Wide Turns

Truck Accident Attorney Serving Spartanburg and Greenville

If you drive on busy roads regularly, you probably encounter large trucks and big rigs all the time. Although these vehicles are an integral part of our transportation system, they also pose a serious risk to people around them. Due to their size and weight, large trucks often need to make wide turns. It is not uncommon for them to collide with nearby motorists when executing these maneuvers, resulting in severe injuries to the occupants of other vehicles. Dedicated Greenville and Spartanburg truck accident lawyer Patrick E. Knie has represented many victims of these collisions in South Carolina and is ready to help you seek the compensation you deserve.

Bring a Negligence Claim Against a Truck Driver or Trucking Company

After being involved in a wide turn accident, a victim usually can bring a negligence action to pursue compensation for his or her injuries and damages. There are four elements that the plaintiff must prove in the lawsuit: duty, breach, causation, and damages. Duty and breach involve showing that the truck driver or trucking company owed the plaintiff a duty to act with reasonable care and failed to do so.

If the plaintiff can show that the defendant violated a traffic law at the time of the crash, for example, he or she is entitled to a rebuttable presumption that the elements of duty and breach are satisfied. To bolster highway safety, the federal government has enacted a wide variety of regulations governing truck driver safety and training. These rules include provisions dictating the amount of training and certifications that a trucker must obtain before hitting the road. Part of this training includes understanding how to execute wide turns in a manner that does not place other motorists or pedestrians at risk. Also, a company may fail to conduct adequate inspection and maintenance on its trucks, or fail to ensure that its drivers are complying with training requirements and other regulations, such as refraining from drinking while driving.

Causation requires the plaintiff to show that he or she would not have been hurt but for the defendant’s failure to exercise due care. Since truck accidents can be very complicated, it is often necessary to consult an expert witness to help explain how the driver acted negligently and why the wide turn resulted in the plaintiff’s injuries. These must have been a foreseeable consequence of the defendant’s careless actions. Finally, the plaintiff must submit evidence supporting the amount of damages that he or she is claiming in the lawsuit. These may include medical bills, missed wages, loss of future earning capacity, property damage, and pain and suffering.

Contact a Truck Accident Lawyer in Greenville or Spartanburg

If you or someone you love has been hurt in an avoidable motor vehicle collision, you may be entitled to compensation. Spartanburg and Greenville truck accident attorney Patrick E. Knie understands the traumatic situation that you and your family are enduring. He can carefully investigate the details of your claim and vigorously assert your rights. He can serve victims and their families in many areas of South Carolina, including Cherokee, Union, Greenville, and Laurens Counties. Call us at (864) 582-5118 or contact us online to set up a free consultation with a motor vehicle collision attorney.