A wide-turn truck crash can happen before you realize the trailer is moving into your lane. If you were hit while a tractor-trailer was turning, a wide-turn truck accident lawyer in Cumming can investigate the maneuver, preserve important records, and pursue compensation for your injuries.
Van Sant Law handles serious commercial vehicle claims and understands how quickly medical bills, missed work, and insurance calls can pile up after a collision. Founder David M. Van Sant previously represented a large insurance firm, giving our team insight into how insurers may evaluate and challenge an injury claim.
Our Cumming truck accident lawyers can take over communication with the insurers and begin gathering evidence while you concentrate on your treatment.
Why Wide-Turn Truck Crashes Happen
Your Cumming personal injury lawyer will look closely at what the truck driver was doing before and during the turn.
Large commercial vehicles need more room to turn than passenger cars. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration explains that trucks may initially move left when preparing for a right turn and warns drivers that large vehicles have significant blind spots.
A wide turn becomes dangerous when the truck enters an occupied lane, the driver fails to signal, or another vehicle becomes trapped alongside the trailer.
Blind Spots Can Make the Problem Worse
Truck drivers cannot see every area around the cab and trailer. That makes checking mirrors and tracking nearby traffic particularly important before beginning a turn.
A passenger vehicle may be visible at one point and then disappear into a blind spot as the truck changes position. If the driver continues the maneuver without accounting for that vehicle, the trailer can sideswipe it or force it toward the curb or another lane.
The FMCSA advises commercial drivers to check their mirrors regularly, signal appropriately, and make wide turns carefully.
How a Cumming Wide-Turn Truck Accident Lawyer Will Build Your Claim
Understanding that the truck made a wide turn is only the beginning. We still need to work out why the collision happened and whether the driver or another party could have prevented it.
Van Sant Law may review the police report, photographs, witness accounts, dashcam footage, nearby surveillance, and the location of damage on both vehicles. Those details can help show how the truck moved through the turn and where your vehicle was positioned.
Depending on the circumstances, we may also look at records held by the carrier.
Evidence Held by the Trucking Company
Some useful information may not be available at the crash scene. Trucking companies can hold electronic records and internal documents that provide additional context.
Evidence may include:
- Vehicle and GPS data: This may help establish the truck’s speed, braking, location, and movements around the time of the collision.
- Driver records: Logs and qualification records can provide information about the driver and the trip.
- Dashcam or onboard footage: Video may show the driver’s approach to the turn, signaling, surrounding traffic, and the impact itself.
- Inspection and maintenance records: These can become relevant if a mechanical problem affected the driver’s ability to control the truck.
We’ll identify the records that matter to the particular crash rather than requesting information simply because it exists.
Who May Be Responsible for a Wide-Turn Truck Crash?
The truck driver may be responsible if they failed to check the surrounding lanes, entered occupied space, failed to signal, or otherwise made the turn unsafely.
The motor carrier may also become part of the claim. Its hiring, training, supervision, or vehicle-maintenance practices could matter if they contributed to what happened. If the driver was working at the time of the crash, their employer may also be liable for their negligence.
In some cases, another business may be involved as well. A maintenance company, for example, could share responsibility if a mechanical defect affected the truck’s steering or braking.
A wide-turn truck accident attorney serving Cumming can examine the relationships between the parties and determine whose conduct should be investigated.
What Compensation May Be Available?
The financial effect of a truck crash may continue long after you leave the hospital. Medical treatment can overlap with time away from work, vehicle repairs, and uncertainty about how completely you will recover.
A claim may include the cost of emergency treatment, surgery, rehabilitation, medication, lost income, reduced earning capacity, and property damage. If your injuries are expected to require further care, those future costs may also need to be considered.
Compensation can also account for physical pain, emotional distress, disability, scarring, and other ways the collision has affected your everyday life.
Looking Beyond Your Current Bills
An early insurance offer may arrive before your doctors know what your recovery will involve.
Van Sant Law will look at medical records, employment information, bills, and other evidence before assessing the financial effect of the crash. If an injury is expected to affect your work or independence in the future, that should not be ignored simply because the cost has not arisen yet.
The value of any claim will depend on its own evidence, injuries, available insurance coverage, and legal circumstances.
Georgia’s Deadline for Filing a Truck Accident Lawsuit
Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33, actions for personal injuries in Georgia generally must be brought within two years after the accident. Exceptions can affect the deadline, so it is important to determine how the rule applies to your particular claim.
There are practical reasons to investigate earlier as well. Video can be overwritten, damaged vehicles may be repaired, and witnesses can become harder to locate.
Records held by the trucking company may also need to be identified and preserved. Starting the investigation earlier gives us more opportunity to gather that material while it is still available.
Why Work With Van Sant Law?
David M. Van Sant’s previous insurance-defense work gives our team experience looking at injury claims from both sides. We use that perspective to anticipate the questions an insurer may raise and prepare the evidence accordingly.
Van Sant Law has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for injured clients. Past results do not guarantee the outcome of another case, but they reflect our experience handling serious injury claims.
We’ll deal with the insurers, investigate the collision, preserve relevant records, and keep you informed while the case moves forward.
Speak With a Wide-Turn Truck Accident Lawyer in Cumming
A wide-turn collision can raise questions about the driver’s visibility, positioning, signaling, training, and the way the truck was being operated. The evidence can help answer those questions.
Van Sant Law can investigate the maneuver, preserve trucking records, identify the parties who may be responsible, and document how the collision has affected you.
Contact Van Sant Law for a free consultation. A wide-turn truck accident lawyer in Cumming can review what happened and explain the next steps available to you.
