How Much Will You Get Paid If an 18-wheeler Hits You in New York?
If you suffered injuries after an 18-wheeler tractor-trailer smashed into your vehicle in New York, you likely worry about paying enormous medical bills and replacing lost income during recovery.
The main question that truck accident victims often ask is – how much compensation can I get after a negligent trucker or trucking company causes me harm?
As experienced New York truck accident attorneys, we regularly guide clients through claim complexities to maximize payouts covering all losses after life-changing crashes.
Let’s explore typical large truck wreck causes and injuries, settlement, payouts, steps to take after car accident collisions, building strong personal injury claims, and overcoming insurance barriers.
Compensation Available After An 18-Wheeler Truck Accident
Many factors determine how much compensation you may receive after a commercial truck accident. Realistic settlements can reach six or seven figures in severe cases.
Some of the most noteworthy numbers impacting truck accident payouts involve the following:
Medical Treatment Expenses
Initial hospitalization, surgeries, medications, devices, and ongoing care add up quickly, often ranging from $100,000 to $500,000 or more.
Lost Income and Benefits
The inability to work for weeks, months, or longer causes significant losses, especially for higher-wage earners. Vocational experts can accurately calculate reduced earning capacity.
Property Losses
Repair and replacement costs for damaged vehicles, other ruined property, and out-of-pocket crash expenses matter.
Pain and Suffering
Putting dollar figures on physical pain and suffering may start at around $10,000 and can exceed $1 million in severe truck accidents.
Loss of Companionship
Wrongful death claims warrant extra payouts to surviving spouses and children losing loved ones.
Loss of Enjoyment of Life
Permanent impairments preventing favorite activities merit additional damages beyond medical costs and lost wages.
While money cannot replace physical health and well-being, sufficient compensation eases burdens, improving life quality after needless truck crashes.
If you or someone you care about suffered harm in an 18-wheeler wreck, contact a personal injury attorney in New York for a free consultation on getting the maximum payment amount to cover all your damages.
Recent Notable Tractor-Trailer Accident Settlements and Verdicts In New York
To understand realistic compensation ranges after catastrophic semi-truck crashes in New York, consider these recent case results taken from LexisNexis settlement data in New York:
- Traumatic Brain Injury Settlement: $900K – 9.5 Million.
- Wrongful Death Verdict: $2.4 – $10.9 Million.
- Spinal Cord Injury Verdict: $1.7 – $11.2 Million.
- Traumatic Amputation Settlement: $2.3 – $6 Million.
- Traumatic Burn Injuries Settlement: $840K – $18 Million.
As you can see from the above real-life case data, experienced truck accident attorneys can pursue six-, seven-, and eight-figure financial recoveries depending on crash severities through settlements or court verdicts that forever changed victims’ lives.
Steps to Take After a Truck Accident
In the traumatic aftermath of an 18-wheeler crash in New York, we encourage taking these vital steps while awaiting medical assistance:
1. Seek Immediate Medical Care
Call 911 and get ambulance transport to the nearest hospital emergency room capable of treating serious injuries for evaluation of damage and pain control treatment.
2. Document the Accident Scene
If possible, safely take smartphone photos and videos capturing damaged vehicles and the surrounding accident environment. That visual evidence gets preserved to help prove what happened.
3. File a Police Report
Ensure officers file an official accident report containing statements from all parties and investigators. The reports prove invaluable for resolving insurance claims later.
4. Contact Experienced New York Personal Injury Attorneys
Contacting knowledgeable semi-truck accident personal injury lawyers starts the process of gaining injury compensation to offset financial harm.
Building Your Truck Accident Claim
Semi-truck accident attorneys meticulously construct the most compelling cases possible by:
Proving Driver and Truck Company Negligence
They gather police reports, inspection records, logbooks, training materials, corporate manuals, and other evidence demonstrating wrongful actions that cause crashes.
Documenting All Financial Losses
Specialists track every penny lost, from medical bills to lost wages to property damages, to quantify claim value. Vocational experts often project income reductions stemming from disabilities, too.
Assessing Pain and Suffering Damages
Truck wrecks spark physical agonies plus emotional misery, warranting compensation beyond concrete monetary damage totals.
Accounting for Long-Term Care Needs
Crashes causing permanent impairments necessitate lifetime treatment and assistance funds our lawyers seek via settlements and verdicts.
Overcoming Insurance Company Pushback
Make no mistake – trucking companies and insurers work diligently to deny or reduce payouts after accidents harm innocent motorists.
Common tactics include:
- Blaming truck crash victims for alleged comparative negligence, claiming victims were partly at fault for wrecks.
- Disputing injury severity necessitating long-term treatment, lost wages, and other damages.
- Looking for pre-existing health defects unrelated to crashes to discount settlement offers.
When insurers refuse reasonable resolutions, experienced personal injury attorneys must file semi-truck accident lawsuits and argue the claim before local judges and juries. The attorneys at Held, Held & Held hold seasoned courtroom skills and trial experience that prove invaluable when seeking high compensation from sympathetic juries.
Through compassionate counsel, legal knowledge, and resources that truck insurers lack, our personal injury law firm fights to help truck accident survivors move positively forward into the future.
Fair Compensation Helps Cope When Truck Accidents Change Lives
As you can see, many factors determine how much compensation you can earn after a devastating semi-truck collision on New York roads.
State statutes and case law offer innocent crash victims and families legal remedies to recover and rebuild their lives. By holding negligent truck drivers and companies financially accountable, you can be compensated for medical bills, lost wages, and more.
While money cannot reverse the damage done, it eases burdens to increase life quality after needless tragedies. Contact Held, Held & Held to discuss your potential case.