Virginia Truck Accident Lawyer
Virginia is a major trucking corridor, sitting halfway down the East Coast and funneling traffic to several major ports. That volume creates a greater risk of truck accidents for Virginians. Collisions with commercial trucks are a leading cause of serious injuries in the commonwealth, with the massive force of these vehicles often causing catastrophic harm to occupants of smaller vehicles.
On This Page
- Why Choose Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers for Your Virginia Truck Accident Case
- Why Truck Accident Cases Are More Complex Than Car Accidents
- Types of Damages Available in a Truck Accident
- How a Virginia Truck Accident Lawyer Helps Prove Liability
- Common Causes of Virginia Truck Accidents
- Types of Truck Accident Cases We Handle in Virginia
- Why Work With a Truck Accident Lawyer After Your Accident in Virginia?
- Virginia Truck Accidents FAQs
- Our Virginia Truck Accident Lawyers Are Here To Help
Truck accident claims bring numerous unique challenges due to the severity of many victims’ injuries, the involvement of multiple parties in a truck’s operations, and the potential for federal trucking law violations. Having an attorney who knows how to navigate these elements can make a significant difference in your case. Our Virginia truck accident lawyers are prepared to handle every aspect of your claim, starting with a free consultation about your rights and options.
Why Choose Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers for Your Virginia Truck Accident Case
Your injury is our fight after a serious truck accident. Here’s why our firm is known as The Car Crash Experts across Coastal Virginia:
- Record-Setting Results: Our team has secured tens of millions in compensation for our clients, including Virginia’s largest reported car accident recovery in 2020 and 2023.
- Exclusive Focus on Personal Injury Law: We’re committed to making things right for those injured due to someone else’s negligence. Injury law is all we do, and we bring focused experience to every case we handle.
- Award-Winning Advocacy: We have received national recognition as Super Lawyers, Top 100 Trial Lawyers, Lawyers of Distinction, and Top Lawyers of Coastal Virginia.
- Deep Truck Accident Knowledge: Our catastrophic injury team are all members of the Academy of Trucking Accident Attorneys, an organization of carefully vetted legal professionals with proven experience handling truck crash cases.
- Local Insight: Our attorneys live and work in the Hampton Roads communities we serve. We know the traffic patterns, courts, and insurance companies commonly involved in cases throughout the region.
- Client-First Representation: We offer several convenient meeting locations and can travel directly to you. This accessibility is part of our commitment to offering individualized legal representation and outstanding customer service.
- No Upfront Costs: We represent clients on a contingency fee basis. You pay nothing out of pocket for our services, and we only get paid if we win your case.
We've Won Some of the Highest Verdicts and Settlements in Virginia
No attorney can promise a specific case outcome. But when you’ve been seriously hurt, the stakes are too high to take a chance on a firm that doesn’t produce results.
Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers has established a track record of impressive case results in accident cases throughout Virginia, including the following:
- $6 million settlement ranked as the eighth-highest settlement in Virginia in 2022
- $5 million verdict for a Hampton woman injured by a truck driver in Gloucester County
- $2.46 million verdict ranked the second-highest car crash verdict in 2022
- $800,000 for a woman killed in a tractor-trailer accident
- $500,000 for a man injured in an accident with a truck
Contact our office today for a free consultation.
Why Truck Accident Cases Are More Complex Than Car Accidents
Truck accident claims involve legal challenges that don’t exist in most car accident claims, including the involvement of federal trucking laws. Trucking companies and drivers must follow strict Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Rules regarding driving hours, vehicle maintenance, cargo loading, and hiring practices. Violations of these rules can play a role in who’s at fault for a crash.
Liability can also be more complicated in these cases. A single truck’s day-to-day operations often involve multiple parties extending far beyond just the truck driver. Each of these parties can potentially be at fault for a commercial truck accident, and determining liability requires a detailed investigation into the truck’s chain of responsibility.
Additionally, the size of commercial trucks often makes these crashes more severe. Fully loaded tractor-trailers can weigh up to 30 times more than standard passenger cars. The force of a collision with such a massive vehicle frequently results in catastrophic injuries with higher stakes.
This means many truck accident cases are worth significantly more than the typical personal injury claim. In turn, commercial insurance carriers often use aggressive defense tactics to try to minimize payouts.
Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers’ Catastrophic Injury Team is a group of highly skilled attorneys and legal team members who will fight for you if you’ve experienced life-altering injuries due to the negligence of another.
Types of Damages Available in a Truck Accident
A truck accident can create a wide range of financial, physical, and emotional losses. If someone else is at fault for the collision, you may be entitled to compensation for the full extent of these damages.
Our commercial truck accident lawyers in Virginia can play a critical role in identifying each of your losses and advocating for every dollar your case is worth. Depending on your circumstances, your damages may include:
Economic Damages
Economic damages are the financial losses you’ve suffered as a result of the crash. These include the costs associated with:
- Past and future medical treatment
- Physical therapy
- In-home nursing care
- Lost wages
- Reduced earning capacity
- Vocational rehabilitation
- Property damage, such as vehicle repair or replacement
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages reflect the way the accident has affected your quality of life, including:
- Physical pain and suffering
- Psychological distress, such as post-traumatic stress disorder
- Permanent scarring or disfigurement
- Lost enjoyment of life
Wrongful Death Damages
No amount of money can make up for a lost life. However, if your loved one died in a truck accident, you can file a wrongful death claim seeking compensation for the losses you’ve suffered due to their untimely passing. Wrongful death damages in Virginia may include funeral and burial expenses, loss of companionship, loss of the deceased’s income, and emotional pain and suffering.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are available in rare cases when the at-fault party’s actions showed a conscious disregard for others’ safety. They may apply, for instance, if the driver was intoxicated. These damages are intended to punish the defendant rather than compensate the victim for specific losses.
Ask The Car Crash Experts - Who's Liable for a Commercial Truck Accident?
Bailey Gifford, Personal Injury Lawyer
“If you’re hit by a commercial vehicle, it’s not just the driver who’s liable for any injuries they may have caused. The company that employs the driver at the time of the accident is also responsible for any injuries resulting from their employee’s actions.”
How a Virginia Truck Accident Lawyer Helps Prove Liability
- The trucking company
- The truck driver
- The cargo loaders
- The truck’s maintenance providers
- A vehicle parts manufacturer
- A government entity responsible for road maintenance
- Another driver
How Virginia’s Contributory Negligence Law Can Affect Your Truck Accident Claim
Common Causes of Virginia Truck Accidents
Virginia’s highway system includes several major trucking corridors that carry high volumes of commercial traffic along the East Coast. Routes such as I-95, I-64, I-81, I-85, and port access roads see a constant flow of trucking activity, increasing the risk of serious collisions for drivers sharing the road with these vehicles. These crashes often involve serious safety violations, such as:
- Driver fatigue due to hours-of-service violations
- Aggressive driving behaviors, including speeding or unsafe lane changes
- Distracted driving, including texting or eating behind the wheel
- Improperly loaded or unsecured cargo
- Poor vehicle maintenance, including failure to replace worn brakes or tires
- Inadequate driver hiring, training, or supervision practices
Some truck accidents involve factors outside of anyone’s control, such as heavy rain, fog, or ice. However, these collisions could still involve human error if the driver failed to adjust their driving behaviors to the weather conditions.
Determining the cause of a truck crash allows our attorneys to identify who’s at fault. It gives us the foundation to hold the right parties accountable and pursue maximum compensation.
Types of Truck Accident Cases We Handle in Virginia
Large commercial trucks have limited maneuverability and visibility, which can lead to many different types of collisions with disastrous consequences. Some of the most common types of crashes we handle include:
- Jackknife accidents
- Rollover truck accidents
- Side-impact and T-bone collisions
- Wide-turn accidents
- Underride truck accidents
- Blind spot and lane-change crashes
- Head-on collisions
- Truck tire blowouts and mechanical failure accidents
- Fatal truck accidents
- Delivery truck accidents
- Truck accidents involving rideshare vehicles
- Active duty military accidents involving commercial vehicles
- Truck accidents on Virginia interstates, such as I-95 and I-64
Our Virginia personal injury lawyers understand the distinct causes and effects of truck crashes, the laws that impact them, and how to overcome the challenges of these cases. We’ve recovered significant settlements and verdicts in a wide range of catastrophic truck accident claims, and we’re ready to put that experience to work for you.
Why Work With a Truck Accident Lawyer After Your Accident in Virginia?
After a collision with a delivery truck, 18-wheeler, tractor-trailer, or any commercial vehicle, you will need help. Our truck accident lawyers offer many services to ease your burdens during a difficult time, including the following:
- Gathering evidence to prove fault and justify damages
- Discussing the incident with the police
- Investigating the accident to determine the cause and responsible parties
- Locating witnesses
- Determining sources of insurance coverage
- Negotiating with insurance companies
- Seeking the best possible results, including through litigation, if necessary
Truck accident cases are highly complex. A skilled Virginia big rig accident lawyer will immediately secure any video recording or the black box from the trucking company before evidence mysteriously disappears. Hiring an accident reconstruction specialist to prove your case may also be necessary.
We understand your expenses can pile up quickly after a wreck. We will fight for compensation for your medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, vehicle repairs, and other damages.
Virginia Truck Accidents FAQs
Is Virginia a No-Fault Insurance State?
No, Virginia is an at-fault state regarding motor vehicle accidents, meaning the at-fault party will be financially responsible for your damages. In most cases, that party will have an insurance policy that covers some or all of these damages.
How Long Do I Have To File a Claim in Virginia?
Under the Virginia personal injury statute of limitations, you normally have two years to file a personal injury claim under the statute of limitations. If you miss this deadline, the court will not allow your suit to proceed. Still, don’t wait too long to file your claim. Witnesses and evidence can disappear quickly. If you’ve been hurt, contact a Virginia semi truck accident lawyer immediately to discuss your options.
What if My Accident Involved a Government Vehicle?
Sometimes, government entities own and operate trucks for various purposes. Perhaps the county uses trucks to collect garbage, or a city operates them for road maintenance. If you’re in a crash with a government vehicle, the laws related to filing a claim will be different. There will be shorter time limits for filing a case and possibly caps on compensation. A qualified attorney will be critical to your efforts.
How Much Is My Truck Accident Case Worth?
The damages available following a crash with a truck will depend partially on the type and severity of your injuries. There may be minimal compensation if the wreck only caused property damage. However, the damages could be extensive if your injuries were catastrophic or permanent.
Proving liability and damages are necessary to win a case. But you can’t trust an insurance company to do the right thing. Our firm has a proven track record of winning high–value case results for accident victims. We promise to fight just as hard for you.
Will a Lawyer Negotiate With the Insurance Company on My Behalf?
Yes, our truck accident lawyers in Virginia will handle all communications with the insurance company on your behalf. We’ll protect you from the insurer’s fault-shifting tactics and low settlement offers while pushing for the compensation you deserve.
What Happens if My Truck Accident Case Goes to Trial?
If the insurance company refuses to offer a fair settlement, we may take your case to trial. Our attorneys will present evidence, question witnesses, and argue your case before a judge and jury. The court will decide whether the defendant is liable and what compensation to award you.
Our Virginia Truck Accident Lawyers Are Here To Help
The trucking companies and their insurers have vast resources to fight your claim. With the stakes so high after a serious injury, you don’t want to face their defense teams alone. Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers is here to level the playing field and fight for the results you deserve, starting with a zero-risk consultation.
As a premier personal injury law firm in Coastal Virginia, we handle truck accident cases throughout the region:
Our award-winning Virginia truck accident attorneys have over 130 years of combined experience and have won millions for clients like yourself. We want to help.
We offer free, no-obligation consultations, and you pay nothing unless we win your truck accident case. Contact us online or call (757) 333-3333 to schedule your free case evaluation.
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