Pratt Truck Accident Lawyers
Pratt Truck Accident Lawyer Helping Fight Trucking Companies with Negligent Truck Drivers in Semi-trucks and Grain Trucks to Get Financial Compensation for Injury Victims.
Our Pratt 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 Pratt 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.
Our Pratt truck accident attorneys have spent four decades designing specialized case development methods to build cases involving car accidents with semi-trucks, grain trucks and farming trucks. These proprietary methods help our trucking attorneys question witnesses, drivers, safety directors and management people in trucking companies to get them to admit fault.
Our client results are outstanding, being in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Our track record is recognized by insurance companies for motor carriers. They know which trucking accident lawyers fight hard and who does not. Our law firm has caused insurance carriers for trucking companies to pay millions of dollars for our truck injury clients.
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 Pratt had 120 motor vehicle crashes resulting in 23 injuries. Pratt County had 206 motor vehicle crashes with 37 injuries.
Pratt is connected by multiple state and federal highways. The area has 3 large grain elevators including an ADM grain facility which means that grain box trucks are all over the county.
The area has several feed yards which means that cattle haulers are constantly in and out of the feed yard. Cattle haulers tend to be rebels and drive recklessly acting like they have an agricultural exemption from maximum hours driving limits under the FMCSR and they do not.
Our Pratt semi-truck injury attorneys are experienced in federal and state regulations like the FMCSR and CSA BASICs. Our knowledge of safety rules works on all truck drivers and their employees regardless of whether agricultural or nonagricultural.
Whenever you have a car accident with a large truck, farm truck or oil and gas service vehicle, you need to hire a Pratt 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. We never charge a fee unless we win.
What are 7 Common Causes of Farm Truck and Grain Truck Accidents?
Seven common causes of farm truck and grain truck accidents are:
- Hiring untrained truck drivers without a CDL.
The FMCSA allows states to exempt operators of farm vehicles from its CDL Requirements. When a farmer or a hired hand drives a farm or grain truck Kansas allows an exemption from requiring a CDL for the driver so long as the driver does not exceed the 150 air-mile radius limits. - 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. Drivers falsely claiming an ag exemption like cattle haulers driving from Nebraska are fatigued. They exceed driving limits to avoid penalties for cattle losing weight during transport. - Driver distraction and error.
Driver distraction and driver error are a leading cause of semi-truck accidents. The FMCSA published distraction reasons from their 2018 Crash Facts. 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. - Following too closely.
The Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS) found that 5 percent of truck crashes occurred when the commercial motor vehicle driver was following the lead vehicle too closely. - Drunk driving and intoxicated driving.
Drunk driving and drugged driving is subject to Part 382.301 which requires pre-employment testing for controlled substances on alcohol and drug testing prior to allowing the driver to operate a truck on behalf of the company. - Part 392.14 requires truck drivers to stop in dangerous weather.
Part 392.14 requires truck drivers to slow down and when weather conditions become sufficiently dangerous, they must stop operation of the tractor-trailer. Kansas is never calm. It always has high wind conditions coupled with bad weather conditions and fires where visibility and traction are hindered. - 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.
Is it Easy to Win a Trucking Case with a Farm Truck or Grain Truck?
Car accidents with farm trucks and grain trucks are not easy for many legal reasons, most of which is the fact that Kansas allows exemptions from the FMCSR to Farmers. The hard part is proving whether they legally had the ag exemption or were driving outside of the 150 air-mile radius.
Six reasons farm truck and grain truck cases are not easy.
- Agricultural commodity exception.
The agricultural commodity exception under Part 395.1(k)(1) allows a driver to not use normal ELD driving logs when the farmer or their employee is transporting agricultural commodities no further than 150 air-miles from the pickup point. - Proving the farm truck driver is outside the 150 air-mile exception.
The difficult part for the trucking accident injury attorney is to prove the driver of the farm truck exceeded the 150 air-mile radius from their original point of pickup of the agricultural commodities. Truck drivers in agricultural pursuits tend to ignore the limitation acting above the law. - Multiple pickup points are more difficult to track.
Many farming truck drivers believe they can go to multiple different pickup points and keep starting a new 150 air-mile exception. This is untrue and the FMCSR states that the first place where the commodity was loaded is the measuring point for the 150 air-mile radius. Once they drive past this, they must log hours. - Livestock haulers of cattle.
If a livestock hauler operates only within the 150 air-mile rule they are not required to use ELD. However, livestock haulers who operate their cattle trucks outside of the 150 air-mile radius are required to follow normal hours-of-service ELD Logs. Most cattle haulers do not drive with the ag exemption radius. - Agricultural commodity definition.
An agricultural commodity is defined under Part 395.2 as “any agricultural commodity, nonprocessed food, feed, fiber or livestock.” Sometimes Farmers attempt to carry other cargo or goods still claiming the exception which makes it difficult for the trucking attorney because you need proof of the commodity or livestock. - ELD Hours of Service.
The abuse of the agricultural exception is usually seen more by livestock transporters than grain transporters, but both violate the agricultural commodity exception due to ignorance, poor training, and a wrongful belief they are completely exempt from the Federal Hours of Service maximum hours limitations.
What are the 8 Most Frequent Types of Farm, Grain Truck and Livestock Hauler Accidents?
Eight of the most frequent types of farm, grain truck and livestock hauler cases are:
- Blind spot accidents.
Blind spots are a known hazard for all truck drivers including farm trucks, grain trucks and livestock haulers. The blind spots are in the front, back and on both sides. The large trailers block vision to the rear and on both sides of the trailer with a key blind spot being when an adjacent passenger car is even with the front of the trailer. - Driving in high winds.
Livestock haulers and grain trucks are often subject to high wind conditions that cause them to shift across the highway. This is even worse when traveling north-south because of the high cross winds from winds coming off the Kansas plains. Both cattle trucks and grain trucks are dangerous to all cars and pickups on the road. - Lane change accidents.
Lane change accidents frequently happen when a cattle haulers and farm truck drivers are tired, fatigued and distracted and changes lane without giving prior notice. Livestock haulers rarely stop to feed or give rest to cattle and speed through all sorts of bad weather and road conditions. High winds in Kansas frequently cause head-on collisions. - Failure to yield right-of-way on red lights, stop signs and left turns.
Failure to yield right of way for other vehicles on red lights, at stop signs, yield signs and in left turns is a common violation for truck drivers under the FMCSR under Part 392.2 of the FMCSR. Kansas motor vehicle statues likewise make it illegal not to give right of way under KSA -8-1529. - Nighttime driving.
Nighttime driving is inherently dangerous according to the DOT and Federal Highway Administration. This is because at least half of traffic fatalities occur at nighttime. Farm trucks, grain trucks and cattle haulers are even more dangerous at nighttime because they have many unsafe and untrained truck drivers. - Jackknife accidents.
A jackknife accident is where the tractor-trailer folds at the connecting point of the tractor and trailer and the trailer swings out to a 90 degree angle from the truck sometimes going past 90 degrees. This can happen to a grain truck or livestock hauler. When they happen motorists in adjacent lanes may be killed. - Aggressive and reckless driving.
Aggressive driving is “The operation of a motor vehicle in a manner that is likely to endanger persons or property.” Typically, this type of driving is from traffic delays, running late, disregard for others or the law and can be from habitual behavior. This is typical behavior for cattle haulers who push driving hours past legal limits. - Rollovers.
Rollover accidents occur when the truck driver starts to lose control of the tractor-trailer and the weight in the trailer causes the entire big rig to rollover. Cattle frequently shift weight and when overloaded they can easily cause a rollover. Most rollovers are caused from driver error, bad weather conditions, speeding around curves and unsafe steering.
For other types of truck accidents click here.
What are 3 Common Injuries Caused by Grain Trucks and Livestock Trucks?
Farming trucks including grain trucks, livestock haulers and similar agricultural trucks have a commonality of injuries they cause due to the massive weight of the loaded trailers which crushes smaller cars, pickups, and vans.
3 Common injuries caused by grain trucks and livestock trucks:
- Back and Neck Injuries.
Back and neck injuries are common aftereffects of car-truck crashes which are more severe with heavy grain trucks and livestock trucks. They can cause strains and sprains to the extremities or extreme damage to the spinal column requiring surgical treatment through epidurals, radiofrequency ablations, discectomy, laminectomy, fusion, and instrumentation with titanium parts inside the spine and extremities. - Head Injuries and Traumatic Brain Injuries.
Shifting acceleration and deceleration forces occur when a car and grain truck or cattle hauling truck collide. Many of these accidents are head-on crashes from high winds. They result in concussions, brain bleeds, skull fractures, traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and long term disability. - Wrongful death.
Wrongful death can happen easily after a car-truck crash because of the powerful force of the heavier truck. 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.
Are Grain Trucks Unsafe?
Yes, grain trucks are unsafe to smaller cars and pickups. The 2020 FMCSA Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts reported that 4,988 fatalities were caused from large trucks and buses in 2019.
Grain trucks are unsafe for the following 5 reasons:
- Untrained drivers.
Very few farms have any meaningful safety training in place to teach grain truck drivers hazard perception and recognition, hazard avoidance or defensive driving which makes these drivers inherently unsafe to smaller vehicles. - Grain box trucks shift in Kansas winds.
Grain trucks have high solid sides which catch the wind. The high sides of the grain box trucks make them prone to shifting across traveled lanes from the Kansas normal high winds that can range from 30 mph to more than 80 mph. - Blind Spots.
Grain box trucks have blind spots directly behind them and behind both rear view mirrors making it difficult for the box truck drivers to see passenger vehicles on either side of the box grain truck. Remember, it is dangerous to drive adjacent to any semi-truck or grain truck. - Heavy weight.
Grain trucks can be heavy from hauling hundreds of bushels of grains or they can be lighter on a dead head empty haul back. The heavier they are loaded the greater there stopping distance and if they have poorly maintained brakes it can be much worse. When fully loaded they are deadly. - Ag exemption makes grain truck drivers careless.
The Ag exemptions make grain truck drivers ignore safety rules because they believe they are always with regulation. In short hauls this may be true, but when they drive long distances outside of the short haul radius of 150 air-miles danger increases to passenger cars.
Can I Claim the Same Damages for Injuries with a Farm Truck?
The fact that a truck driver is driving a farm or grain truck does not change the types of damages that you can claim. However, there are significant differences in insurance coverage for farm trucks with an ag exemption and they may only carry $250,000 or $350,000 in coverage in contrast to tractor-trailers complying with the FMCSR that must carry $750,000 or more.
Types of damages available to truck injury victims harmed by farm and grain trucks:
- 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.
How Difficult are Trucking Cases with Ag Exemptions with Farming and Agricultural Grain Trucks?
Farming and Agricultural grain trucks and other farming vehicle accidents are more difficult than a normal tractor-trailer case because the federal regulations like the FMCSR may not be available to help your Pratt truck accident attorney prove negligence. The driver logging requirements are much less than a normal big rig.
6 reasons trucking cases with an ag exemptions are more difficult than a regular tractor-trailer case are:
- Lack of higher insurance.
Since most farmers are exempt from the FMCSR in Kansas, local insurance companies like Farm Bureau and State Farm rarely recommend higher insurance limits to the farmers. Lower insurance limits make the cases more difficult to settle than regular trucking cases. - Agricultural commodity exception.
The agricultural commodity exception under Part 395.1(k)(1) allows a driver to not use normal ELD driving logs when the farmer or their employee is transporting agricultural commodities no further than 150 air-miles from the pickup point. - Proving the farm truck driver is outside the 150 air-mile exception.
The difficult part for the trucking accident injury attorney is to prove the driver of the farm truck exceeded the 150 air-mile radius from their original point of pickup of the agricultural commodities. Truck drivers in agricultural pursuits tend to ignore the limitation acting above the law. - Multiple pickup points are more difficult to track.
Many farming truck drivers believe they can go to multiple different pickup points and keep starting a new 150 air-mile exception. This is untrue and the FMCSR states that the first place where the commodity was loaded is the measuring point for the 150 air-mile radius. - Agricultural commodity definition.
An agricultural commodity is defined under Part 395.2 as “any agricultural commodity, nonprocessed food, feed, fiber or livestock.” Sometimes Farmers attempt to carry other cargo or goods still claiming the exception which makes it difficult for the trucking attorney because you need proof of the commodity or livestock. - ELD Hours of Service.
The abuse of the agricultural exception is usually seen more by livestock transporters than grain transporters, but both can violate the agricultural commodity exception due to ignorance, poor training, and a wrongful belief they are completely exempt from the Federal Hours of Service maximum hours limitations.
How Long is the Statute of Limitations in Kansas for a Car-Truck Crash with a Farm Truck in Contrast to a Long-Haul Truck Driver?
If you have a car-truck crash with a farm truck or a long-haul truck driver the statute of limitation is the same and you 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 Pratt and Pratt County?
Pratt is in Pratt County in South Central Kansas to the west of Wichita and Kingman and is mainly an agricultural area of business along with the oil and gas industry. The roads are filled with grain elevators and a major feed year exists to the north of Pratt meaning that cattle haulers and grain trucks are plentiful bringing danger to area residents.
The most dangerous roads and intersections in Pratt and Pratt County are:
- US-54 highway and US-400 highway.
US-54 and US-400 are the same highway for a period of time coming out of the Wichita heading west and then split near Mullinville. This joint highway intersects with K-61 in Pratt and also intersects with US-281 which is a common cattle hauling route. Danger is everywhere. There are multiple grain elevators all over the county. - K-61 highway.
K-61 highway runs diagonally from Hutchinson and heads directly adjacent to a large train elevator bringing heavy grain truck activity. The highway intersects with US-400 bringing an intersection where trucking traffic exists. - US-281 highway.
US-281 runs north-south past smaller roads to several feed lots so it is a heavily traveled truck route by cattle haulers. The highway runs north past Grand Platte Nebraska and south into Oklahoma which is a long-haul cattle route and very few of the cattle haulers are legally within their ag exemption making them fatigued and dangerous. - Main Street and First Street.
Main Street is US-281 and First Street is US-400 making this an intersection which high trucking activity where passenger vehicles have high risk to drive.
Does Anyone Besides the Truck Driver Have to Pay for My Injuries?
Typically, the trucking company will have to pay for your injuries through their insurance coverage which may be additional to the truck driver’s insurance coverage. In many instances the same policy covers both parties.
Other parties may have to pay in addition to the truck driver and motor carrier. They are:
- Leasing company.
When a larger motor carrier leases a truck or trailer to a driver or smaller motor carrier, they can also be responsible to pay for your injuries if they were negligent in selecting the driver or motor carrier. - Negligent maintenance companies.
Smaller trucking companies may hire outside maintenance and repair service shops. If they negligently repair a tractor-trailer and you are injured, they may have to pay for your injuries. - Product Liability.
When defective brakes, tires, or safety equipment causes a car-truck crash they can be required to pay for your injuries. - Loading companies.
Many truck drivers pickup up preloaded trailers that are sealed. When they are improperly loaded and negligent loading causes the tractor-trailer to shift lanes, rollover or jackknife they can be required to pay for your injuries. - Broker Liability.
There is a trend towards making brokers responsible to pay for your injuries caused by an unsafe motor carrier that they hired to transport cargo. Our firm routinely brings legal claims against brokers.
What is the Best Type of Injury Attorney for a Car-truck Accident?
The best type of injury attorney for a car-truck accident is to hire a lawyer that is skilled in understanding federal and state regulations and laws that apply to large trucks, cattle haulers and certain farming and industrial trucks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What questions should I ask my Kansas Truck Accident Lawyer?
The main questions to ask your Kansas Truck Accident Lawyer are to inquire as to their past experience in trucking cases, their win rate, their knowledge of the FMCSR and CSA BASICS and what type of trucking library of textbooks and training manuals they have in the office. Ask to see the library.
What is a large or heavy truck?
A large or heavy truck generally refers to a truck that weighs more than 10,000 pounds and consists of a single axle truck or can be multiple axles puling a trailer. The FMCSA performs a study called the Large Truck Crash Causation Study or (LTCCS). This study looks at how to prevent large truck crashes resulting in injury or death.
Who usually is injured in a car-truck crash with heavy trucks, 18-wheelers, and tractor-trailers?
The National Safety Council (NSC) Injury Facts reported that 71% of people injured in large truck crashes were in the other vehicle while only 27.1% of the truck occupants were injured in 2021 large truck crashes.
Contact Pratt City Office
- 7 Common Causes of Accidents
- Is It Easy To Win a Trucking Case?
- 8 Most Frequent Types of Accidents
- 3 Common Injuries Caused By Accidents
- Are Grain Trucks Unsafe?
- Can You Claim Damages for Injuries?
- How Difficult Are Trucking Cases?
- Statute of Limitions
- Most Dangerous Roads and Intersections
- Who Pays For Injuries?
- Best Types of Injuries For Car-Truck Accidents
- Frequently Asked Questions