Pittsburg KS Truck Accident Lawyer
Pittsburg Truck Accident Attorney Helping Truck Crash Victims Fight Trucking Companies and Negligent Truck Drivers to Get Financial Compensation for Injury Victims
Our Pittsburg truck accident attorney helps truck crash victims fight trucking companies and negligent truck drivers to get financial compensation for injury victims.
Pittsburg, Kansas, and Crawford County sit near major trucking routes going East-West and North-South. Many east-west truck drivers are heading from or into Missouri traveling to Joplin or Springfield while many north-south drivers are traveling from Kansas City to Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas. Large truck accidents cause severe injuries and wrongful death to innocent drivers and passengers.
In 2021, Kansas had 3,316 Heavy/Large Truck crashes resulting in 81 fatalities which is one death every 108.15 hours according to the KDOT 2021 Kansas Traffic Crash Facts. Pittsburg had 318 motor vehicle crashes resulting in 47 injuries. Crawford County had 820 crashes resulting in 181 injuries and 7 deaths.
Our Pittsburg Truck Accident Lawyers are experienced helping truck accident victims get maximum compensation. We develop trucking claims involving cars, motor vehicles, motorcycles, and pedestrians by using our proprietary truck accident case development method. This uses a team approach of truck attorneys, legal assistants, and case managers who work together with you to build your case to its highest potential.
Our Pittsburg personal injury attorneys are highly skilled in understanding federal regulations that apply to the trucking industry called the FMCSR. The trucking companies are required to comply with both the FMCSR and the CSA BASICs to maintain DOT licenses. Motor carriers who violated the 7 basics receive Alerts when violation rates are high.
Our Pittsburg trucking injury lawyers help truck crash victims get compensation for pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, medical bills, wage loss, and other financial and economic losses. If your loved one dies, we are skilled at bringing Wrongful Death claims.
Not only do we bring legal claims against the truck driver, but we also bring legal claims against their employer or motor carrier they drive for by bringing legal claims for negligent hiring, training, and supervision to increase the available insurance. The trucking company is almost always vicariously liable for the actions of their truck driver.
Most motor carriers fail to properly follow their required safety plans under the OP-1 which creates an additional negligence claim. The motor carrier or truck driver must sign an oath agreeing to create and follow a proper FMCSR safety plan to help prevent injuries and deaths.
If you have had a car accident involving a tractor-trailer, large truck or semi you can get a free consultation 24/7 by calling 620-690-0600 or write to us on our contact page with your questions. Our personal injury truck lawyers always give you their personal cell phone when most many other law firms refuse to be that helpful.
Our Pittsburg truck crash attorneys have had decades of experience fighting trucking companies since 1983 and our track record of results is remarkable.
How does a Freedom of Information Act request to the FMCSA Help a Truck Accident Injury Attorney Obtain Evidence of Negligence?
Experienced Truck Accident personal injury lawyers know that to prove a truck crash victim has a great case we must send a Freedom of Information Act Request (FOIA) to the FMCSA. This request enables the trucking lawyer to get both public and private information on the motor carrier and most importantly allows us to get their monthly Company Safety Profile (CSP).
The CSP on a motor carrier provides information on the motor carrier safety performance and provides:
- Motor carrier identity and operation.
- History of Safety Compliance Review and Federal Safety rating.
- History of enforcement cases against the motor carrier for safety violations.
- Crash Summary of the past 4 years along with individual crashes from State crash reports.
- Inspection Summary of two years from the SAFETYNET sources.
- SafeStat History to help analyze the safety of the motor carrier’s operations.
- Helps the truck accident attorney identify if there are growing trends of unsafe characteristics in the 7 categories of behavioral assessment.
When a Pittsburg trucking lawyer obtains this information, it can be used to prove fault and liability of the motor carrier and in many cases, if the safety record is bad enough, we can use it to add additional claims for punitive damages to punish the motor carrier for acting wantonly and recklessly in disregard of human life.
What are the Dangerous Roadways, Highways, and Intersections in and Near Pittsburg, KS?
Pittsburg and Crawford County have US-69 running north-south through the city which turns into US-160.
US-400 is a busy truck route running east-west which overlaps with US-69 and offers an alternate route to Wichita and Joplin.
US-160 is an east-west highway that intersects with US-69 in Pittsburg and provides intersection accidents.
K-126 is a highway running east-west from US-69 running into Pittsburg to provide access to La Cygen and Linn County.
K-7 is a state highway that briefly overlaps with US-69 just north of Pittsburg. This connects to Kansas City from the north which provides a major trucking route for delivering freight, cargo and food products between Kansas City and Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas.
The most dangerous intersections in Pittsburg are:
- US-69 and US-160 and run north-south and east-west meeting at a busy downtown intersection.
- US-69 and 4th Street is a major intersection leading to Pittsburg State University and is located as a major intersection near busy restaurants and businesses with motor vehicles pulling out and turning.
- US-69 and Centennial Drive provide access to the shopping and businesses in East Pittsburg where traffic accidents frequently happen.
- US 400 and Centennial Drive is an intersection where trucks and vehicles turn or merge to travel to and from the east side of Pittsburg.
- Free King Highway and 4th Street have large trucks heading to and from Pittsburg’s industrial area.
By understanding the major roadways and intersections in Pittsburg you can keep on guard to avoid the dangerous heavy and large trucks who frequently cause motor vehicle accidents resulting in injuries and death.
What are the Common Causes of Truck Accidents in Pittsburg, Kansas?
The National Safety Council (NSC) found a 12% increase in large truck accidents in 2021 with a 12% increase in crashes. In 2021, 117,000 large trucks were involved in crashes. Most injuries in these large truck crashes are to the occupants of other motor vehicles. There were 4,179 people killed in 2021 from accidents with large trucks.
Common causes of truck accidents in Pittsburg and Crawford County are:
- Speeding tractor-trailers.
Speeding is a major contributor to crashes, injuries and fatalities across the US. - Inattentive driving.
According to the FMCSA 71% of the time, large truck accidents happen because the drivers are inattentive and perform non-driving related tasks. - Fatigued truck drivers.
The CMV Driving Tips page on Driver Fatigue finds that 13% of truck drivers were considered fatigued at the time of their trucking crash. - Poorly maintained brakes and tires.
The Large Truck Causation Study found that 30% of the crashes were related to bad brakes. - Improperly loaded cargo.
The Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts found 12 of the studied large truck crashes occurred as a result of improper loading or overloading of cargo or passengers.
- Work zones that create merging traffic.
Large trucks are involved in 1/3 of all fatal crashes that occur in a work zone. The FMCSA Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts 2020 found that 26 percent of work zone fatal accidents and 15% of work zone injuries are related directly to large trucks. - ‘Cell phone usage and texting.
The FMCSA Safety Fact Sheet found that 16 percent of driver distraction large truck collisions were related to cell phone use.
Who can be sued for a car-truck accident in Kansas?
When a long-haul tractor-trailer driver or any employed driver of a large truck has a collision in Kansas there are multiple parties that are potential additional defendants like their trucking company or employer. Kansas follows longstanding law making the company that hires the driver responsible for their negligent actions since they are vicariously liable.
In addition to adding the trucking company or hiring company responsible other people and businesses can be at fault.
The examples of other situations where another party is liable include:
- Companies improperly load a trailer with cargo or overload the trailer.
- Truck, tractor, and trailer maintenance companies who improperly maintain the truck or trailer.
- Product manufacturers who build defective products like tires and brakes.
- Brokers and shippers who arrange for the transportation of cargo, freight, food, and cattle and hire negligent motor carriers or truck drivers.
- Third party dispatch companies overseeing the transportation of cargo and freight that fail to monitor the maximum hours-of-service limits on driving.
- Cities, counties, and other government entities do not use proper signage to warn drivers of road closures, mergers and slowing traffic conditions.
- Road construction companies who fail to use adequate flagmen and warning systems to warn drivers to slow or stop for road construction.
Vicarious liability means that the employer or principal that employs or hired the driver as an employee or agent who is negligently performing the driving task in the course and scope of employment or agency, and injures another, makes their employer legal responsible for their negligent acts.
What Types of Personal Injury Damages Can Be Obtained in a Large Truck Accident?
Personal injury damages from a truck accident can include:
- Noneconomic damages like pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life and loss of time.
- Medical bills for medical treatment including future medical needs.
- Prosthetics and replacement prosthetics for cases involving loss of a limb and amputation.
- Wage loss including future waged and other losses from inability to work.
- Disability and disfigurement.
- Wrongful death.
- Wentling damages for loss of advice, counsel and services from the death of a parent, spouse or adult child.
- Funeral expenses for burial, cremation, and funeral services in the event of the death of a loved one.
Our Pittsburg truck crash attorneys have handled hundreds of large truck accidents successfully with results in the million-dollar range and above.
Who Pays for Medical Bills of An Injured Driver After a Car and Truck Accident in Kansas?
In Kansas, car accidents and car-truck collisions make the at-fault driver and their insurance company liable to pay for your medical bills. This can include the trucking companies that hired the driver and employers of delivery drivers like Amazon, Uber, Lyft, UPS, and Federal Express.
Kansas is a no-fault state and Kansas law provides that all motor vehicles (except motorcycles) must carry insurance with Personal Injury Protection Benefits (PIP) which provides a minimum of $4,500 for medical expenses and another $4,500 for rehabilitation expenses. This is for the driver and all passengers in the vehicle.
You can purchase higher limits of medical PIP benefits in Kansas with some insurance companies providing higher per person limits up to $50,000 per person in the vehicle. You should always ask your agent about buying higher PIP coverage.
What are the Different Types of Semi-truck Accidents?
There are many different types of Semi-truck accidents that can occur. The most frequent Semi-truck accidents are:
- Lane change accidents.
Lane change accidents between cars and semi-trucks happen when truck drivers are attempting to change a lane when a smaller motor vehicle is in their blind spot or passing the tractor-trailer. - Wide turn vehicle collisions.
Tractor-trailers must make wide turns on smaller streets due to the length of the tractor and trailer. Truck drivers can negligently make a right turn from the left lane without realizing a car or smaller motor vehicle is beside them. - Jackknife collisions.
Jackknife accidents happen when a tractor-trailer is overloaded, and weight shifts the trailer perpendicular to the tractor. The majority of these accidents end up with fatalities caused to the people in the smaller motor vehicles near them. - Head-on accidents.
Head-on truck crashes happen when vehicles are passing other vehicles, and one vehicle is unable to get back into their proper lane of travel. They also occur frequently in Kansas due to bad weather and high winds blowing the semi-truck into an opposite lane of travel. - Rear-end impact crashes.
Rear-end crashes occur when the front of a semi-truck impacts the rear of a car or motor vehicle causing substantial car crashes. Many of these crashes are caused by speeding and fatigued truck drivers or from truck drivers with bad brakes. - Rollover accidents.
The FMCSA teaches truck drivers that poor driving conditions lead to rollover accidents and 56% of them happen on straight roads. About 28% of all trucking rollover accidents occur due to excessive speed of the truck driver. Most rollovers happen to truck drivers between the ages of 25 and 55. - Underride tractor-trailer collisions.
Federal regulations require trailers on semis to have underride guards on the rear of the trailer. Those guards must withstand a 35-mph collision. These devices are meant to prevent decapitation, paralysis and death of drivers and passengers in smaller cars and vehicles that hit rearend semi-trucks and go under the back of the trailer.
The Truck Accident Lawyers Group associated with the Bull Attorneys are some of the most experienced and skilled trucking lawyers that you can find. We never charge a fee up front and only charge a fee if we win.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many hours can a professional truck driver drive in one day?
Part 395 requires that truck drivers in interstate commerce are allowed to drive up to 11 hours after being off duty for 10 or more consecutive hours.
Are trucking companies responsible for accidents there truck drivers cause?
Trucking companies who hire or supervise truck drivers are vicariously liable for the negligence of their driver when in the course and scope of employment for the motor carrier.
What is the 3-strike rule for truck drivers?
Safe motor carriers and trucking companies use a 3-strike rule disciplinary policy which means that if the truck driver has an incident or accident they are warned on the first one, suspended on the second one and terminated on the third one.
Contact Pittsburg City Office
Locations We Serve
With physical offices in Kansas and Texas, the Truck Accident Lawyers Group is ready to represent injured people who have had a motor vehicle and truck accident anywhere in the United States. Make sure you hire an experienced truck accident lawyer who understands the safety rules under the FMCSR.
