Staten Island Box Truck Accident Lawyer

Injuries from Box Truck Accidents Can Be Catastrophic or Fatal: Call Our Staten Island Box Truck Accident Lawyer for Help With Your Case

 Each year in the United States roughly 6,000 people are killed and another 155,000 people are injured in traffic accidents involving box trucks. This includes 18-wheelers, tractor-trailers, semis, and other big rigs that haul heavy cargo through New York. Victims often suffer significant, catastrophic, or fatal personal injuries with box trucks. Although many of the worst injuries occur at high speeds, a box truck’s heavy weight means it generates significant momentum and force in even a low-speed impact. Despite the devastating injuries caused by 18-wheeler wrecks, our Staten Island box truck accident lawyer knows that insurance adjusters and defense lawyers often refuse to fairly compensate victims and their families for their damages.

Here at the O’Connor Law Firm, we don’t think that is fair or just. That’s why we have built a personal injury law firm centered around protecting the rights of victims and their families who have been catastrophically injured in any type of serious accident – especially box truck accidents in Staten Island. We can help victims and their families recover compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and conscious pain and suffering, as well as other losses associated with their accident such as property damage, nursing care, home or vehicle modifications, wrongful death, and other damages. To learn more about how our experienced Staten Island box truck accident lawyer can help you, contact us today to schedule a free consultation and case evaluation.

Common Box Truck Accident Injuries

Although all types of motor vehicle accidents could cause serious personal injuries or the wrongful death of an innocent person, box truck accidents often result in life-changing or life-threatening injuries. This means that many victims suffer disabling, debilitating, and often permanent injuries that affect their ability to work or enjoy their daily and custom activities.

Some of the most common types of personal injuries that occur in box truck accidents include the following:

• Traumatic brain injuries, including concussions, diffuse axonal injuries, brain bleeds, open head injuries, fractures, coup-contrecoup (whiplash) injuries, and other brain injuries
• Spinal cord injuries, including paraplegia, quadriplegia, monoplegia, hemiplegia, and other types of paralysis
• Amputations or loss of a limb
• Head injuries, including scarring, cranial nerve injuries, disfigurement (nose, ears, eye/eyelids, hair), cranial fractures, orbital blowout fractures, and other face injuries
• Broken bones and fractures
• Shoulder injuries, including SLAP tears, biceps tears, rotator cuff tears, A/C joint injuries, dislocations, separations, and other damage to the shoulder
• Knee injuries, including meniscus tears, patella fractures, ligament tears of the LCL, PCL, MCL, or ACL, and other damages to the knee joint
• Nerve injuries, including brachial plexus or cranial injuries
• Neck injuries or back injuries, including disc herniations, annular tears, slipped discs, need for spinal fusions, compression fractures, and other damages
• Organ injuries, including heart contusions, liver lacerations, ruptured spleen, bruised lungs, and other organ injuries
• Loss of eyesight, either partial or full
• Wrongful death, including damages for pain and suffering before passing, funeral costs, burial expenses, emergency medical bills, and other harm related to an accident, and
• Other damages that a Staten Island box truck accident lawyer can recover for you in your personal injury case.

How Box Truck Accidents Happen in New York

There are many different causes of box truck accidents. Generally, like most other types of car accidents, box truck accidents occur due to the reckless, careless, or outright negligent conduct of a driver, trucking company, or a third-party. That means that most vehicle crashes are preventable and avoidable, and that victims are subjected to needless harm.

Some common examples of box truck accidents include the following:

• Drunk driving or drugged driving
• Speeding
• Taking a turn too fast
• Distracted driving
• Improper lane changes
• Aggressive driving
• Falling asleep at the wheel
• Equipment failures
• Failure to yield
• Unsafe lane changes, merges, or exiting a highway
• Rear end collisions for following too closely
• Improper backing up
• Jackknifed trucking accidents
• Rolling over
• Running a red light or stop sign
• Driving during inclement weather
• Failure to inspect cargo or equipment before driving
• Rushing, speeding, or otherwise racing to satisfy a delivery schedule
• Using a cell phone while driving
• Eating while driving
• Playing with a radio, hand-held radio, GPS, tablet, computer, or another device
• Inexperience
• Improperly licensed or not licensed at all
• Unsecured cargo, and
• Other common examples of Staten Island box truck accidents in New York.

Proving a Box Truck Accident Under New York Law

In order to recover compensation under New York law for a box truck accident, victims and their families will need to prove liability and damages against a defendant or defendants. Although a truck driver may be responsible for a crash, the driver’s employer is usually liable for their employee’s actions. This is true even if there are multiple defendants who may be liable.

Turning first to liability, or fault, most personal injury cases are based on a negligence cause of action (or claim). In order to prove that a defendant was negligent, a victim must prove all of the following:

 1) The Defendant Had a Duty

Victims must prove that a defendant had a duty of care to them and others. Generally, this is fairly easy to prove because all drivers must exercise reasonable care in the use or operation of a motor vehicle. That means drivers must “see what there is to be seen” and follow the traffic law. This duty extends to all those on the roads as well as nearby on curbs.

2) There was a Breach of Defendant’s Duty of Care

The trickier element is proving that a defendant breached his or her duty of care. This means that a defendant failed to act as a reasonably prudent person would have under similar circumstances. Sometimes this is pretty easy to prove, such as when a driver was intoxicated. But other times it can be very fact-dependent and requires a skilled Staten Island box truck accident lawyer to fully investigate and prove a claim. This element is often hotly contested in most vehicle accident cases.

Sometimes a breach of the defendant’s duty of care can be proven by a violation of a statute. When that happens, a defendant is said to be “negligent per se” when the violation of a statute was meant to protect the victim from the harm that occurred. For example, New York law requires all drivers to stop at a red light. The statute is meant to create rules of the road and protect drivers who have the right of way (a green light). Therefore, the statute is meant to also prevent people from getting hurt in an intersection accident. Thus, if a defendant runs a red light and collides with a victim who has a green light, and the victim is injured, it is very likely that the defendant will be found to be automatically liable for a crash (meaning duty and breach of that duty are proven).

3) Causation

Once a breach of a duty is proven, a victim also must prove that this breach was the cause of his or her injuries. This element is often hotly contested, especially when a victim may have had preexisting injuries, when there might be multiple defendants, or where the injuries may not have appeared right after an accident. Sometimes an expert may be required to help prove how a defendant’s negligence caused the victim’s injuries or exacerbated a preexisting injury.

4) Damages

A victim will also need to prove his or her injuries. This means establishing pain and suffering, including what disabilities, limitations, restrictions, and outright agony that a victim has after an accident. In addition, victims will need to also prove their medical bills, lost wages, and other damages as a result of a Staten Island box truck accident. This could also mean that an expert is required to help establish a case, or treating physicians may be required to testify and prove the injuries or treatment.

It is important to also realize that, even if you were partially at fault for your accident, you may still be entitled to recover damages. However, your recovery would be reduced by the proportional amount of fault that you had to causing your injuries. This is known as the comparative fault rule which some states, including New York, follow when calculating damages in a personal injury case. Therefore, if you were found to be 20% at fault for the box truck accident, you will likely have your final reward reduced by 20%. But unlike what most insurance adjusters and defense lawyers will tell you, which is that you get nothing, victims who are partially at fault may still be able to recover damages.

Hurt in a Truck Wreck? Call Our Staten Island Box Truck Accident Lawyer for Help

Large trucks often cause serious personal injuries and damages for victims and their families. Although liability may be clear, unfortunately defendants often fiercely defend box truck accident cases – sometimes even blaming the victim for a crash. If you or a loved one were seriously injured in a Staten Island box truck accident, or if a loved one was wrongfully killed, you and your family may be entitled to compensation for your personal injuries, medical bills, lost wages, and other damages.

To learn more about your rights to this type of compensation and possibly other types, call the O’Connor Law Firm to schedule a free case evaluation. Our Staten Island box truck accident lawyer can help you and your family recover the compensation that you deserve for your accident. Contact our compassionate legal team today by dialing (866) 927-3809 or send us an email through our “Contact Us” box available here.