If you or a loved one was involved in a large truck accident in Gulfport and suffered serious injuries, contact the truck accident attorneys at Haug, Farrar, Franco & Ruiz, PLLC through our online form or call us at (228) 872-8752. Our Gulfport truck accident lawyers will fight for your legal rights to receive compensation for your medical expenses, property loss, and other damages while ensuring any responsible parties are held liable for their actions.
At Haug, Farrar, Franco & Ruiz, PLLC, our truck accident attorneys are:
Please do not attempt to face a trucking company and their insurers on your own. They are resourceful and cunning adversaries. You deserve strong, aggressive legal representation on your side.
At Haug, Farrar, Franco & Ruiz, PLLC, we offer free case consultations and work on a contingency fee basis, meaning we get paid after we secure compensation on your behalf. Act quickly, as there are time limits to file a truck accident claim in Mississippi.
Truck accidents are one of the most complicated personal injury accidents. An experienced truck accident lawyer servicing the Gulfport area does much more than negotiate an acceptable settlement with the opposing insurance company(s) and file insurance company paperwork.
Your truck accident attorney from Haug, Farrar, Franco & Ruiz, PLLC will do the following, and more, to ensure you get the compensation and satisfaction you are entitled to after your truck accident:
Most truck accident claims settle outside of court. However, the Gulfport truck accident attorneys at Haug, Farrar, Franco & Ruiz, PLLC, are experienced negotiators and litigators and will advise you of the best option for your circumstances.
Place your confidence in a legal team that cares about you. Contact the Gulfport personal injury lawyers at Haug, Farrar, Franco & Ruiz, PLLC, to set up your confidential appointment now.
It is impossible to estimate a compensation amount for a truck accident without a thorough review of the facts of your case. Compensation depends upon the type and severity of your injuries, the prognosis for recovery, the parties liable for your accident, and the insurance companies involved, and the policy limits.
However, at Haug, Farrar, Franco & Ruiz, PLLC, we understand the causes and ramifications of large truck accidents. With over two decades of experience, we can help you get the compensation you need for the following, and more:
You have three years (3) from the date of the accident to file a truck accident lawsuit in Mississippi. If you miss the deadline, the court will likely dismiss your case, no matter how serious your injuries are or how strong the evidence is.
The three-year window applies to most personal injury claims in Mississippi, including those involving 18-wheelers and other commercial trucks. If someone died in the crash, the deadline to file a wrongful death lawsuit is also three years.
Even though the deadline might seem far away, you should never wait until the last minute to get help from an experienced Gulfport truck accident lawyer. Important evidence like dashcam footage, black box data, and trucking logs can disappear quickly. Additionally, if the truck involved belonged to a government agency, a much shorter deadline may apply. Our lawyers can confirm which time limits apply and keep your case on track.
Right after a truck crash, you might need to rely on your health insurance to cover your medical care. If you do not have health insurance, you could still get treatment with a letter of protection or through other arrangements that a lawyer can help you set up. However, your health insurer may expect to be reimbursed from your settlement later. The same goes for Medicaid or Medicare.
If the trucking company or its insurer accepts fault, they will owe compensation for your medical bills, including future treatment, but they will not pay the full costs automatically. You will need to show a direct link between your expenses and the crash. Our personal injury lawyers can gather evidence to support your claim and deal with billing issues while you focus on getting better.
Regardless of a truck accident’s cause, all truck accidents can be deadly and are dangerous to those in the crash and the surrounding area.
The following are typically occurring truck accidents:
No two truck accidents are alike, and no truck accident is the same as a car accident. You need an experienced truck accident attorney to help determine the cause of your accident, all liable parties for your accident, and any possible sources of compensation to aid in your recovery.
Truck accidents are due to several reasons, only one of which is truck driver error. When truck drivers are at fault for accidents, the number one reason is distracted driving. Distracted driving is any activity that takes a driver’s attention away from the activity of driving a vehicle.
Distracted driving includes, but is not limited to:
Other common causes of truck driver accidents are the following:
Non-truck driver errors also cause devastating truck accidents. Fault for these accidents can fall on truck driving companies, truck manufacturers, and makers of defective truck parts.
Trucking companies may be responsible for a truck accident if they:
Truck manufacturers and makers of defective truck parts that fail while on the road and cause accidents, may be held liable for the damages and losses that result. Some of the most common defective truck parts and systems are as follows:
When people think of large trucks, a semi-truck or tractor-trailer often comes to mind. However, there are large commercial trucks of all shapes and sizes, each requiring a special commercial driver’s license.
Examples of large trucks in Gulfport include:
We welcome the opportunity to fight for you and protect your legal rights. Contact our office in Gulfport to schedule your complimentary consultation at (228) 872-8752 or use our contact form. Building your truck accident case takes time; the sooner we start your case, the faster you can receive compensation for your injuries and losses to recover and move forward.
Truck crashes often cause more damage than standard car crashes because commercial trucks can weigh 20 to 30 times as much as passenger vehicles. A car-on-car collision that might cause minor injuries can lead to crushed bones, brain trauma, or even death when a truck is involved.
Truck accident cases also involve different safety rules. Commercial truck drivers and trucking companies must follow federal and state laws that do not apply to regular motorists. Examples include limits on how long a trucker can drive, how loads must be secured, and how trucks must be inspected and maintained. Investigations after truck crashes must often consider whether any state or federal regulations were violated.
Also, in many cases, more than one party holds legal responsibility, which can complicate determinations of who is at fault and who should pay.
The value of a truck accident case in Gulfport depends on several factors, including how badly you were hurt, whether you can still work, and how your injuries affect your daily life. Severe injuries often lead to higher medical expenses and greater income losses, which can increase claim value. You can also seek compensation for personal impacts like pain and emotional distress in your truck accident claim.
There is no fixed average settlement because every case is different. The more complete your records and documentation, the stronger and more valuable your case could be. Our Gulfport truck accident lawyers can estimate the full scope of your losses after reviewing your medical files, accident details, and other evidence.
Yes. Mississippi follows a pure comparative fault rule, which says you can still recover compensation from other parties even if you were partly or even mostly at fault. However, the court or insurance company will reduce your compensation by your share of the blame. For example, if you were 30 percent at fault, your maximum payout would decrease by 30 percent. Insurance companies know this rule and will often try to shift as much blame as possible to you so they do not have to pay as much.
At Haug, Farrar, Franco & Ruiz, PLLC, we’ve recovered millions of dollars in truck accident claim payouts and can help you push back with evidence so your assigned percentage of fault reflects the facts, not the insurance company’s desire to minimize its payout. That can make a big difference in how much compensation you receive.
Truck drivers in Mississippi must renew their commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) every five to eight years.
A valid CDL shows the driver has met all training, testing, and health standards for commercial driving. If a trucker causes a crash, and the evidence shows that they did not have a valid or current license at the time, that detail could strengthen your injury claim. It can help you prove that the driver should not have been on the road, driving a massive commercial truck. In some cases, it could also support a claim against the trucking company for failing to check their driver’s qualifications.
Our attorneys can help you gather this kind of evidence and use it to show why the driver or their employer should be held responsible for the crash that injured you.
Federal hours-of-service (HOS) regulations limit how long truck drivers may stay behind the wheel. Under the HOS regulations, a trucker may drive for up to 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty. However, they must complete those 11 hours within a 14-hour work window. After that, they cannot drive again until they take another 10-hour break.
Drivers must also take 30-minute breaks after every 8 consecutive hours of driving. In addition, they cannot drive more than 60 hours total in 7 days or 70 hours total over 8 days.
HOS rules exist to prevent fatigue-related crashes. If the truck driver who crashed into you was operating in violation of HOS limits, evidence of that violation could provide valuable proof of negligence.
There is no specific Mississippi law that prohibits people from riding in the bed of a pickup truck, but that does not mean it is safe to do so. Since truck beds have no seat belts or protective enclosures, a sudden stop, turn, or collision can throw passengers from a truck bed and cause serious injuries or death.
However, if you got hurt in an accident while riding in the bed of a truck, you could still have the right to seek compensation. Your legal options depend on who caused the crash and how the injury happened. Even if you made the choice to ride in the bed, the other driver or the driver of the truck you were riding in may still owe you compensation if their negligence caused the crash. Our truck accident attorneys can help you sort out the details and pursue the recovery you need.
The spikes you see on some semi-truck’s wheels are usually decorative or meant to discourage other drivers from coming too close. But they do not serve a real safety function, and they can actually become dangerous in certain types of crashes, even though they are not usually made from hard metal. If a truck sideswipes another vehicle in a blind spot, the spikes can tear through doors, tires, or windows and make an already serious situation worse.
If you got hit in a blind spot accident involving a truck with spikes, our lawyers can help you prove how the crash happened and whether the spikes made your injuries worse.
You will need solid evidence to prove distraction or intoxication after a truck wreck, which may include:
Trucking companies usually fight hard to limit what they must turn over. Without legal help, it can be challenging to get the proof you need. Our Gulfport personal injury lawyers can request records, interview witnesses, and hire experts if necessary to prove your claim. If you can prove that the trucker was driving under the influence or while distracted, that could increase the value of your claim.
It depends on who holds legal responsibility. Sometimes, truck drivers operate alone and carry their own insurance. Other times, the trucking company owns the truck, employs the driver, and may also share blame for poor maintenance or bad hiring practices. In some cases, you can file claims against both the truck driver’s insurance company and the trucking company.
Trucking companies often carry higher insurance limits than individual drivers do, which can make a big difference in serious injury cases. Our truck accident attorneys can review the facts and help you figure out who should pay for your losses. We can also deal with the insurance companies, push back against low offers, and file a lawsuit on your behalf if necessary.
Thanks to Mr. Todd Farrar what would normally of been a painful experience, due to being an out o...
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