles that were moving slowly past an accident on Virginia’s Interstate 95. The wreckage that ensued caused seven injuries and one death.

Trucking is a demanding and dangerous job, but it can be more dangerous for the people who share the road with heavy trucks.

A tractor trailer accident is no ordinary auto accident. The non-profit organization Road Safe America estimates that the occupants of cars make up 98 percent of the fatalities in collisions between heavy trucks and passenger cars.

Richmond Tractor Trailer & Truck Accident Attorney

Wayne O’Bryan is a truck accident lawyer who understands the damage a collision with a tractor-trailer can do, including:

  • Property damage
  • Injury
  • Brain Damage
  • Death

It is not your fault, but whose fault is it? The trucking company must bear the responsibility of exposing fellow-drivers to risk. You have a right to compensation for your losses.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration offers an Accident Countermeasures Manual to help transportation companies improve their safety records, and groups like Road Safe America have advocated for stricter regulations in the trucking industry. Still, every year heavy trucks cause major damages and injuries in wrecks caused by:

  • Fatigue
  • Stress
  • Dangerous road conditions
  • Mechanical failure

Located in Richmond and serving the whole of Virginia, the O’Bryan Law Firm represents the victims of crashes involving semis, heavy trucks, and tractor-trailers. Truck Accident Attorney Wayne O’Bryan has dedicated his life to serving people in their time of need.

If you or a loved one has been in an accident involving one of these big rigs, it’s possible that the owner or operator was in some way not in compliance with the laws. You may have cause to ask the driver and/or company to compensate you for your loss. It is important that you gather all the information you can at the time and place of the accident on: the driver, the insurance company, the company that employs the driver, and the truck. Take pictures if possible. Get the names and phone numbers of all witnesses.

Seek the advice of a reputable Richmond attorney that specializes in personal injury law, as soon as possible, after the accident. In order to protect your rights to seek compensation for your damages, don’t sign any document offered to you by the insurance adjuster until you have a qualified truck accident attorney look it over.

And remember, that the next mile you drive is the most dangerous. If you keep that in mind, it may save your life.

Tractor Trailer & Truck Accident Attorney Resources:

Frequently Asked Questions:

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Transcription

“I spent almost three years doing defense work and I dealt with insurance adjusters and insurance companies. I came to learn, to a large degree, it’s their attitude toward the system. They have an attitude that everybody is on the make, everybody is faking it and everybody is just out to try to make a quick buck for nothing. They have a tendency to discount everybody and every injury. I’ve been doing this for a long time and I know that there are people who are genuinely hurt and do need help. Sure there are one or two or three or four people who are gaming the system, that’s going to happen in any kind of system, but for the most part, my experience has been that the vast majority of the people are really hurt and then deserve them being compensated.

Many times, the cause of the tractor-trailer accident is the fatigue of the driver because in these days and times, trucking companies are pushing their drivers to operate the vehicles and make deliveries on shorter time frames. Pushing them to basically be on the road more than they should be on the road then, of course they become fatigued. Typically, they’ll be inattentive or even fall asleep.

They’re usually serious cases because a tractor-trailer is a very heavy vehicle and going up against a family car, that car’s not going to come out of that confrontation very well. It can be a number of different things. Debris could be coming off of a tractor-trailer obviously, if it’s a severe enough impact but usually it’s the fact that you’ve got a vehicle probably ten to twenty times as large as the automobile hitting it that’s causing the damage.

The trucking industry has got a network of investigators on-call, twenty-four hours a day. When a tractor-trailer accident happens, the tractor-trailer company knows about it almost immediately. Obviously drivers with cell phones and it gets reported quickly. They immediately get the nationwide network of adjusters to the scene and start gathering information. Typically the person who’s injured in that accident doesn’t have anybody working for them at the scene because they don’t know anybody and they don’t have a lawyer.

One of the best things that lawyers bring to a tractor-trailer case is the ability to get in there fast and get the information and tie things down before things blow in the wind and get lost. It’s a matter of knowing what to look for and what to gather. The information on the driver’s logs and how long they’ve been driving, those types of things. It can also be the condition of the tractor, when it was serviced, what kind of service it got, different things like that.

They’re more difficult because they’re more technical and you’ve got to generally have an adversary who’s probably a cut above the ordinary insurance adjuster or company, that they’re very experienced people. I think my insurance background serves me well in this.

You can call immediately. We get calls from family members all the time. We keep our phones open weekends, holidays, evenings.”

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  • “ I was very thankful for the personal attention that was given to me by all of your staff. When you go through something like I did in the fire, people’s attitudes can make a difference! Thanks for everything! ”

    — Patricia Hedrick

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  • “ I feel that my case was handled in a very quick but professional manner. I was very pleased and would recommend your firm to anyone in need. ”

    — Robin Truitt

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  • “ My case was handled in a very professional manner, it did not have any of the more common aggravations. ”

    — Thomas Queen Jr.

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  • “ I like you as my lawyer because you are always there when I need you. ”

    — Iman Saleem

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  • “ I’m proud to say that the lawyer I had was very professional and took his job very personally.  I will highly recommend him to any person.  Very honest man, tells you the truth, not what you many want to hear.  Prayers are with the company. ”

    — Nadine Green

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