You have rights if a careless or reckless commercial truck driver hurt you. A Myrtle Beach truck accident attorney could help you hold the at-fault parties legally responsible and recover compensation. This could include money for your injuries, medical bills, missed income, and more. We represent clients in traffic crash cases every day. We know how to build strong claims and win these cases.
The truck accident lawyers from Morris Law Accident Injury Lawyers could represent you in your truck accident claim. Contact us today to learn more about our services and receive a free case review. In addition, we can discuss your rights, your case against the at-fault driver and their employer, and your next steps to secure compensation. Our team can stand by you after your Myrtle Beach truck accident injury.
Morris Law Accident Injury Lawyers Represents Truck Accident Victims in Myrtle Beach
At Morris Law Accident Injury Lawyers, our attorneys could go to work on your Myrtle Beach truck collision case today. We handle these cases for our clients from start to finish. You never have to figure out what to do or make a critical decision about your case on your own. Our lawyers advocate, counsel, and represent our clients with compassion.
Our lawyers want to get to know you and your family. We believe in treating people with respect and giving each case the one-on-one attention it deserves. Every staff member commits to the cases they work on, genuinely believing in our clients. Our firm has served the Myrtle Beach area since 2016. We also represent clients in other parts of South Carolina.
Morris Law Accident Injury Lawyers works based on contingency fees. We do not ask clients to pay a retainer. Instead, we use our resources to investigate what happened, develop the case, and file a claim or lawsuit. Our clients never pay any upfront fees. When we win a case for a client, we receive a portion of the payout as attorney's fees. We only get paid when our client wins.
Our Myrtle Beach Truck Crash Lawyers Seek Fair Damages for Our Clients
The compensation we seek for our clients can cover the expenses and losses they suffered because of their truck accident injuries. This includes both financial damages and intangible ones. As a part of investigating the accident, we gather evidence to document their recoverable damages. This allows us to identify the values of their damages and calculate what a fair settlement might look like.
Some commonly recoverable damages in a truck accident case could include:
- Medical Bills: All medical expenses and related costs to date are recoverable in an insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit. This includes ambulance transportation, hospitalization, treatment, therapies, and more.
- Future Expenses: Those with serious injuries or permanent impairments likely have future care needs to consider. These could prove short-term or ongoing. We work with experts who help us understand our client's prognosis, future care needs, and estimated costs.
- Lost Income: Even minor injuries could keep you out of work for a week or more. Missing income for an extended period can cause significant financial strife. We often help our clients recover compensation for their missed income, tips, salaries, commissions, gig work, or other income.
- Reduced Earning Ability: Lasting injuries may prevent some people from returning to work or working as many hours as before. You could get money to cover this loss of income.
- Miscellaneous Expenses: The insurer may pay for the accident, injuries, or treatment expenses. This could include travel costs or parking to visit a doctor or go to physical therapy. It could also include building a ramp or renovating a home for wheelchair accessibility. Keep all receipts for documentation.
- Pain and Suffering: Crash victims can recover compensation for their intangible losses related to the accident. We often call this "pain and suffering," but it encompasses a wide range of non-economic damages faced by truck accident victims.
Unfortunately, not all truck accident victims survive their injuries. Sometimes, the injuries or complications are severe, and the crash leads to the victim's passing. If this happened to a member of your family, you have rights. Under South Carolina law, you could seek to recover wrongful death compensation. This law provides a pathway for families who lost loved ones to pursue damages for their significant expenses and losses, including intangible losses.
Our Truck Accident Lawyers Navigate the Claims Process for Our Clients
At Morris Law Accident Injury Lawyers, our truck accident lawyers serving Myrtle Beach handle all parts of our clients' legal cases from start to finish. We know how to build cases, file claims, and navigate this process. We have the knowledge, experience, and resources to do so effectively, often recovering fair compensation for our clients.
After we have evidence to support an insurance claim and understand what fair compensation will look like, we can demand a just payout from the insurance company or legal team representing the liable parties. This generally leads to settlement negotiations. We use proven negotiation techniques and strong evidence to show liability. This often allows us to convince the insurer and liable parties that it is advantageous to settle instead of going to court.
We may continue to negotiate until we settle the case for fair compensation or decide we need to try a different approach based on the circumstances. This could include a civil court action leading to mediation and eventually a trial if the case does not settle at mediation. In some cases, we may need to file a lawsuit against the liable parties-usually the driver and/or trucking company.
Tractor-Trailer Collisions Often Cause Serious Injuries in Myrtle Beach
Commercial trucks are much bigger and heavier than most other vehicles. As a result, when they cause a collision, the occupants of the smaller vehicles they hit often suffer the most severe injuries. In many cases, these injuries can prove serious or even catastrophic. These victims often require emergency medical transport to Grand Strand Medical Center after a Myrtle Beach crash.
This is the only Level I adult trauma center and Level II pediatric facility in the Myrtle Beach area. Once in the emergency department at the hospital, the victim may go to a trauma bay for stabilization, assessment, and diagnosis of their injuries. They may require imaging, medications, and even emergency surgery.
There, doctors discover the severity of their injuries and create a treatment plan to address them.
These injuries could include:
- Back and neck injuries
- Broken bones
- Limb loss
- Burns and scarring
- Head injuries, including blunt head trauma, skull fractures, and more
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and concussions
- Severe lacerations
- Internal injuries and organ damage
- Spinal cord injuries, possibly causing paralysis
The more severe the injuries, the more the victim's medical bills. In some circumstances, they will require ongoing care and support for the rest of their lives. A truck accident can cost a victim physically, psychologically, and financially. Our Myrtle Beach injury lawyers do not believe a crash victim should have to pay out-of-pocket for their current or future care. The at-fault truck driver and their employer should bear legal liability.
Building a Truck Accident Case Showing Negligence and Liability
Like other traffic accident cases in Myrtle Beach, our lawyers need to show the careless driver acted negligently.
Our South Carolina injury attorneys can do so by demonstrating the other driver met the criteria for the four elements of negligence:
- Duty of care
- Breach of duty
- Causation
- Harm
Commercial truck drivers have a higher duty of care on the roadways than most other drivers. While most drivers only need to follow all applicable traffic laws, truckers have additional rules and regulations to follow. Any breach of these rules could cause a crash. Unfortunately, this is common.
Imagine a truck driver who failed to clear the adjacent lane before moving over to pass slower traffic. That driver had a duty of care to use a turn signal, clear the next lane, and then move over slowly. Instead, the driver did not use a signal and whipped into the next lane. As a result, the truck sideswiped a passenger car and injured the occupants.
This case could have all the elements of negligence present and the evidence could document what happened. Therefore, we could likely pursue a case to hold them liable in such a situation. However, there is more to the story because the at-fault driver was working at the time of the crash. Read on to learn more about how vicarious liability affects truck crashes.
Vicarious Liability in South Carolina
Unlike most traffic accident cases, the negligent driver is not the only liable party in most truck crashes. The employer could also bear legal responsibility when a commercial driver causes a collision. South Carolina recognizes vicarious liability for employers, including trucking companies.
In most cases, we pursue compensation based on the trucking company's liability insurance policy and assets. This may allow us to seek a payout from a policy with much higher limits than an individual driver would likely carry. This can prove important in many truck crash claims with serious injuries.
However, vicarious liability also means the trucking company could take steps to protect itself from blame. This could include failing to preserve evidence essential to the case. To this end, our attorneys act quickly to issue a spoliation letter legally obligating them to preserve this evidence.
This could include:
- Data from the truck's computer
- Dashcam video
- Rest logs
- Post-accident drug and alcohol testing results
- Evidence of damage to the truck and trailer
- The driver's file, including health, driving, and crash history
Other evidence we gather and analyze to build support for our clients' claims and lawsuits may include:
- The accident report filed by police who responded to the collision
- Your relevant medical records
- Witness statements
- Video or photographs
- Accident reconstruction
- A scene survey
- Physical evidence
- Expert data on your prognosis, future care needs, and estimated costs
- Documentation of damages
Our Myrtle Beach lawyers can use this evidence to demonstrate how the truck driver caused the collision and the damages you suffered. Often, we can negotiate a settlement with the involved parties or win a payout in a jury trial based on the strength of our evidence.
Suing the Liable Parties in a Civil Suit
If we cannot obtain a fair settlement, Morris Law Accident Injury Lawyers' Myrtle Beach trial lawyers can present your case to a judge or jury and ask for a verdict in your favor. When necessary, we sue the liable parties in truck accident cases. This does not mean your case will go to trial. However, it will begin preparing for trial in case it does.
The steps in the legal process include:
- Filing the complaint
- Receiving the response
- Pre-trial motions
- Discovery
- Mediation
- Trial
Throughout this process, negotiations generally continue. We often settle with the liable parties after filing a lawsuit before the judge puts the case on the docket for trial. It is possible to settle at any time in these proceedings. Suing the truck driver or trucking company does not mean we won't negotiate a fair settlement, although the case could go before a jury for a verdict and financial award.
There is a deadline for filing the initial complaint to begin your truck accident lawsuit. Generally, you have three years after the crash date per South Carolina law. However, there are exceptions. This could alter the timeline in your case. It is a good idea to connect with our team as soon as your injuries allow.
Speak to Our Team Today About Your Myrtle Beach Truck Accident Case
Discuss your legal case against the truck driver and their employer with our team for free today. We can assess your options and explain how we can help you seek compensation for your injuries and other damages. Reach out to a Myrtle Beach personal injury lawyer today.
Contact us at Morris Law Accident Injury Lawyers about your Myrtle Beach truck accident case today. Reach us online or over the phone at (843) 232-0944.
Morris Law Accident Injury Lawyers
Address: 1335 44th Ave North Unit 101,Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
Phone: (843) 232-0944
