Garbage truck accidents can be catastrophic and fatal. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) lists every reported incident about garbage truck employee fatalities, naming crushing, speeding, and being run over as some recurring causes of death.
These accidents can be rare and might appear as “freak accidents” in some cases. However, employees are not the only ones who can get injured by a garbage truck. Collisions with large trucks rose by 48 percent between 2009 and 2018, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which includes garbage trucks.
If you were injured or lost a loved one in a garbage truck accident, you might be entitled to collect compensation for your injuries or losses. Contact Distasio Law Firm for more information on what a garbage truck accident lawyer can do to help you with your case, which you can do so by calling us at (813) 259-0022.
We Can Determine Whether the Garbage Company Is Private or State-Run
Garbage truck companies can be privately owned or run by a local government. This can make a distinct difference in who might be held liable for your garbage truck accident and how long you have to file a lawsuit if you decide to pursue that route. Government entities, for example, may be excluded from the statute of limitations, which can sometimes mean you have a shorter timeline to file a lawsuit against them.
Depending on the circumstances of your garbage truck accident, you might be able to hold the following parties accountable for your damages:
- The garbage truck driver, be it a private or government employee
- The garbage truck company
- The local government that runs waste collection
- The maintenance worker or company that last worked on the truck
- The manufacturer of the garbage truck and its parts
- A third party involved in the accident, such as a passenger vehicle
Your Lawyer Can Help You Calculate Your Damages
A garbage truck can cause extensive damage to a victim beyond physical damage to their vehicle or body. In some cases, victims might feel the effects of a traumatic event, depending on what the garbage truck accident involved. If you bring a personal injury lawsuit, as the plaintiff, you have a right to demand compensation for each injury you sustained in the accident, which includes multiple types of damages.
“Personal injuries” are not synonymous with bodily injuries, though they do include them. You can sue for compensation for every loss you experienced as a result of the accident that personally affected your life, meaning your injuries can be physical, mental, emotional, and financial. These are referred to as damages and might include:
- Medical treatment expenses, including psychological treatment and physical therapy
- Loss of income due to having to miss work to recover from your injuries
- Property damage, which can extend to repair bills or total replacement value of your property
- Reduced earning capacity if your injuries affect your ability to perform the same work duties as you did before the accident
- Pain and suffering you felt and continue to feel
- Future financial losses you expect to suffer due to your injuries, such as job loss, being behind on rent, future medical procedures
If you lost a loved one in a garbage truck accident, you might also pursue compensation for losses you experienced after their death. These losses can be financial, pertaining to funeral expenses or loss of financial support from your loved one, and they can be more sentimental, such as losing the love and compassion your loved one provided to the family.
Your lawyer can help you categorize your damages and assign monetary values to them. They may also suggest other damages for which you qualify and help you collect evidence to prove you experienced these damages as a result of the accident.
You might use the following forms of evidence to support your damage claims:
- Receipts and invoices
- Proof of salary, such as paycheck stubs or bank statements
- Photos and videos of your injuries, including their healing process
- Journal entries about the inconveniences you suffered after the accident
- Witness testimony from people who knew you before and after the accident
- Expert testimony who can vouch for the extent of certain damages, such as your injuries, vehicle damage, and psychological damage
Reach out to Distasio Law Firm at (813) 259-0022 today for a free case evaluation and let one of our team members listen to your side of the story. We want to help victims who have gone through extensive turmoil after their garbage truck accident.
Our Law Firm Will Do What It Takes to Complete Your Case
At Distasio Law Firm, we help you with your case from the moment you call us until the day it gets settled, whether with a settlement or a court sentence. Throughout that process, our team is willing to perform several tasks to help you prepare your case for insurance adjusters to review or a judge and jury.
If you decide to work with a lawyer from our firm, you can expect our team to help you with the following:
- Gathering evidence: while you might have some pieces of evidence available to you, such as the crash report and your medical records, other forms of evidence might require the assistance of an attorney. Things like retrieving company information and black box data can be hard to retrieve without the proper legal forms and actions. Your lawyer can assist you with obtaining this evidence.
- Communicating with other parties: rather than be intimidated by what you say to insurance representatives and lawyers, let your attorney handle those communications for you. We can speak on your behalf while being cognizant of your rights and interests.
- Filing paperwork: both claims and lawsuits require an extensive amount of paperwork, which can be overwhelming if you are still recovering from your injuries. Your legal team can fulfill this task for you so that it is accurate and filed on time.
- Representing you in meetings and hearings: whether you want to negotiate a settlement or commit to a lawsuit, your lawyer can serve as your legal advocate and present your arguments on your behalf.
Hire a Garbage Truck Accident Lawyer from Distasio Law Firm
If a garbage truck accident driver injured you in an accident, you might be entitled to collect compensation for your injuries and other accident-related damages. Our team at Distasio Law Firm can help investigate the cause of the accident, who might be held liable for the accident, and whether negligence was involved.
Call (813) 259-0022 to speak with one of our staff members about how a garbage truck accident lawyer from our firm can help you with your case. Our lawyers also work on a contingency-fee-basis, so you do not have to worry about paying any attorney’s fees unless we win your case, in which case our fees would come out of your compensation award, not your pocket.
