Meade Truck Accident Attorney
Meade Truck Accident Lawyer Helping Fight Trucking Companies with Negligent Truck Drivers in Semi-trucks to Get Financial Compensation for Injury Victims.
Our Meade truck accident lawyers help fight trucking companies with negligent truck drivers operating semi-trucks and farm and grain trucks by getting financial compensation for truck injury victims in Meade County that have had a truck accident with smaller cars, pickups, vans, or motorcycles. Injury victims can get increased financial compensation in a serious truck crash cases.
The Meade truck accident attorneys in our firm file a specially developed method of building your truck accident case as large as we can make it. We provide free legal representation until we win. Our trucking personal injury attorneys have settled thousands of car-truck crashes across Kansas since 1983.
Our client results are impressive, being in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Our track record is recognized by insurance companies for motor carriers. We have had many seven figure cases that are between one and nine million dollars and hundreds in the high six figures having settled 50 million dollars in settlements in 2021 alone.
Truck Accident Lawyers Group (TALG) is associated with Bull Attorneys®. Our offices are in Wichita and Garden City. We will drive to your home or hospital room. Our office in Wichita is at 10111 E. 21st Street North, Suite 202, Wichita, Kansas 67206. In Western Kansas, our office is at 3102 E. Kansas Avenue, #100, Garden City, KS 67846.
We help car and truck injury victims get financial compensation for pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, disability, past and future medical bills, past and future wage, and economic loss and for wrongful death when an injured loved one passes from a truck crash.
The 2021 Kansas Traffic Crash Book reported that Meade had 19 motor vehicle crashes resulting in 3 injuries. Meade County had 75 motor vehicle crashes with 18 injuries and 1 fatality.
Meade is In Southwest Kansas and is mainly a farming, agricultural and oil and gas industry area where most of the large trucks coming through are farm and grain trucks, tractor-trailers heading to Oklahoma and further west, and oil and gas trucks like oil rigs, drilling equipment, water tanks and service vehicles making the entire county dangerous for passenger cars.
Our Meade semi-truck injury attorneys are experienced in federal and state regulations like the FMCSR and CSA BASICs. We know how to bring legal claims for injuries caused by negligent truck drivers lacking in safety training.
Whenever you have a car or motor vehicle accident with a large truck, farm truck or oil and gas service vehicle, you need to hire a Meade County personal injury trucking attorney. You can call us 24/7 for a free consultation at 620-690-0600 or write us on our contact page.
What are 5 Common Types of Large Truck Accidents that Routinely Happen?
The top 5 common types of large truck accidents that happen routinely are:
- Driver inattention and distraction.
Driver distraction is the leading cause of semi-truck accidents. There are many typers of distraction. The FMCSA published distraction reasons from real accidents in 2018. The most important distractions are:- Distracted by outside person.
- Talking or listening to cell phone.
- Using or reaching for a device.
- Adjusting audio and climate controls
- Looked but did not see.
- Fatigued driving.
Part 392.3 of the FMCSR requires that truck drivers may not operate and a motor carrier shall not require drivers to operate when they are too tired or sick. - Driving in bad weather and high wind conditions.
Part 392.14 requires truck drivers to slow down and when weather conditions become sufficiently dangerous, they must stop operation of the tractor-trailer. The problem with this rule is that the trucking companies do not teach it to the truck drivers and many companies barely know it exists. - Failure to yield right-of-way.
Truck drivers are so negligent that they commonly fail to yield right of way to other vehicles when necessary to avoid a crash and happens so often that the FMCSA lists list as one of the 16 crash types eligible for evaluation in their Crash Preventability Determination Program (CPDP). - Speeding.
The FMCSA identified that speed management is a proper tool to reduce serious injuries and fatalities in the National Roadway Safety Strategy. In 2019 alone, there were 860 fatal crashes in areas with posted speed limits of 70-75 mph.
For other major causes of large truck crashes click here.
What are the top 5 Common Injuries Caused 18-wheelers?
18-wheelers and big rigs cause serious human injury, death, and misery. There are some typical types of injuries arising from these massive vehicles. One thing is for sure, the weight differential between an 18-wheeler and a smaller car or pickup means the occupants in the smaller vehicle will be the losers in an accident.
5 Common injuries from 18-wheelers are:
- Head Injuries.
The shifting acceleration and deceleration forces from an impact between a passenger car and an 18-wheeler are substantial. They result in concussions, brain bleeds, skull fractures, traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and confusion, memory loss, changes in personality and the inability to perform normal work activity. - Bone Fractures.
Bone brakes and fractures happen from the impact force. Bones can be crushed, splintered, or even explode. The magnitude of these bone fractures is only limited by the imagination. Most occupants of passenger cars end up getting surgery and having difficulty performing life activities and working. - Back and Neck Injuries.
Back and neck injuries are common aftereffects of car-truck crashes. They can be as small as strains and sprains to injuries to the extremities and spinal column requiring surgical treatment through epidurals, radiofrequency ablations, discectomy, laminectomy, fusion, and instrumentation with titanium parts inside the spine and extremities. - Spinal cord injuries (SCI).
Spinal cord injury is an extreme injury that usually ends us in paralysis with either paraplegia, tetraplegia, quadriplegia, or spinal cord syndrome. All are life changing and require lifelong rehabilitation. They make a person’s life bad enough that the ability to enjoy life is normally taken from them. - Wrongful death.
Wrongful death can happen easily after a car-truck crash because of the powerful force of the heavier truck. The death may come rapidly or over weeks or months. When a loved one lives after the accident for any period of time, they also have a Survival Claim for conscious pain and suffering.
For other common types of injuries click here.
What Types of Monetary Damages are Available to a Truck Injury Victim?
There are many types of monetary damages available to a truck injury victim including actual compensatory damages, noneconomic and economic damages and in limited cases, exemplary damages, or punitive damages.
The following types of monetary damages may be available to a truck injury victim:
- Noneconomic damages for pain and suffering.
Noneconomic damages are for subjective and nonmonetary losses like pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life and disfigurement, inconvenience, emotion distress, loss of society and companionship along with other similar types of losses. These damages typically have no mathematical calculation and are assessed by an adjuster, jury, or court. - Economic damages.
Economic damages are for actual financial damages that are a direct result of a negligent truck driver or motor carrier causing harm and injury to a person for medical bills, lost wages, rehabilitation costs, future medical bills, future wage loss and future medical needs. These damages can be calculated by using experts like medical doctors, economists, lifecare experts and nursing experts. - Wrongful death.
Wrongful death damages are financial damages meant to compensate the family for lost financial support, suffering and loss of services, guidance, and counseling. This can include a survival claim for the conscious pain and suffering. It includes funeral expenses and many other types of losses from your loved one dying. - Punitive damages.
Punitive damages are known as exemplary damages and are awarded by a court to punish a defendant for reckless, wanton, and willful acts causing harm to another person. They serve to punish and remind others that they should not engage in similar reckless conduct.
Is a Semi-truck Case Hard to Win?
Winning financial damages in a semi-truck case is hard. There are many different problems that arise in these car-truck accidents that make them hard to win unless you have a really experienced Meade County trucking injury lawyer.
Reasons semi-truck cases are hard to win:
- Identification of all at fault parties.
Sometimes the at fault parties are readily identifiable. In many cases, it is not that clear and it becomes hard to see who else may be liable and at fault. Each at fault parties should get a percentage of the total negligence and if you miss one or two you have a significant problem. - Studying the truck driver and motor carrier prior safety history.
It is hard to locate and find all of the past employment and safety history of truck drivers who may change CDLs moving from state to state. The motor carrier safety history is obtainable but only with a substantial effort after FOIA requests and multiple communication attempts to the FMCSA. - Proving Respondeat Superior or Vicarious Liability.
The typical motor carrier or trucking company should be vicariously liable for the acts of their employed driver performed in the course and scope of employment or agency. There are a number of legal tricks that defense lawyers pull trying to get the motor carrier out of trouble. - Contracts shifting fault.
Motor carriers, brokers and shippers go to great lengths to enter into contracts, attempting to shift liability away from themselves. The hard part is getting through the contracts to show that they are a sham and the broker, shipper, or master motor carrier, actually controls the place, time and location of the pickup and delivery of freight. - Finding critical evidence quickly.
One of the hard parts about car-truck accident cases is finding all the critical scene evidence, witness statements and black box information before a crafty defense lawyer or insurance adjuster changes the scene or destroys the information to protect the trucking company.
What is the Statute of Limitations for Car-truck Accident Claims in Western Kansas?
Car-truck accidents in Western Kansas only have a two year statute of limitations under Kansas statute 60-513. Minors have a longer period of time depending upon their age.
What are The Dangerous Roads and Intersections in Meade and Meade County?
Meade and Meade County are in southwestern Kansas in farming, agricultural and oil industry businesses which all create danger and hazards to passenger vehicles and smaller motor vehicles.
The most dangerous roads and intersections in Meade and Meade County are:
- US-54 and US-160 highway.
US-54 and US-160 join together on the east side Meade and run directly through the city intersecting with K-23. All of these roads have farming and oil industry truck traffic. US-54 to the west of Meade runs adjacent to another cattle feed yard making the area filled with cattle hauling trucks providing danger. - K-23 highway.
K-23 highway runs north-south from northern Kansas heading south into Oklahoma. The highway runs right past a large feedlot meaning that a tremendous number of cattle haulers taking cattle to feedlots use this highway making it dangerous to smaller vehicles. - Carthage Street and Fowler Street.
Carthage Street and Fowler Street are the two main streets in Meade with Carthage Street being US-54 and Fowler Street is K-23. The intersection of the two provides danger and requires caution in the area.
How do I Get Financial Compensation After a Bad Accident with a Big Rig?
In order to get financial compensation after a bad accident with a big rig you have a few different ways to get financial compensation in Kansas.
- PIP Benefits. You can file a claim with your vehicle car insurance to make a claim for Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits. This will pay for initial medical bills, wage loss, essential services losses, rehabilitation medical care and funeral expenses.
- Liability claims against the fault parties. When the truck driver or the trucking company are at fault or the truck driver and their employer if not a trucking company, you can file a legal claim for all your financial losses against the driver and company to seek insurance benefits from their insurance carrier.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do cattle haulers drive so fast?
Cattle haulers drive fast because they are trying to get the cattle delivered on-time without weight shrinkage of the cattle from the stress of transportation. This makes the truck drivers rarely stop and causes them to exceed federal driving limits to avoid fines, penalties, and reductions of pay.
How many cattle fit into a cattle trailer?
The number of cattle that fit into a cattle trailer are dependent on the length and width of the cattle trailer and the weight of the cattle. A 24 x 7 foot cattle trailer should hold 11 cows weighing around 1,200 pounds each while a 34 x 7 foot cattle trailer can hold 15 cows weighing 1,200 pounds each.
How long can cattle stay in a trailer without resting?
Federal law prohibits cattle from being transported more than 28 consecutive hours, which requires they be offloaded for 5 consecutive hours go get feed, water and rest per the 28-hour law from USDA.gov.