Truck Accident Causes | Shaffer & Shaffer

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Shaffer & You: Truck Accident Lawyers on What to Look For

Your goal after getting hurt in a crash with an 18-wheeler, coal truck or other big truck in West Virginia is to get the financial resources you need to put this ordeal behind you.

Where do you start?

When your medical condition is stable and you’re beginning to recover physically, look to the cause of the collision—so you can recover financially.

Speeding, distracted driving, truck driver fatigue, overloaded trucks and more could have been at play in the accident that left you injured and interfered with your life.

An experienced personal injury lawyer can help you pin down what happened, so you can show negligence on the part of the truck driver and get fair compensation from the driver, trucking company and their insurance company.

In West Virginia, talk to Shaffer & Shaffer.

We’ve secured millions of dollars for our clients.
We’ve helped thousands of people.
We’ve been helping West Virginians for over 115 years.

Dedication to the well-being of West Virginians doesn’t reach back much further or run much deeper than the generations-long legacy of Shaffer & Shaffer. Our offices are in Charleston and Madison.

Shaffer & Shaffer wants to get you back to a stronger position after this painful setback. Read on for more on identifying what causes truck accidents, and how you prove what happened to you.

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Help for Other Accident Cases

Top Causes of Truck Accidents

These are common causes of truck accidents that people see in West Virginia and everywhere:

Aggressive Driving. Speeding, tailgating, weaving in and out of traffic, disregarding signs and signals, being hostile to other drivers trying to enter, exit or change lanes
Braking Errors. Poorly maintained brakes, or misjudgment by truck drivers on when and how hard to brake
Distracted Driving. Not paying attention to the road, possibly while texting, talking on a phone or radio, eating, fiddling with stereo controls, reaching for objects in the cab, and more
Drunk or Impaired Driving. Driving erratically because of alcohol or substance use
Overloaded Trucks. Trucks swerving, jackknifing or even tipping over because they have too much weight, or their cargo isn’t loaded evenly
Poor Maintenance. Wear and tear on the truck causing various parts to fail and pose a danger to other drivers
Poor Training. Trucking companies failing to ensure their drivers are trained, experienced and reliable
Speeding. Going too fast for conditions and the speed limit for any reason, whether it’s aggression, distraction, recklessness, poor training or more
Truck Driver Fatigue. Failing to take healthy breaks and get enough rest to be an alert driver on long trips
Tire Defects. Poor maintenance causing tire blowouts and accidents
Wide Turns. Truck drivers failing to properly judge the size of their vehicles and distance to other cars when they turn

If the driver of an 18-wheeler, tractor-trailer, coal truck or semi did any of these things before they collided with you, they may have been negligent, which means you have a legal claim against the trucker or trucking company.

Describe what happened to the West Virginia truck accident lawyers at Shaffer & Shaffer and see what compensation you can pursue. There is no cost to have this initial conversation with us.

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A truck driver frustrated from an accident.

How Do You Prove What Caused the Truck Accident that Hurt You?

Maybe you saw the semi-truck driving crazily or coming at you suddenly, but you don’t know what was going on inside the cab or what caused the problem.

How do you get at the causes of the truck accident?

The West Virginia personal injury lawyers at Shaffer & Shaffer have tips for you:

As soon as you’re in a stable and safe situation, think about how the truck driver was behaving before the collision.
Take note—actually write down—any of the signs listed above of truck driver negligence (like speeding, zigzagging, tires blowing out and more).
Seek out and get contact information for witnesses who saw what happened.
Look for any video of the accident that might have been caught on cameras in the area.
Get required travel logs from the trucker that might show how long they were driving and how tired they may have been.
Get license, background, and health records about the truck driver that should be kept by their company.
Get equipment maintenance records from the trucking company.
Get results from drug tests taken after the crash.

For those last several items—camera footage, travel logs, drug test results from a hospital afterward—you want a skilled truck and car accident lawyer who knows what to look for and how to get it.

State and federal laws require trucking companies to maintain some kinds of records and keep some kinds of evidence.

Get Shaffer & Shaffer to help you.

Zeroing in on the cause of the truck accident that hurt you and gathering documentation confirming the cause are key factors in success with insurance claims or court cases.

You didn’t ask to have your whole life shifted because of a traumatic accident with a big truck.

But now you absolutely have the right to demand maximum compensation to get your life back to normal.

And in the most horrible kind of accident—when you’ve lost a loved one in a wrongful death caused by someone’s negligence—we are here for your family.

Whether you live in West Virginia and were injured by an 18-wheeler, of if you were driving through West Virginia on the interstate when the collision occurred, Shaffer & Shaffer can help you put this shock behind you.

Shaffer & You: Why Work with Us?

Everyday West Virginians can get legal help from one of the most established and respected law firms in the state: Shaffer & Shaffer. Our firm is over a century old and still going strong because we put the needs of our clients first—always.

Have a Question about Personal Injury Claims?

After a life-altering accident, you’re understandably upset, confused and full of questions. To help you get a sense of what’s next, we’ve prepared answers to common questions about personal injury claims and other legal cases.

Injury FAQs »