WaKeeney Truck Accident Lawyer
WaKeeney Car and Truck Accident Lawyer Helping Fight Trucking Companies with Negligent Semi-Truck Drivers to Get Financial Compensation for Injury Victims.
Our WaKeeney car and truck accident lawyers help fight trucking companies with negligent semi-truck drivers by getting financial compensation for truck injury victims that have had a truck accident involving a car, pickup, van or motorcycle.
Truck Accident Lawyers Group (TALG) is associated with Bull Attorneys®. Because of WaKeeney’s location in Northwestern Kansas our association with Bull Attorneys® means that our primary offices in Wichita and 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. Regardless of which office location you choose our WaKeeney truck car and truck accident personal injury attorneys will visit you in the hospital or your home for free. It costs nothing to hire us and our WaKeeney truck accident attorneys work for free unless we win.
Our WaKeeney car and truck lawyers help with every step of your case from start to finish. We help truck injury victims get:
- Peace of mind.
Once we take over you cannot be bothered any longer by the insurance adjusters and their investigators. - Finding excellent medical care.
People in western Kansas often have a hard time finding quality medical doctors having to rely upon nurse practitioners. We have a network of the best doctors, hospitals and surgery centers across the state that work with our firm to help truck accident injury victims. - Property damages.
Property damage to a smaller vehicle can be damaged to the point that it is no longer drivable and has to be totaled. We help settle all the claims around your property damage. - Noneconomic damages.
Noneconomic damages are pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life and disfigurement. We help by hiring experts to evaluate your noneconomic damages so an insurance company or jury will give money to compensate you for them. - Economic damages.
Economic damages are for medical bills, lost wages, rehabilitation costs, future medical bills, future wage loss and all financial needs over your lifetime resulting from a semi-truck crash. We hire medical experts and economists or lifecare experts to project your lifetime medical expenses from your truck crash. - Wrongful death.
When a wrongful death occurs, we help get financial compensation for your losses and your loved one’s conscious pain and suffering that existed from the time of the accident until their death. We investigate all witnesses so we can find evidence to prove that your loved one had conscious pain and suffering before dying, which increases your financial compensation. - Wentling Damages.
Wentling damages are a different type of damage that allows a jury to award additional money damages to a family member in a death case where we can show that the death your loved one caused you to have an economic loss for the loss of services, guidance and counseling provided by the family member before death. - Funeral expenses.
Funeral expenses includes the funeral services, gravesite services and headstones for a loved one. We help set up PIP claims to get money for the funeral expenses and then get the remaining balance from the negligent parties. - Punitive damages.
Punitive damages are known as exemplary damages and they are awarded when a defendant has harmed someone through reckless disregard of human life or has willfully, intentionally or maliciously harmed another person. Their purpose is to deter other people from similar bad conduct. - Vocational retraining.
When a severe injury causes amputation, or inability to perform your normal employment, we help with getting vocational training so that you can get into a new vocation. Due to the extreme force of an impact with these massive trucks we use vocational experts when you are hurt to badly that you cannot perform your former job. - Prosthetics.
Prosthetics are specially manufactured devices that help restore function to injury victims who have lost a limb or a part of a limb and can be of the older type of prosthetic that does not move and is stationary or the more current sophisticated electronically controlled prosthetics with a computer helping simulate normal function and movement.
The 2021 Kansas Traffic Crash Book reported that WaKeeney, Kansas had 20 motor vehicle crashes resulting in 2 injuries. Trego County had a much higher number of crashes with 121 motor vehicle crashes resulting in 15 injuries and 1 fatality.
WaKeeney is at a major highway junction of I-70 and US-283 highway making this farming and agricultural area a place where heavy farm equipment, grain trucks and farm implements are on the highways and roads often causing injuries and death to a multi-county group of Kansas residents. US-283 brings a tremendous number of cattle hauling semi-trucks through the area, adding to the danger of highways in Trego County.
Our WaKeeney trucking injury attorneys are highly educated on how to understand and use the FMCSR and CSA BASICs to prove how the motor carrier hired unsafe and poorly trained truck drivers who barely know what the FMCSR. Our use of federal regulations helps you to have an experienced semi-truck injury lawyer who can defend your rights.
When you hire TALG with Bull Attorneys® you get experienced trucking lawyers who have helped Kansans for four decades. Our truck crash attorneys recovered $50 million dollars in settlements in 2021 alone. We use a team approach of a truck crash attorney, case manager and legal assistant all following a proprietary case development method to maximize your financial compensation.
The 12 proprietary methods our personal injury semi-truck lawyers and truck crash team use are:
- Investigation into the accident with accident reconstruction experts, mapping tools and recreation methods.
- We have developed a unique set of specific questions for drivers, witnesses, law enforcement, safety directors and hiring personnel from the trucking company.
- We use very specific lengthy spoliation letters to the motor carriers and insurers to try and prevent destruction of key critical evidence necessary to prove their negligence and fault.
- We use a unique FOIA request to obtain the entire motor carrier file from the FMCSA including monthly safety records, audit and fine history for prior violations of the FMCSR and request much more to assist our safety experts in building your case.
- Use a specific lengthy question manual to ensure that when we take depositions of the safety director, operations manager, hiring manager, risk management director and other key safety employees which helps obtain admissions against the motor carrier for failure to comply with the FMCSR.
- Use the OP-1 oath and safety certification in a manner that will clearly prove the company did not abide by their oath and carry out the full safety plan required by the DOT and federal regulations.
- Obtain black boxes and maintenance records in order to prove the truck driver caused the accident by illegal driving and/or unsafe driving due.
- Analyze preventability of the accident by studying past truck crash incidents of the motor carrier which requires obtaining their entire motor carrier file from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
- Use our proprietary library of trucking industry books, training manuals and safety director educational books that all trucking management should know, understand and use. This helps us establish the negligence of the entire trucking company by proving their lack of understanding of federally required minimum standards of safety.
- The use of very specific lawsuits that have more than 10 different areas of negligence claims against the driver and their trucking company.
- Have specially trained legal assistants that help gather federal records on the motor carrier and all of their drivers to help us prove an overall negligent plan of safety compliance.
- Use experienced truck safety experts who learned the trucking industry by being former drivers and safety directors giving them keen insight into what a safe motor carrier should do to comply with the FMCSR.
Write us on out contact page or call us night or day for a free consultation at 785-708-0800. You can reach a real experienced trucking lawyer 24 hours a day since our lawyers answer the phone at night and on the weekends, unlike many firms who use answering services.
What are 9 Reasons Why Truck Accident Cases Are Complicated?
Truck accident cases are very complicated because of the federal rules and state laws that apply to every case. This law combined with potential different parties who can be at fault and liable to you for your injuries means you really need an experienced Trego County truck accident personal injury lawyer to get fair compensation.
The 9 main reasons that truck accident cases are complicated are:
- Multiple parties can be sued.
A semi-truck accident will normally lead to a suit against the truck driver and their employer. - Employment history of the truck driver must be investigated.
Tractor-trailer cases are not just about making a traffic violation claim against the truck driver. They include analyzing the background of the driver for negligent hiring. They also include evaluation their prior work history and motor vehicle ticket history. - Motor carrier compliance history.
Motor carriers must comply with the FMCSR and CSA BASICs which are tracked by the FMCSA to study the compliance history of the motor carrier. When they are out of compliance with too many violations, they can lose their DOT license to operate. - Understanding the OP-1 Safety Certification.
All commercial trucking companies must sign an oath and safety certification that they have an appropriate safety program that meets the minimum standards of the FMCSR under their OP-1 oath and very few comply with that oath. A majority of smaller and medium size motor carriers fail to comply with a majority of the requirements. - Evaluation of insurance coverage.
Insurance policies for trucking companies are much higher than an ordinary car insurance policy. The higher the level of insurance coverage the more the insurance company fights to not pay the entire coverage. Locating all available insurance is a major task because many companies hide excess and umbrella insurance policies. - Scene investigation is critical.
Trucking companies do immediate investigations of every injury crash. Their adjusters, attorneys and investigators all meet at the scene to find evidence to shift fault away from the motor carrier. Your trucking attorney needs to have access to the same critical evidence before it disappears within a few days of the accident. - Motor carrier safety profile.
Motor carrier files must be obtained through FOIA requests to the FMCSA and this takes months to a year to obtain the complete file. While some of the company information is available publicly online, the really critical evidence to prove a case can only be obtained through FOIA requests to the FMCSA. - Understanding the CSA BASICs.
An experienced trucking injury lawyer will understand the 7 categories of the CSA BASICS and how to apply them to the facts of your case. This will normally require obtaining the complete motor carrier file from the DOT and is extremely time consuming to get the entire file. - Evaluating Driver logs and trip records.
Driver logs do not tell the true story. An experience truck accident attorney will obtain copies of trip documents like fueling receipts, toll booth receipts, weigh station records, GPS tracking devices and Bills of Lading. The study of trip documents will prove the actual route, time and mileage of the driver’s true full route and driving time.
What Happens if the Statute of Limitations Runs Out?
If you have a legal claim and the statute of limitations in your state runs out, you are usually unable to recover any compensation for your lawsuit. Kansas has a two-year statute of limitations when you have a car accident or other claim for bodily injuries under Kansas statute 60-513. Minors have a longer period of time depending upon their age.
What are The Dangerous Roads and Intersections in WaKeeney and Trego County, Kansas?
WaKeeney and Trego County, Kansas are right in the middle of a busy area for oil and gas exploration as well as farming and grain elevators making the area specially dangerous to motorists because of large oil and gas trucks, farm trucks and semi-trucks. The most dangerous roads and intersections in WaKeeney and Trego County are:
- I-70 Interstate Highway.
I-70 is a major east-west interstate highway used by cross country drivers, tractor-trailers and all types of large business trucks. It intersects with US-283 which is a very dangerous area for cars. - US-283 highway.
US-283 is a north-south highway 183 is a north-south highway favored by truck drivers. This highway starts in Lexington, Nebraska and ends in Brady, Texas making it a significant cattle hauling route for cattle trucks taking cattle to feed lots and kill yards from Nebraska through WaKeeney and down into Oklahoma and Texas. - US-283 intersection with K-4.
US-283 runs south from Nebraska and intersects with K-4 to the west where it passes a number of feedlots and then allows cattle trucks to take US-83 to more feedlots and into southwest Kansas where major beef plants process beef.
Are Cattle Haulers Required to Log Their Hours-of-Service of Driving?
Cattle haulers who operate their cattle trucks outside of the 150 air-mile radius are required to follow normal hours-of-service ELD Logs. The 150 air-mile radius is constantly a point of contention for national cattle associations attempting to eliminate the maximum hours rules of service.
Most cattle haulers driving from Nebraska through WaKeeney and other cattle routes in Kansas are traveling way past the 150 air-mile rule. They constantly get into catastrophic car-truck accidents because of their mistaken belief that they are not subject to the maximum hours rules under the FMCSR.
Most cattle haulers causing truck crashes with other motor vehicles have truck crashes because of:
- Fatigued driving.
Cattle haulers try not to stop because of the fear that stress will shed weight on the cattle. The truck drivers and shippers become penalized when the cattle shed too much weight so they push themselves to exceed the legal hours in order to get the cattle to the beef processer. Long hours cause fatigue and accidents. - Bad weather driving.
Cattle haulers driving across Kansas through Trego County are subject to severe rapid changes in weather patterns. Part 392.14 of the FMCSR requires drivers to cease operations when conditions become “sufficiently dangerous.” Cattle haulers often refuse to stop because of the need to deliver the cattle resulting in truck crashes. - Driving in high winds.
Cattle haulers traveling down U-283 through Trego County 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. Cattle trucks present great danger to all motorists in windy travel conditions.
Do I Need a Trucking Attorney After a Semi-truck crash?
If you have been in an accident with a semi-truck, you definitely need to hire an experienced trucking attorney. There are several reasons why it is important to hire a truck accident lawyer for your case:
- Unrepresented vs represented injury victims.
Insurance companies hire sophisticated adjusters and attorneys who are paid to minimize the insurance company’s payments. - Identifying the right parties who are liable.
Trucking cases are complex and many different parties may be liable. It requires an experienced truck accident attorney to properly identify who is at fault for your injuries. - Higher insurance coverage makes insurance companies fight more.
As insurance limits rise in their amount the insurance company has much more to fight about. They want to pay as little as possible for your injuries. The greater the amount of coverage, the harder they fight. - Trucking litigation is based upon federal regulations.
Ordinary personal injury lawyers who are unfamiliar with the FMCSR and the CSA BASICs are not properly trained to be able to help a truck accident victim get the maximum financial compensation available. - Critical evidence disappears rapidly.
Weather and traffic can erase evidence at the scene to properly locate the impact location to prove which vehicle was in the right. Adjusters, investigators and attorney for the trucking company will arrive at the scene within an hour or two of any injury accident. You need your own truck accident lawyer to do the same. - Finding the best medical doctors.
The typical semi-truck crash results in horrible and catastrophic injuries. Western Kansas has limited quality doctors and the best doctors are in Wichita and Kansas City. A semi-truck accident attorney will have connections to the best doctors with specialties to treat your type of injury. - Black boxes must be accessed immediately.
Black boxes are small data recorders in the truck and motor vehicle that record speed, braking information and other critical evidence can be erased and written over if not immediately taken out of the truck. You will need a truck crash lawyer and an accident reconstruction expert to complete that.
What are the 7 Primary Types of Injuries Caused by Semi-truck accidents?
Semi-trucks cause many different types of injury to the occupants in the smaller cars and motor vehicles colliding with the large heavy semis.
The 7 primary types of injuries caused by semi-truck accidents are:
- Whiplash and neck injuries.
Sudden acceleration or deceleration upon impact shakes the body back and forth and can cause the curvature of the spine to lose its normal lordotic curve. When this happens the abnormal lordotic curve will cause the area in the spine nearby start to pull ligaments and tendons to get the normal alignment which is painful and causes strains, sprains and muscle spasms. - Back injuries.
When a heavier semi-truck or other large truck strikes the smaller motor vehicle it can cause damage to the back including, vertebrae, discs and ligaments. Many back 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. - 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. - Fractures and Broken Bones.
The force of the impact with a large truck can cause broken bones and fractures to your extremities like shoulders, hips, arms, hips, knees, and elbows. It can also cause severe fractures to the pelvis in the lower extremity or the humerus and clavicle in the shoulders. - Internal injuries.
Forceful impacts can cause internal bleeding and, in many cases, require the removal of organs like spleens. These are life threatening injuries. - 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.
Who is Liable in a Tractor-trailer Crash?
Tractor-trailer crashes with motor vehicles usually result in multiple parties being liable to the innocent driver and occupants in the car. Missing a defendant can result in a lost win. It is important to have a WaKeeney truck accident attorney to properly find all liable parties.
The 8 most common liable parties are:
- Truck driver.
When the truck driver acts negligently or violates the FMCSR and other federal and state regulations he/she will be at fault. If a co-driver on a team is working the tractor-trailer both can be liable. - Motor carrier trucking company.
Trucking companies are commonly referred to as the motor carrier. The motor carrier is usually liable under the doctrine of Vicarious Liability when the driver is working in the course and scope of employment for the motor carrier. The trucking company also be liable for negligent hiring, training and supervision. - Parent company.
Many larger transportation companies will enter into leases or contracts with smaller motor carriers. In certain factual situations both can be liable. - Leasing company.
Leasing companies providing the tractor or trailer to the motor carrier may be at fault depending upon their knowledge of a known crash history or unsafe violation history of the hired motor carrier. - Maintenance and repair companies.
When a trucking company uses an outside business to maintain and repair their tractor-trailers and they have improperly repaired the semi-truck that hits you, they can be liable for your injuries. - Manufacturing Companies.
Brake and tire manufacturers or other manufacturers who provide a defective safety part to the motor carrier can be liable along with the motor carrier. - Cargo Loading companies.
Cargo loaders make negligent mistakes in loading the cargo onto the trailer making the weight uneven where cargo and the trailer can shift causing the trailer to leave the correct lane of travel and often cause the trailer to jackknife or rollover. - Brokers and shippers.
Brokers and shippers who negligently select unsafe drivers and motor carriers to transport their cargo can be liable.
What is the Best Type of Personal Injury Lawyer for a Tractor-trailer Accident?
What are 3 Common Causes of Semi-truck Accidents?
While there are many common causes of semi-truck accidents the three most common causes are:
- Speeding.
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. - Distracted Driving.
An FMCSA study from 2009 found that 71 percent of large truck crashes happened with the truck driver was doing something besides driving the truck and was not focused on the task of driving. - Fatigued driving.
The National Institutes of Health and NCBI reported that truck driver fatigue is associated with 13 percent of large truck crashes.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many semi-truck crashes cause death a year?
The National Safety Council reported that 5,788 people died in large truck crashes in 2021 which is up 49 percent up over the last 10 years.
How many large truck crashes cause injury annually?
The NSC reported that 117,000 large trucks crashes in 2021 resulted in injuries.
How many tractor-trailer accidents happen in daytime?
The NSC reported that 63.54 percent of tractor-trailer accidents happen during daytime.