Ohio Truck Accident Lawyer

According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Ohio had 192 fatal accidents that involved a truck in 2021 — the highest number of such fatalities when compared to Ohio truck accident statistics from previous years (1).

With the increase in the number of deaths and injuries from trucking-related accidents, the likelihood of a truck accident affecting you or someone you know also increases.

If you or a loved one have been injured in a truck accident, please contact GB Law’s team of Ohio truck accident lawyers to learn about your legal rights.

Why Do I Need an Ohio Truck Accident Lawyer?

Preserve Evidence Commercial Truck Companies May Try to Hide

Without immediate action and thorough investigation, the trucking company may discard, destroy or alter evidence to decrease their liability.

However, when our seasoned truck accident lawyers work on a case, the first action they take is to send a spoliation letter. This puts the trucking company and other parties on notice of a potential claim and gives emphasis to their obligation to not destroy any relevant evidence, including the truck itself.

If the truck is immediately hauled away and repaired following a commercial truck accident, it is impossible for us to arrange an inspection. This spoliation letter also stresses that failure to preserve relevant material could be considered by the court as an attempt to destroy evidence.

Independently Investigate the Accident Scene

It is important to remember that the commercial trucking company’s ultimate goal is to deny or defeat their liability for your personal injury claim and not necessarily uncover the truth. Their investigation will be tailored to their agenda.

If you hire GB Law to represent your Ohio truck accident case, we can arrange an immediate and thorough independent investigation by a skilled and knowledgeable trucking industry expert.

As part of our investigation, we review the truck driver’s qualifications, training, log books, and maintenance records to determine if the trucking company and driver complied with all applicable federal regulations.

Get Fair Compensation for Truck Accident Victims

It is extremely unlikely that a truck driver will ever admit fault or speculate someone else, like their mechanic, contributed. They are afraid of losing their jobs and their commercial driver’s licenses. For those reasons, their employer trains them to admit nothing, deny everything, and never, ever apologize.

The driver, the trucking company, and the trucking company’s insurance company will deny fault, and they will all expect the victim to be bullied into eventually accepting an insultingly low settlement offer. This is unfair and unjust.

When injuries are serious and impact your ability to work and enjoy life, settling for anything less than full and fair compensation is unacceptable and is something that could affect the rest of your and your family’s life.

Our experienced Ohio truck accident lawyers have firsthand knowledge and experience with how tractor-trailers, big rigs, and semi-trucks contribute to serious injury accidents, and we can help you avoid an unfair settlement offer.

Contact GB Law today for a free case consultation.

How are Ohio Trucking Accident Claims Different From Other Motor Vehicle Accident Cases?

ohio trucking employee inspects truck

Truck accidents are far more complex cases than car accident cases and present extensive legal issues for the following reasons:

The Severity of Injuries and Loss in Truck Crashes

Because of their sheer size, large truck accidents often result in serious injuries or death. 

These catastrophic injuries forever change the lives of accident victims and their families, who may be grieving and unable to even consider the possibility of holding the trucking company responsible and recovering financial compensation for their loss.

To obtain compensation for your truck accident, you need to hire the best truck accident lawyers.

The lawyers at GB Law are here to help victims of truck accidents and their families during some of the most difficult times in their lives. We are relentless in helping our clients get fair compensation after a truck accident.

Third Parties: Who Else is Liable for the Accident?

Truck drivers are often employed as contractors, and big rig trucks may be owned or leased by third parties. 

Other third parties may be contracted to maintain and load trucks. Depending on the cause of the semi-truck accident, these third parties may be responsible for an accident.

For example, a third-party company that loaded the truck may be considered liable for a truck accident if its employees overloaded the truck, and that additional load caused the accident. 

Even though that third-party company was not present at the scene of the accident, their negligent actions played a role in causing the accident.

The greater number of third parties an accident involves, the more difficult it can become to determine fault and is therefore responsible for the accident. An expert lawyer can investigate and get the full picture to hold parties responsible for serious accidents.

Common Causes of Truck Accidents in Ohio

ohio semi truck at night

The following are some of the most common causes or contributing causes to trucking accidents in Ohio:

  • Driver inexperience
  • Driver fatigue
  • Drug use while driving (prescription or illegal)
  • Driver inattentiveness
  • Unsafe trucking company policies and practices
  • Negligent maintenance
  • Equipment failure caused by the truck manufacturer
  • Failure to use or install recommended trucking safety instruments
  • Driver fatigue
  • Improper cargo loading and/or securement

In many cases, there may be more than one cause of a truck accident.

Hiring a lawyer to do a thorough investigation and review of events can reveal these causes and aid your case.

What Should I Do After an Ohio Truck Accident?

ohio truck accident scene

Immediate action is critical if you have been involved in a truck accident.

The truck driver will contact their dispatcher before they even get out of the truck, and the trucking company’s legal team will be contacted immediately to begin building their case. The trucking company, their investigation team, and their lawyers are often on the scene before the vehicles have been cleared.

Contacting an experienced truck accident lawyer immediately after an accident occurs will give you the best chance of a fair settlement offer. If the trucking company knows that you are represented by an aggressive and reputable law firm that will go to trial, they are more likely to cut out the denial of liability tactics and negotiate more fairly from the start.

Discuss your accident with lawyers at GB Law now.

How Much Does it Cost to Hire an Ohio Truck Accident Lawyer?

Under GB Law’s contingency fee arrangement, there are no fees unless we recover compensation for you. We are confident in our ability to handle truck accident cases — so confident that we are only paid if and when we reach a settlement or recover a verdict at trial.

How Much Time Do I Have to File a Claim After a Truck Accident in Ohio?

old rusty semi truck in ohio

Under Ohio law, the statute of limitations (or deadline) for filing a truck accident claim is 2 years after the accident. But do not wait that long. 

Because of the need to preserve important evidence, you should contact a truck accident attorney or lawyer as soon as possible.

Why Choose GB Law’s Ohio Truck Accident Lawyers? 

Trucking companies heavily defend their cases., They also have enormous budgets to invest in their legal defenses and deny and delay personal injury cases.

As an Ohio truck accident law firm, we give our clients an advantage in every truck accident case:

40+ Years of Experience Working on Different Types of Injury Cases

GB Law’s Ohio truck accident lawyers have represented a wide range of injury cases and claims for over 40 years.

These experiences have helped us become top trial lawyers. These experiences are how we know what questions to ask and what information to gather about the truck wreck, trucking company policies and procedures, and truck driver records.

Success in commercial vehicle accident litigation requires a thorough approach that includes investigation, expert witness opinions, and discovery procedures.

Knowledgeable Truck Accident Attorneys with Experience with Trucking Insurance Company Issues

GB Law’s personal injury attorneys are all very experienced in handling truck accident claims in Ohio as well as dealing with the truck driver or trucking company and their insurers.

If you don’t know what you should say to an insurance company, don’t say anything. Tell them to speak to the GB Law lawyer representing your case.

Resources for Truck Accident Injury Claims in Ohio

Our Ohio truck accident attorneys regularly attend events hosted by the American Association for Justice Trucking Litigation Group and other industry groups, giving us insight into the most recent cases as well as any changes in the law that could affect a case’s outcome.

Our lawyers know that truck accident lawsuits can be costly and require significant investment. We have the funds to invest in your case’s fact-finding as well as the network of investigators and witnesses. We invest these funds at no risk to you.

We also keep close track of settlement amounts from previous cases. These records are what help us determine what we believe to be a fair settlement offer.

Contact Our Experienced Ohio Truck Accident Lawyers for a Free Consultation

Contact us for a no-obligation, free consultation for truck accident cases. This consultation allows us to answer your questions and review the unique facts of your case. 


Sources:

  1. Ohio State Highway Patrol