If you’re a survivor of a semi-truck accident in South Dakota, you know how terrifying these accidents can be. Big trucks typically weigh 70,000 to 80,000 pounds when fully loaded with cargo. Many passenger vehicles weigh only around 4,000 pounds, and a small car can weigh as little as 2,500. With such a massive disparity between a car’s weight and a large truck’s weight, the injuries suffered in such an accident are often catastrophic.
Common causes of truck accidents in South Dakota include distracted driving, truck driver fatigue, negligent truck maintenance, speeding, and reckless driving. Understanding the cause of the accident can help you determine who is liable and who you can seek compensation from with a personal injury claim.
Why Understanding the Causes of Truck Accidents Matters
If you’ve been badly hurt in an accident with a large truck, you may wonder why it’s important to understand the cause of such an accident. After all, knowing the cause will not heal your injuries or undo what happened. However, the reasons for big truck accidents matter for several reasons:
- Knowing why truck accidents happen can help truck drivers avoid them in the future
- Knowing how dangerous truck accidents are can encourage other drivers to drive cautiously around large trucks
- Knowing the cause of a truck accident can help you identify who was responsible for your injuries
Once you know all the parties whose negligence caused the accident, you will know who you can hold accountable. Under South Dakota law, anyone who causes an injury through negligence is liable for damages.
Most Common Causes of Truck Accidents
Truck accidents most often occur in rural areas or on Interstate highways. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 74 percent of fatal big truck accidents begin with a collision between a truck and another vehicle, and four percent begin with a rollover.
The most common causes of truck accidents in South Dakota include:
- Distracted driving
- Driver fatigue
- Mechanical failure
- Speeding
- Improper cargo loading
- Aggressive driving
- Driver inexperience or lack of training
- Poor road conditions
- Driving under the influence
Different types of accidents have different causes. Common truck rollover causes include:
- Improper cargo loading
- Driver error
- Bad road conditions
- Tire blowouts or other mechanical failures
Jackknife accident causes include:
- Speeding around sharp turns
- Sudden braking
Who May Be Liable in a Truck Accident?
Parties that may be liable in a truck accident include:
- The truck driver
- The trucking company
- The cargo loading team
- The truck maintenance company
- The truck owner
- The manufacturer
- A government entity
Understanding the cause of an accident can tell you who is liable for that accident. For example, distracted driving shows negligence on the truck driver’s part.
Driver fatigue can result from driving more than 11 hours without rest, which is an FMCSA regulation violation. This is an example of driver negligence, but it can also be evidence of trucking company negligence if company policies encourage drivers to violate regulations.
Weather-related truck crashes are often a result of drivers’ failure to slow down or drive cautiously in poor conditions. If the company doesn’t provide enough training for drivers, a driver-inexperience truck wreck can be its fault.
The maintenance company responsible for the truck can be liable for a brake failure truck crash. The cargo loading company can be liable when improperly loaded cargo shifts cause a rollover accident. A government entity can be liable for failure to properly maintain the roads.
More than one party can be liable for a truck crash. A South Dakota semi-truck accident lawyer can help determine the cause of the accident and who should be held accountable.
Compensation in South Dakota Truck Accident Cases
You can seek several different types of compensation in a South Dakota truck accident case, including:
- All past, present, and future medical expenses from your injuries. This includes bills from your emergency room visit, surgery, hospital stay, diagnostic tests, prescriptions, physical therapy, rehabilitation, in-home nursing care, and other medical costs.
- Lost income, including lost wages from time missed at work, lost commissions and bonuses, and any raises or promotions you can’t pursue due to your injuries. If your lifetime earning potential decreases due to your injuries, you can also seek compensation for those losses.
- Pain and suffering, disfigurement, and other non-economic losses. This includes emotional distress and loss of consortium, a term for loss of intimacy in your marriage.
Because the injuries in a big truck accident can be so catastrophic, compensation in a truck accident case can be much more significant than in other accidents.
Don’t Wait to Contact a Lawyer
Don’t wait too long to contact a lawyer after a truck accident in South Dakota. Under the South Dakota statute of limitations, you have three years from the accident date to file a personal injury claim. The sooner you contact an attorney, the more time your lawyer will have to investigate the case, identify all liable parties, and negotiate settlements with their insurance companies.
Contact a South Dakota Semi-Truck Accident Lawyer Today
When a semi-truck gets in an accident, other drivers can be badly hurt. Don’t just accept the consequences of someone else’s negligence. Find out who was responsible for your injuries and file a personal injury claim to hold them accountable. A semi-truck accident lawyer can help you in several ways, including:
- Investigating the accident and determining the cause
- Figuring out who is liable for the accident
- Filing a personal injury claim and a demand for compensation
- Negotiating with the insurance company
- Filing a lawsuit if needed
- Standing up for your right to compensation in court
If you’ve been hurt in an accident with a semi-truck driver, the truck accident lawyers at Turbak Law Office, P.C. can help. We serve injured people in the Watertown, South Dakota, community who want to seek compensation for their injuries. Whether you were hurt in a speeding truck accident, an improper loading accident, or a jackknife accident, you don’t need to face the pain, suffering, and expense alone. Contact us today at 605-886-8361 for a free initial consultation to discuss your case.