Des moines Truck Accident Lawyer

Truck accidents cause considerable damage to any vehicle caught in the way. Big rigs and semi-trucks weigh up to 40 tons when fully loaded. They can destroy a lighter pickup truck or sedan. Contact Baer Law Office if you or a loved one was hurt in a truck accident.

Our founder, Kim Baer, is one of the top lawyers in Iowa. The winner of many awards, she has been rated as a “Best Attorney in Des Moines” for 9 years running. Our firm has won many settlements for accident victims, and we can handle your case if you call us. You can schedule a free initial consultation with a Des Moines truck accident lawyer with Baer Law Office.

Truck Accident Bodily Injuries

Our clients have been hurt in a variety of accidents, including rollovers and overrides. They end up in the hospital with:

• Neck injuries
• Fractures
• Chest injuries
• Internal organ damage
• Head injuries
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Amputations
• Crush injuries
• Herniated discs
• Spondylosis
• Paralysis
• Burns

These are only some of the painful injuries which require thousands of dollars in medical treatment. Contact Baer Law Office as soon as you can. In your present state, it’s probably difficult to do all the steps necessary to build an injury claim. We are happy to leap in and start doing the work for you.

What Causes Truck Accidents?

The individual or party responsible for your injuries should pay compensation. Accordingly, we need to fully analyze the evidence to assign fault for the crash.

Most accidents are caused by:

• Negligent truckers. A trucker could take their eyes off the road due to distractions or drive too fast. Many collisions are caused by intoxication, deep fatigue, and other examples of negligence.
• Trucking companies. A trucking company could be negligent for how it hires, trains, and supervises its truckers. Also, the company could fail to keep its fleet in good working order, sending out dangerous trucks which break down and crash.
• Truck defects. A truck can become dangerous when critical parts are worn out, or the truck could be defective when it leaves the manufacturer’s assembly line.
• Road defects. Occasionally, a defective road causes a collision. For example, a work zone might be missing critical signage informing drivers to slow down. Consequently, a trucker goes too fast and gets into a wreck.

Once we find out who caused the accident, we can submit a claim against them. For example, the government is usually responsible for road defects, and a mechanic or truck manufacturer may be liable when a truck defect leads to a crash.

Trucking Companies Play to Win

In most accidents, a trucking company will be on the other side as the defendant. They could be liable for various reasons. Under Iowa law, an employer is almost always liable when their employee causes an accident while working.

Trucking companies vigorously defend themselves. They will:

• Send investigators to the scene of the crash within an hour or two to collect evidence and speak to witnesses.
• Employ law firms and insurance companies to defend them from liability.
• Deny that their trucker is in any way responsible for the crash.
• Hide critical pieces of evidence, such as employee records, drug tests, or electronic data on the truck.
• Refuse to offer fair compensation and instead force you to litigate a claim.

The biggest mistake accident victims make is trying to oversee their own claim. A trucking company would love nothing better than for you to represent yourself. You are less likely to obtain fair compensation than if you hired an experienced lawyer to help you.

Call Baer Law Office. We have stood toe-to-toe with several large trucking companies and have won many settlements for our clients.

10 Steps to Take After a Truck Accident

To make a persuasive case for compensation, we recommend that you do as many of the following steps as possible:

1. Call the police to report an accident. The police report is a critical piece of evidence in a case.

2. Speak to witnesses and document the scene if you can. We realize you might be in so much pain you can only wait for an ambulance. But if you can move around, document the scene like you would after a car accident.

3. Notice anything unusual about the trucker. If he is drunk or high, then you should mention that fact to the responding officer, who might investigate.

4. Go to the hospital as soon as possible to receive medical treatment. And remember to follow your doctor’s orders. If your doctor orders bed rest, don’t go on vacation.

5. Don’t answer any recorded questions with an insurance company. You should wait to tell them your side of the story.

6. Delay fixing your car until a lawyer has inspected it. Maybe a defect on your car contributed to the crash, and we don’t want the evidence to disappear.

7. Do not agree to a settlement offer until you hire a lawyer to review it. Unsurprisingly, most offers are not as generous as they could be. We can negotiate to increase the amount on the table.

8. Reach out to our law firm. Baer Law Office can undertake all necessary tasks and allow you to recover and rest.

9. Continue to receive all necessary medical treatment. You will improve the chances of fair compensation if you do everything you can to heal.

10. Avoid posting about the accident on social media. You don’t want to slip up and say something inadvertently that undermines your legal rights. Also set your profiles to private, until the case is completed.

Talk with a Des Moines Truck Accident Lawyer Today

Our firm offers free consultations to anyone in Iowa who was injured in a truck accident or other motor vehicle crash. Call us today at (515) 279-2000. Our team provides the highest level of representation to anyone in need of a personal injury lawyer after an accident. Only your legal team has your best interests at the forefront of everything they do.