Key Takeaways
- Truck accident settlements are significantly higher than car accident settlements due to the severity of injuries, multiple liable parties, and commercial insurance policy limits exceeding $1 million.
- Moderate truck accident injuries may settle for $40,000 to $200,000, while catastrophic injuries can exceed $1 million.
- Most truck accident cases resolve in 6 to 18 months depending on the complexity of the case.
- Never accept the first settlement offer from an insurance company after a truck accident.
Truck accident victims often suffer some of the worst, most severe injuries. Commercial trucks significantly outsize and outweigh passenger vehicles, exerting tremendous force upon impact. These injuries are likely to be life-altering, resulting in extensive medical costs along with the potential for a lifetime of lost income and other financial impacts, which make truck accident settlements much higher than car accident settlements.
The Bruning Law Firm helps truck accident victims in St. Louis understand their legal rights and options in Missouri by maximizing recovery. As St. Louis truck accident settlement experts, our Missouri truck accident lawyer team shows you the factors that can affect your 18-wheeler settlement value, the timeline, and how we can help you get through this challenging time.
Why Truck Accident Settlements Are Higher
There are several key factors that explain why are truck accident settlements higher than car accidents:
Severity of Injuries
Semi-trucks and other commercial vehicles can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. Even at low speeds, a truck's weight and force upon impact is significant, and the injuries in these accidents tend to be catastrophic.
Multiple Liable Parties
There are also many potential avenues for compensation depending on who is responsible for the truck accident. The truck driver may not be the only one who was negligent. Other negligent parties, such as the trucking company, maintenance provider, or even the manufacturer of the truck or its parts, could all share liability, which makes for a higher settlement.
Commercial Insurance Policies
Truck drivers and trucking companies have commercial insurance policies that have much higher limits than those of ordinary passenger car drivers. These limits can easily exceed $1 million.
Federal Regulation Violations
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) sets and enforces safety rules for truck drivers and motor carriers. Among the many regulations imposed, hours of service, drug testing, and inspections may have been violated, leading to a devastating truck accident. Simply failing to comply with any of these regulations is evidence of negligence.
Factors That Determine Settlement Value
How much your 18-wheeler accident case is worth will depend on these specific factors unique to your case, including:
- Injury severity: Your truck accident settlement is impacted most significantly by the injuries you've sustained and how they affect your life. It also takes into account your long-term medical needs.
- Lost wages: If you're out of work for a month or two, that affects your income and leaves you with no money coming in. Many truck accident victims are left with injuries that make it impossible to return to work in their former capacity, often taking lower-paying jobs. Others are rendered incapable of working again, and deserve to be covered for that instead of sinking into debt from someone else's negligence.
- Pain and suffering: The level of pain and suffering you experience from your injuries is certain to cause loss of enjoyment of life. Our St. Louis truck accident attorneys will help you claim these non-economic damages.
- Evidence strength: Data from the truck's black box, driver logs, and maintenance records can all help show negligence, allowing our lawyers to hold the parties responsible liable.
- Liable parties and insurance: The more liable parties in a truck accident case and the insurance capacity also have bearing on the amount of your truck accident settlement.
The Truck Accident Settlement Timeline
Before learning about what is the average truck accident settlement in missouri, it is also vital for victims to understand how long to settle a truck accident case in missouri. In some cases, you may wait only a few months while in others, it could be well over a year.
- Investigation phase: It generally takes 1 to 3 months to gather all the evidence to determine negligence, fault, and liability.
- Medical treatment: If you don't wait until you reach maximum medical improvement (MMI), you will be leaving money on the table. Our attorneys recommend waiting until you get to this point to understand how fully your injuries have impacted your life to pursue maximum compensation, which varies by injury.
- Demand and negotiation: Once the full amount of your economic and non-economic damages can be determined after reaching MMI, issuing a demand letter and negotiating your settlement comes next. This step could take 2 to 6 months.
- Litigation: If negotiations don't provide the results you deserve, it could take 1 to 2 years to get to trial and let a judge or jury decide.
Ultimately, most truck accident cases will resolve in 6 to 18 months. The Bruning Law Firm's St. Louis truck accident attorneys will provide legal guidance and support throughout all of these steps to help you through your truck accident case.
Common Tactics Insurers Use to Reduce Truck Settlements
Insurance companies have one key focus, and that's to protect their profits. In order to do so, they usually employ a series of tactics to reduce your truck settlement. Much of the time, they'll come back with a quick offer that sounds pretty tempting.
Unfortunately, that fast settlement offer is always too low. They take advantage of your lack of knowledge about the extent of your injuries and that's easy to do if you don't have a St. Louis truck accident attorney representing you yet.
In other cases, they blame victims for these accidents. Although Missouri's pure comparative fault laws allow you to recover compensation even if you're up to 99% at fault, that could drastically reduce your truck accident settlement, leaving you holding the bag for those medical bills and other financial losses.
Trucking companies themselves may also play a role by destroying or hiding key evidence, like the electronic logs. This is a violation of FMCSA rules though, and evidence that has been erased before the mandatory retention time can still be used to prove their negligence.
Be aware that while evidence destruction is going on in the background, surveillance teams may be watching to document your activities. They're looking for any snippet they can use to claim your injuries aren't as severe or detrimental as you claim. Fortunately, with The Bruning Law Firm's attorneys in your corner, you'll have the legal support you need to hold them accountable for the full and fair compensation you deserve from the harm they caused you to endure.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average truck accident settlement in Missouri?
Average truck accident settlements vary drastically due to unique case factors. Those with moderate injuries may see $40,000 to $200,000, while severe or catastrophic injuries often exceed $1 million due to the severity of injuries and higher commercial insurance policy limits.
How long does a truck accident settlement take?
Simpler cases could resolve within 6 to 8 months, though due to significant injuries and case complexities, most truck accident settlements take 12 to 18 months or longer to resolve.
Can I sue the trucking company for more than insurance?
Yes, you can sue the trucking company for damages beyond their insurance policy limits. This typically arises when catastrophic injuries exceed coverage levels. A lawsuit allows you to seek compensation for pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement, and other non-economic damages.
Should I accept the first settlement offer?
Never accept the first settlement offer for a truck accident. It is almost always too low and does not account for future medical needs, lost wages impact, or emotional anguish. Our St. Louis truck accident lawyers offer a free consultation to evaluate whether a settlement offer is fair.
Contact The Bruning Law Firm for Your Truck Accident Case
Trucking companies and their insurers don't have your best interests at heart, but The Bruning Law Firm does. Our St. Louis truck accident settlement attorneys help victims in Missouri understand their legal rights and options, working to recover significant truck accident settlements. Contact our lawyers today to set up a free consultation by calling (314) 735-8100.