Overland Park Truck Accident Attorney
Overland Park Truck Accident Lawyer Fighting for Truck Injury Victims to Win Car Crashes Caused by Negligent Truck Drivers.
Our Overland Park truck accident lawyers help fight trucking companies for truck accident injury victims to win car crashes caused by negligent truck drivers. We get financial compensation for injury victims in Overland Park and the entire Kansas City Metro area. This is for any truck accidents with a car, pickup, or other motor vehicle.
We provide experienced legal representation to car accident victims harmed by large trucks. We have been helping Kansans with car-truck crashes since 1093. Our client results are superb and represent some of the largest settlements in all of Kansas. We settled 50 million dollars in cases in 2021 alone. We always work for free until we win.
Truck Accident Lawyers Group (TALG) is associated with Bull Attorneys®. Our primary offices in Wichita and Western Kansas in Garden City are only a short drive. Our office location in Wichita is 10111 E. 21st Street North, Suite 202, Wichita, Kansas 67206. In Western Kansas, our office is located at 3102 E. Kansas Avenue, #100, Garden City, KS 67846.
Our Overland Park tractor-trailer injury attorneys help large truck crash victims recover financial compensation for medical bills, wage loss, noneconomic losses like pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life and other losses from car crashes with a semi-truck. We provide free legal advice and help you prove the fault of the truck driver and trucking company.
The 2021 Kansas Traffic Crash Book reported that Overland Park had 3,082 motor vehicle crashes resulting in 1,206 injuries and 6 fatalities. Johnson County had had 9,508 motor vehicle crashes with 3,082 injuries and 23 fatalities making the Johnson County area extremely deadly to motorists.
Overland Park is on the southwest side of the Kansas City metro area making traffic extremely dangerous. The BNSF railroad comes through the city and follows I-35. As a result, many semis and tractor-trailers are constantly loading and unloading in different areas of Johnson County. Motor carriers, like Ryan Transportation Services, YRC Freight and ISM Express ship across the county with dangerous trucks.
The Kansas City metro area including Johnson County is known for its steak houses and the longstanding cattle industry which brings cattle haulers in large tractor-trailers transporting cattle and other livestock which creates danger to the County and entire metro area.
Our Overland Park tractor-trailer crash injury attorneys are highly educated on how to understand and use the FMCSR and CSA BASICs. These regulations help prove negligence and fault of both the truck driver and their employer. By using a regulatory analysis of trucking negligence and violation of safety rules we can improve the chances of your win.
When you need legal representation because of a large truck crash you can write to us on our contact page or call us day or night for a free consultation at 913-702-0700. Talk to a live truck accident personal injury attorney 24 hours a day to get free legal advice. The Truck Accident Lawyers Group (TALG) is associated with Bull Attorneys injury lawyers. Our experienced personal injury attorneys, case managers and legal assistants work in a team approach on your truck crash injury claim. We work hard to get the highest amount of financial compensation possible.
How Do You Prove the Trucking Company was Negligent for Failing to Comply with Federal Safety Regulations?
Our Johnson County truck injury attorneys follow a proprietary case development method that enables us to prove the trucking company was negligent by failing to follow federal regulations like the FMCSR that sets the minimum standard of care for the entire trucking industry.
Some of the proprietary methods we use to prove the trucking company was unsafe and not following minimum safety standards are:
- Unique questioning techniques.
We have developed a unique set of specific questions for drivers, witnesses, law enforcement, safety directors, dispatch personnel and hiring personnel from the trucking company. These questions help develop your truck accident claim into a much better case. These questions took four decades to develop. - Investigation and reconstruction. Trucking cases require that you prove fault.
We use highly trained reconstruction experts that help us prove the truck driver and their trucking company are at fault. - Destruction of evidence.
Motor carriers are known to rapidly arrive at the scene of an accident with adjusters, lawyers and experts to create immediate defenses. Our Overland Park truck attorneys need to be at the scene quickly after the accident to get critical evidence. We use spoliation letters to stop the destruction of evidence.
- Background investigations.
We use multiple procedures to investigate the truck driver and motor carrier background, safety record and crash history getting their entire motor carrier file from the DOT and FMCSA. This helps us prove a pattern of unsafe and reckless behavior on the part of the trucking company and their drivers.
- Safety Certification and OP-1 Oath.
We use the OP-1 oath and safety certification to show that the DOT should not have given the trucking company a DOT license because they are an unsafe motor carrier. We learn if they are complying with the CSA BASICs and its 7 behavioral categories.
- Black boxes and ECM Modules.
Electronic Control Modules (ECM) are required to be in all tractor-trailers manufactured after 2000. These are commonly referred to as black boxes and store critical data on the driver’s reactions, speed, braking and other maneuvers immediately prior to an accident.
- Safety manuals and compliance with FMCSR. Our Johnson County truck accident attorneys have a library of trucking industry books, training manuals and safety director guides that all trucking management professionals use to manage motor carriers and train and supervise drivers. This helps establish negligence of the trucking company by showing their lack of compliance with federally required safety standards.
Why Should I Hire an 18-wheeler Truck Attorney?
There are multiple reasons why you should not be without an experienced 18-wheeler trucking attorney. The main reasons why you need a trucking lawyer are:
- Trucking Cases are Complex.
All trucking accidents involving a DOT licensed truck driver or motor carrier require them to follow federal regulations known as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. (FMCSR) which requires specialized knowledge to understand how the FMCSA regulates safety of motor carriers. The trucking attorney must understand the CSA BASICs.
- Finding all available insurance coverage.
An 18-wheeler trucking attorney will know how to find different types of insurance coverage from the truck driver, the motor carrier, the broker and shipper and the master transportation carrier. The type of cargo and whether the cargo is hazardous makes can make the insurance coverage much higher due to public safety. - Trucking Safety Experts.
All trucking cases require specialized trucking experts who analyze hours-of-service for drivers, understand fraudulent logbooks, have experience as truck drivers and safety directors, and can tell a jury how the trucking company violated the FMCSR. These experts can cost over $50,000 per expert and many lawyers cannot afford to pay a great expert. We can afford to take on your case.
- Dealing with defense attorneys for the trucking company.
18-wheeler and big rig truck accidents have the same small group of defense lawyers in the location of your accident that are routinely defending that motor carrier’s accidents. Most defense lawyers are honest but many defense lawyers for trucking cases will conceal evidence that is crucial to winning the case. You must be represented by an experienced 18-wheeler lawyer. - Insurance company recognition of better 18-wheeler lawyers.
Insurance companies for 18-wheelers carefully study who you choose to be your lawyer. They know that all injury attorneys are not the same. If you choose an attorney that rarely brings lawsuits against trucking companies you have a much higher chance of getting a small settlement. Insurance companies know who we are.
Who Pays for My Bills After a Truck Accident?
If the truck driver is at fault their insurance carrier pays for a truck accident victim’s medical bills. Additionally, the trucking company they work for is additionally required to pay for your medical bills under the legal doctrine of vicarious liability.
There are several legal reasons why the trucking company is also responsible to pay for your medical bills. The reasons are:
- Vicarious liability.
Trucking companies or the employer of a hired driver makes the company that hired the driver responsible for the driver’s negligence when the driver is in the course and scope of employment activity for their employer.
- Respondeat Superior.
This is closely related to vicarious liability and makes an employer or the hiring principal legally responsible for the wrongful or negligent act of their driver when driving within the scope of employment or agency. - Negligent hiring.
The FMCSR requires all motor carriers to hire and qualify a driver to make sure they are fit to drive in interstate transportation. When they negligently hire the driver and fail to perform required background checks they can be at fault for the driver’s negligent truck crashes. - Negligent training.
The motor carrier hiring a truck driver is required to train them appropriately and road test he driver to ensure they are safe drivers who can handle the particular type of truck the business uses. Failure to road test makes the company negligent.
Negligent supervision. The motor carrier is required to monitor the driver’s hours-of-service to ensure they have sufficient hours remaining in a day or a period of time to complete their trucking mission without becoming fatigued. If not done, this makes the company negligent and at fault.
What are the 7 Most Common Injuries Caused by Big rigs?
Big rigs and other commercial motor vehicles can weigh up to 80,000 pounds which means that when the big rig hits a smaller passenger vehicle the weight differential is great. These CMVs can crush a car or pickup causing severe injuries to the occupants.
The 7 common injuries caused by big rigs are:
- Shoulder injuries.
The great difference in weight of farm and grain trucks leaves cars and pickups heavily damaged after impact. The occupants suffer shoulder injuries frequently. Shoulder injuries to the rotator cuff, brachial plexus nerve branch, clavicle and scapula usually require extensive surgery. - Knee injuries.
Knee injuries happen from crush injuries to the passenger compartment. Knees can also be injured by the dashboard. These injuries often create meniscal tears, ACL and PCL tears, patella fractures and other significant damage that normally requires surgery to repair. - Back and neck injuries.
When a heavier semi-truck or other large truck strikes the smaller motor vehicle it can cause damage to the back and neck including, vertebrae, discs, and ligaments. Severe back and neck injuries require epidurals, physical therapy, surgeries, and radiofrequency ablations. - Traumatic brain injuries.
Truck accidents can cause head injuries from a brain bleed or fractured skull to concussions and traumatic brain injuries. Most are lifelong medical problems that stop a person from normal functioning in life. - Spinal Cord Injuries.
Spinal cord injuries often lead to paralysis of part or all of the body and are life disabling creating a need for medical care over an entire lifetime. - Internal injuries.
Internal injuries are common with big rig accidents. Organ damage happens from the crush of the large truck into the smaller vehicle. Most are life threatening injuries that require surgeries and hospitalization. - Wrongful Death.
Internal injuries, fractures, infection, and injuries from the force of the impact from a large truck can result in death to the occupants creating a tremendous loss to the remaining family members and spouse.
To read about more common types of injuries from semis, tractor-trailers, and big rigs, click here.
What Are the Seven Requirements of an OP-1 Safety Certification?
The DOT applicant must properly certify that they have seven different safety programs in place in order to receive the DOT license. The oath is a regulatory requirement.
Our Overland Park trucking attorneys frequently add legals claim against the motor carrier for negligently failing to follow the required OP-1 safety certification.
The seven requirements for an OP-1 safety certification oath are:
- Has in place a system and an individual responsible for ensuring overall compliance with the FMCSRs.
- Can produce a copy of the FMCSRs and the Hazardous Materials Transportation Regulations.
- Has in place a driver safety training/orientation program.
- Has in place and maintains an accident register in compliance with 49 CFR Part 390.15.
- Is familiar with the DOT regulations governing driver qualifications and has in place a system for overseeing driver qualification requirements under 49 CFR Part 391.
- Has in place policies and procedures consistent with USDOT regulations governing driving and operational safety of motor vehicles including drivers’ hours of service and vehicle inspection, repair and maintenance under 49 CFR Part 392, Part 395 and Part 396.
- Is familiar with and will have in place on the appropriate effective date, a system for complying with USDOT regulations governing alcohol and controlled substances testing requirements under 49 CFR 382 and Part 40.
In a Big Rig Accident What is the Largest Amount for a Settlement?
In a big rig accident, there is no such thing as the largest amount. In Kansas, caps on pain and suffering and noneconomic damages no longer exist so the right case could bring 50 million dollars or more. Our big rig accidents have settled for amounts between one and nine million dollars. In the right case, it can be much higher.
The amount of settlement depends on the following variables:
- Type and extent of injury.
- Amount of medical bills and wage loss or other economic loss.
- Whether the truck driver and motor carrier’s actions are negligent or reckless and wanton.
- The amount of insurance coverage available.
- Whether you have long term disability or functional loss.
What are Some of the Common Causes of Truck Accidents in Overland Park and Across Kansas?
The common causes of truck accidents in Overland Park and across Kansas are:
- Head-on collisions.
A significant number of accidents are from head-on collisions. The drivers are usually tired and fatigued and begin weaving across the center line until they hit a car or pickup head-on. - Rear end collisions.
Truck drivers with bad brakes and those who drive too fast or are following too closely for slowing or stopped traffic conditions can slam into the back of innocent motorists can cause a chain reaction into 5 or more stopped vehicles in front of them. The Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS) found that 5% of truck crashes occurred when the commercial motor vehicle driver was following the lead vehicle too closely. - Abrupt lane changes.
Truck drivers who are in the no-zone and making a maneuver of a passing change frequently collide with vehicles next to them and cause crashes and severe injuries to the occupants of the passenger vehicle. The LTCCS reported that 14 percent of large truck crashes are due to inadequate surveillance.
- Failure to give right of way at stop signs, red lights and while turning left.
Truck drivers who fail to give right of way at stop signs, red lights and while turning left turn, cause a significant number of car-truck crashes. These are common violations of the FMCSR.
- Speeding truck drivers.
According to the FMCSA speeding was the most frequent driver related factor in fatal crashes with commercial motor vehicles (CMV) making up 7.3 percent of all CMV fatalities.
- Fatigued driving.
The National Institutes of Health and NCBI reported that truck driver fatigue is associated with 13 percent of large truck crashes.
To see other common causes of trucking accidents click here.
What Do I Need to Do After My Overland Park Truck Accident.
Follow these steps to get rapid legal representation and help with your trucking accident case:
- Call 911 in Overland Park to report the accident to the police.
- Contact Truck Accident Lawyers Group by calling 913-702-0700 immediately after your accident for free legal advice.
- Request an ambulance and go directly to the nearest large hospital.
- Refuse to speak to insurance adjusters.
- Report all injuries to EMS workers and doctors as well as police.
- Photograph injuries, vehicles and the roadway.
- Get the names and addresses of all witnesses and police officers.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I protect my legal rights after a semi-truck accident?
The most important thing you can do to protect your legal rights after a semi-truck accident is to hire an experienced truck accident attorney. Insurance companies set up defenses and hide critical evidence. Delay in hiring a trucking lawyer could result in your losing the case. Never sign any document for the insurance company. It can wipe out all legal rights.
What should I do if I get contacted by the trucking company’s insurance adjuster?
When you have a large truck crash you should not speak to the adjuster or defense attorney and refuse to speak to them. Refuse to sign any documents. Anything you say could be considered an admission against your legal rights. An experienced truck accident attorney should be the person who deals with the insurance company.
What if I was a passenger in the vehicle and not the driver in a truck accident?
If you are a passenger in a vehicle that collides with a truck you can get Personal Injury Protection benefits (PIP) that provide medical and wage loss benefits. You need to be careful talking to the insurance company for both the vehicle you are riding in and the trucking company. You may have claims for financial compensation against both.