Damages in Truck Accident Cases

Lawyers Helping Victims of 18-Wheeler Crashes in Schaumburg and Wheaton

Truck accidents can cause extensive property damage, inflict severe injuries, and even lead to wrongful death. Due to the size and weight of commercial trucks, individuals riding in passenger cars struck by a truck may face lifelong, ongoing medical care. At Therman Law Offices, our dedicated Wheaton and Schaumburg truck accident attorneys can evaluate the facts surrounding your collision and help you pursue a legal claim for recovery against all potentially liable parties. Exercising your legal rights after suffering injuries in a truck accident can include setting forth a claim for maximum damages. Evaluating your current and future medical needs is necessary in order to recover full compensation. Based on more than three decades of combined experience, our advocacy can potentially help to place you in a strong financial position so that you can focus on your recovery.

Damages in Truck Accident Cases

Damages following a truck accident are a critical part of a legal claim. As the final element of a negligence claim, damages include costs related to the accident, such as property damage, medical costs, and emotional pain and suffering. Accident victims assess their costs and set them forth as part of their personal injury claim after establishing fault for the underlying accident.

Negligence is a breached duty of care that directly leads to an accident and resulting harm. By establishing fault, the injured party shows that the responsible parties owed them a duty of care and failed to meet this duty, thereby harming them.

Truck driver negligence may take place when a driver overloads their vehicle or falls asleep at the wheel, for example. When a truck driver fails to exhibit reasonable care, which is the care that another careful truck driver would show in similar circumstances, they may have breached their duty of care. If this breached duty of care leads to a crash and resulting harm, then the truck driver may be found legally at fault.

In some cases, there may be other parties responsible for a crash, such as the truck driver’s employer. Through vicarious liability, the employer may be held at fault when their employee driver’s negligence during the course and scope of employment causes a crash. In this case, the employer and the employee would both be liable. Additionally, a truck company that fails to properly train a driver may be found directly liable if their driver causes a crash.

Proving Damages

As the final aspect of a negligence claim, the injured individual will seek to prove damages in their truck accident case. Damages include both economic and non-economic harm. Because physical injuries tend to be severe following a truck accident, medical experts may be required to attest to the degree of harm. Medical records and documents can also help to make clear the prognosis for future costs. Past costs for hospitalization, prescription pills, and other medical costs can be recovered in addition to anticipated future costs. Modifications required for the home, and physical therapy, for example, are costs that may be recovered by a successful plaintiff after a truck accident.

Additionally, truck accident victims may suffer harm that affects their ability to return to their former vocation. If an individual’s earnings are affected, then lost income can be collected as a portion of the damages in a truck accident case. In some cases, an expert may calculate the loss of future income.

In the unfortunate case of a wrongful death caused by a truck accident, an experienced personal injury lawyer can help facilitate a civil lawsuit seeking monetary damages on behalf of the deceased. According to Illinois law, a personal representative of the victim’s estate may pursue a wrongful death claim to recover expenses that were incurred prior to the decedent’s passing, such as medical costs and the victim’s pain and suffering. The personal representative is often a surviving family member, such as the deceased’s spouse or child.

Experienced Truck Accident Attorneys Serving Wheaton and Schaumburg

At Therman Law Offices, our lawyers have experience representing clients in their claims for compensation following the devastation of a truck accident. We are knowledgeable in the methods necessary to pursue maximum compensation for current and future medical care, and are committed to working to help you pursue the financial compensation you may be entitled to. We help individuals and families living in Schaumburg and Wheaton, as well as in Arlington Heights, Streamwood, Hoffman Estates, Bartlett, Elgin, Bensenville, Hanover Park, Wood Dale, Roselle, and Bloomingdale. To speak to an experienced attorney regarding your claim, call our office at (312) 588-1900 or contact us through our online form.