Why Truck Accidents Cause Catastrophic Injuries

When it comes to truck accidents, catastrophic injuries are often unavoidable. Hundreds of thousands of people sustain injuries in crashes with large commercial vehicles every year. Many of these are serious enough to warrant both emergency and sustained medical intervention, time away from work, and forced changes to lifestyle. Some will result in lifelong impacts, including the need for adaptive equipment, home modifications, and even round-the-clock care.

When a truck accident causes catastrophic injuries, a simple insurance settlement will likely be insufficient to cover all of the damages. But once you have accepted an offer, you will not be able to file a lawsuit for additional compensation. This makes it very important that you talk to an experienced and qualified Phoenix truck accident attorney before accepting an offer. Your lawyer can review your claim, assess any offers you have received, and help you determine how best to proceed with your claim.

Talk to a Truck Accident Catastrophic Injuries Attorney for FREE

If you or someone you love has suffered life-changing injuries in a truck crash, call Burg Simpson at 602-777-7000 to schedule a FREE and confidential consultation with a qualified truck accident lawyer. We serve clients dealing with catastrophic truck accident injuries throughout Arizona.

What Makes Truck Accidents So Dangerous?

Trucks are huge. The average tractor-trailer is 70 to 80 feet long with a fully-loaded weight of 80,000 pounds. Standing at an average of 13.5 feet, most commercial trucks are around 8.5 feet wide. By comparison, the average passenger vehicle is around 15 feet long and 6 feet wide, weighing an average of about 4,419 pounds. The average height of a car is between 4 and 5 feet.

The weight and size difference between cars and large trucks makes crashes more dangerous, with truck accident catastrophic injuries often linked to:

• Longer stopping distances. Large trucks need around 196 feet to stop safely. On fast Arizona roads, that extra distance matters. A truck that does not stop in time can cause a violent rear-end crash or chain reaction collision.
• Higher ride height and underride risk. Trucks sit much higher off the ground than passenger vehicles. This makes underride crashes more likely. Underride collisions are linked to head, neck, and spinal cord injury. They are also more likely to be fatal.
• More destructive crash force. Truck accident catastrophic injuries are often tied to the weight of these vehicles. When something weighing upwards of 80,000 pounds smashes into something much smaller and lighter, serious and fatal injury will typically follow.
• Handling issues. Trucks gain tremendous speed when traveling downhill, need extra room for wide turns, and must slow on curves and ramps to reduce the risk of rollover. All of these things can increase crash risks and with them, the chance for serious, life-long injuries.

Truck wrecks are more dangerous because of physics. Impact is more violent. Vehicle geometry is less forgiving. When a smaller vehicle is crushed, pinned, pushed, or dragged by a commercial truck, catastrophic injury becomes far more likely.

Types of Truck Accident Catastrophic Injuries

Truck accidents can cause nearly any type of injury. Among the most catastrophic are:

• Traumatic brain injury. A blow, bump, jolt, or penetrating injury to the head can lead to lifelong physical and psychological issues.
• Spinal cord injuries. The spinal cord carries signals between the brain and the body. Spinal cord injury disrupts these signals and can cause paralysis, loss of sensation, and permanent loss of function below the injury site.
• Severe burns. Serious burns can destroy deep layers of skin and tissue. In some cases, burns can lead to shock, infection, scarring, and permanent loss of function.
• Traumatic amputation. The loss of a body part in a truck crash can result in excessive bleeding, infection risk, and permanent disability.
• Multiple fractures. Broken or fractured bones can take a significant amount of time to heal. Complications can include compartment syndrome, vascular or nerve damage, infection, avascular necrosis, blood clots, and more.
• Internal injury. Internal bleeding or organ damage can lead to organ failure, blood accumulation, and an increased risk of death.

Truck accident catastrophic injuries can affect every aspect of your life. From walking and driving to concentrating and sleeping, these injuries make daily life more difficult and can continue to do so for years. At Burg Simpson, our Arizona truck collision attorneys take the time to fully assess your injuries so we can understand exactly how your life has been and will continue to be impacted. In this way, we can build a case that seeks full compensation for your financial, physical, emotional, and psychological damages.

Our Phoenix Truck Accident Catastrophic Injuries Lawyers Can Help

At the Phoenix office of Burg Simpson, our semi-truck accident lawyers have decades of experience helping victims of catastrophic injury seek justice. We know how to investigate these collisions to determine how they happened and who can be held responsible, which may include evaluating:

• The truck driver’s conduct
• The trucking company’s safety practices
• Maintenance and inspection records
• Electronic data and service logs
• Cargo issues
• Road conditions
• Witness evidence

It is important to find out how the accident happened to determine who can be held liable for damages.

Catastrophic injuries may involve future surgeries, rehabilitation, mobility equipment, home modifications, lost earning capacity, and pain and suffering. Our lawyers work with various experts and specialists to estimate life-long medical costs, calculate current and future wage loss, and evaluate the impact of your injury on every aspect of your life. It is our goal to help you secure the compensation you need to make the fullest recovery.

Our firm brings more than four decades of proven success and more than $2 billion recovered on behalf of our clients. We understand how truck accident catastrophic injuries cause lasting harm to victims and their families. We are here to stand by your side, protect your interests, and help you secure every penny you deserve.

Reach Out for a FREE Case Review With an Arizona Truck Accident Lawyer

If you or a loved one suffered catastrophic harm in a collision with a semi-truck, tanker, delivery truck, dump truck, or another commercial vehicle in Arizona, Burg Simpson is here to help. Contact us online or call our Phoenix office at 602-777-7000 to schedule your FREE consultation to learn more. Based in Phoenix, we welcome clients from Flagstaff, Tucson, Yuma, and throughout Arizona.