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Injured in an Accident With an 18-Wheeler? We Can Help.

The size and weight of 18-wheelers make accidents involving these types of vehicles simply devastating. The physical and emotional consequences of an accident are overwhelming enough alone. Still, when coupled with the financial burden that will be associated with your recovery, things may become too much for you and your family to bear. Luckily, there is no reason that you should have to shoulder the financial burden of a truck accident yourself. Our Fort Smith legal team will fight on your behalf to aggressively pursue compensation from the responsible party.

If you or your loved one has been injured in a truck accident anywhere in Fort Smith, you should speak with one of the Fort Smith truck accident attorneys at McCutchen Napurano - The Law Firm to begin assessing the legal action that may be available to you.

Truck Accident Claims in Fort Smith

Our Fort Smith legal team will fight on your behalf to help you pursue compensation for any of the following types of truck accident claims:

Our Fort Smith legal team can help you pursue a claim that will remind the trucking industry that they can and will be held accountable for their actions.

Truck Types Commonly Involved in Accidents Around Fort Smith

Although the majority of truck drivers are safe and responsible, it only takes one wrong move for the sheer size and weight of the following vehicles to create an exceedingly dangerous situation:

18-wheelers/tractor-trailers
Box trucks
Flatbeds
Dump trucks
Heavy construction vehicles
Commercial vans and trucks

These trucks pose an inherent threat to the drivers around them because of their size. A threat made all the more serious by negligent truckers and trucking companies.

Do I Need a Truck Accident Attorney?

Truck accident cases are different than many other personal injury cases because they can involve multiple liable parties. When you are injured in a truck accident, it may be your inclination to assume that the driver is to blame for your injuries. While this may be true, many other factors could be at play.

For example, suppose the driver’s employer pressured them to work longer hours or failed to provide suitable maintenance to their vehicle. In that case, the employer may ultimately be found responsible for your injuries. In addition to employer liability, the company responsible for cargo loading could have failed to secure the load properly. Shifting can occur when a load is not secured properly, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle.

Hiring a truck accident attorney is the best way to zero in on all possible responsible parties. Identifying and pursuing compensation from those responsible is your best chance of recovering compensation commensurate with your losses. Injuries are expensive. From extensive medical treatment to time spent away from work, truck accident injuries can quickly throw you into a stressful financial situation.

Additionally, to determine how much your injury claim is worth, a skilled attorney will evaluate the past, present, and future expenses that your injuries have presented. An accurate idea of your claim is worth protecting you from accepting a modest settlement from the at-fault parties. In an attempt to reach a speedy resolution, the at-fault party’s insurer may quickly offer you a settlement. Accepting a quick offer can be tempting when you need compensation quickly. However, if this settlement is nowhere near what you are owed, it will ultimately do little to help you in the long run.

Going Up Against a Trucking Company

While you are being taken to a Fort Smith hospital, the trucking company’s “accident investigation team” may already be on the scene to look for any reason to blame you for the accident. From that moment on, the trucking company will do everything possible to reduce or eliminate your claim altogether. In some of the more extreme cases, trucking companies may even try to falsify driver logs in an attempt to diminish their liability.

With so much on the line, you will need our Fort Smith legal team on your side every step of the way. The skills, tenacity, and resources our Fort Smith legal team can bring will be critical to going after a well-financed insurance company looking to protect its interests.

At McCutchen Napurano - The Law Firm, our Fort Smith investigators can often secure the truck’s event data recorder, or black box, which will have recorded crucial information about the crash. Moreover, we may also retain experts, accident reconstructionists, and other professionals to help you prove exactly how the accident actually occurred.

Causes of Trucking Accidents in Fort Smith

Our economy depends upon the trucking industry to deliver goods across the country. While the vast majority of truck drivers are safe and cautious, any of the following circumstances may result in serious injury for accident victims:

Poor/inadequate maintenance
Failed brakes
Truck driver fatigue
Truck driver inexperience
Overweight/improper loading

Trucking companies must uphold the various state and federal regulations that have been put in place to safeguard other drivers on the road. If they fail to take reasonable steps to protect you or your loved ones, you have every right to make them pay for the suffering you or your loved ones have been made to endure.

Why Hire McCutchen Napurano - The Law Firm to Handle My Claim?

When accident victims need an advocate in Fort Smith, they call McCutchen Napurano - The Law Firm. Our attorneys do everything possible to ensure you feel heard, supported, and well-represented. One accident can completely turn your life upside down, and we do everything within our power to help you secure the resources you need to reclaim your life. Some of the many strengths our team possess include:

Experience – We have nearly thirty years ago, and our firm has years of experience working within the Fort Smith community. Throughout our decades of fighting for clients, we have developed a deep commitment to helping people find a path forward when an injury has disrupted their lives.
Service – We are tenacious in and out of the courtroom when representing injury victims. However, when it comes to communicating with clients, we remain transparent, compassionate, and accessible. When you are hurting, you need a lawyer to offer you the support you deserve.
Results – Over 80% of our clients are referred to us because former clients and professionals we have worked with know we can get the job done. Various media outlets have covered our significant legal victories, from the 10 o’clock news to the newspaper.

Truck Accident Statistics

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reported 91 fatal crashes involving large trucks or buses in Arkansas in 2021. These crashes involved 123 vehicles and resulted in 91 deaths. Furthermore, that year, there were 965 injury crashes involving 1,060 vehicles and 1,213 victims.

According to the National Highway Transit Safety Administration (NHTSA)’s country-wide report from that same year:

5,788 people were killed in crashes involving large trucks in 2021, a staggering 17% increase over 2020
72% of the people killed in these crashes were the occupants of other vehicles
3% of truck drivers involved in fatal collisions had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of at least 0.08% at the time
Truck drivers involved in fatal accidents were less likely than other motorists to have prior license revocations or suspensions

Closer to home, the NHTSA found that:

12.2% of vehicles involved in fatal crashes in Arkansas that year were trucks, above the national average of 9.3%
Arkansas accounted for about 2.1% of all fatal truck accidents despite having less than 1% of the country’s population.

Were you hurt or injured in a truck accident in Fort Smith, AR? Then contact a truck accident attorney from McCutchen Napurano - The Law Firm for help demanding justice.

Consult with a Truck Accident Lawyer in Fort Smith

If you or your loved one has been injured in a truck accident anywhere around Fort Smith, you should speak with one of the Fort Smith truck accident lawyers at McCutchen Napurano - The Law Firm to begin assessing the legal action that may be available to you. To begin developing your legal strategy with one of our Fort Smith personal injury attorneys, please call us at (479) 783-0036 or fill out one of our contact forms today.

Trucking Accident FAQs

I was in an accident involving an 18-wheeler; who is liable for the accident?

When a passenger vehicle is involved in an accident caused by a commercial vehicle, victims often question who is responsible for their injuries and the damages to their car. The question of liability with commercial trucks is often complicated because of the large web of individuals responsible for the truck itself and the truck driver’s actions. Truck drivers are responsible for obeying all driving laws, following hours of service regulations, and making sure they are in the best state of mind to drive. They are liable for the consequences when they neglect these responsibilities and cause an accident. Trucking companies that employ drivers are responsible for training and supervising those drivers. Poor training, inadequate truck maintenance, and pushing drivers to meet deadlines and drive longer hours can lead to accidents. When trucking companies neglect their responsibilities, they are liable for any accidents that occur as a result. In many cases, it is common for a legal team to pursue charges against multiple parties whose negligence or recklessness played a part in causing your accident. At the McCutchen Napurano - The Law Firm, we will use all our resources to pursue charges against any negligent party and maximize your compensation.

How do you know if a commercial truck driver exceeded their service hours?

Large commercial trucks incorporate electronic control modules, and black boxes, into their engine system. The black boxes record data about the truck’s operations, including time driven. Additionally, many trucking companies operate on driver logs that keep track of the driving time. When an accident occurs, the driver logs and black box data should be able to tell you how long the driver was operating before the accident and if they have gone over the regulated hours of service allowed. It is not uncommon for trucking companies to try to cover or destroy this evidence as an effort to distance themselves from liability. The attorneys of the McCutchen Napurano - The Law Firm are familiar with the usefulness of this data in pursuing legal action and will do everything they can to ensure they get it.

What damages can be recovered in a trucking accident?

The size and force of large commercial vehicles make them capable of extreme destruction when involved in an accident. Call us if you are involved in an accident caused by an 18-wheeler or another type of commercial vehicle. You may be entitled to compensation for various damages, including physical pain and injuries, mental anguish, property damage, medical bills, and even loss of income from time spent away from work. The attorneys of the McCutchen Napurano - The Law Firm are familiar with the recoverable damages in trucking accidents. They will advise you on the steps you should take to recover the compensation you need.