Ohio Truck Accident Lawyer
investigating trucking negligence claims
Almost 4,000 people died in large truck crashes in 2016, representing a 27 percent increase in road deaths from 2009. There are a number of factors that contribute to unsafe road conditions, including the negligence of truckers and commercial truck companies and their failure to monitor driver fatigue, tire conditions and overloaded trucks. All of the above can increase the risk of accident, injuries and deaths for American motorists.
When truck accidents do occur, most deaths that result are passenger vehicle occupants, primarily because of their vulnerability in a smaller vehicle. Trucks often weigh 20 to 30 times as much as passenger vehicles. When trucks are overloaded, a semi’s braking ability is compromised.
Even legally loaded tractor-trailers require up to 40 percent more distance to stop than cars, and even longer with poorly maintained brakes or extremely heavy loads. The stopping distance increases with every pound added. Overloading raises the possibility of brake failure.
It is estimated that overloaded trucks account for around 5 percent of the truck accidents on the nation’s roads and highways. When trucks are overloaded with too much cargo, the likelihood of tire failure, rollovers and other deadly accidents increases.
About one in ten deaths on the nation’s highways is the result of a crash involving a large truck, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Highway Loss Data Institute.
Joe Lyon is a highly-rated Cincinnati, Ohio personal injury attorney, experienced in investigating and settling overloaded trucks and traffic accident claims nationwide. To learn more about overloaded truck accidents & legal claims, call 800.513.2403.
Why Do Truckers Overload Commercial Vehicles?
Federal and state transportation departments have clear weight limits for commercial vehicles, however, truck drivers may be paid by the size of the loads they deliver.
Also, trucking companies can maximize profits when they maximize truck loads on each delivery. For these reasons, trucks often push weight limits and even exceed the legal weight limits, endangering everyone on the road.
The Ohio Revised Code and the Ohio Administrative Code are the authorities on the maximum allowable weights on roadway and bridges within Ohio. The Hauling Permit Operational Guide, published by the Ohio Department of Transportation, lists the following guidelines for truck weight limits:
- Single Axle maximum weight: 29,000 pounds
- Short Tandem maximum weight: 36,000 pounds
- Long Tandem maximum weight: 50,000 pounds
- Short Tri Axle maximum weight: 47,000 pounds
- Short Quad Axle or Long Tri Axle maximum weight: 60,000 pounds
- Long Quad Axle maximum weight: 80,000 pounds
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ABOUT THE LYON FIRM
Joseph Lyon has 17 years of experience representing individuals in complex litigation matters. He has represented individuals in every state against many of the largest companies in the world.
The Firm focuses on single-event civil cases and class actions involving corporate neglect & fraud, toxic exposure, product defects & recalls, medical malpractice, and invasion of privacy.
NO COST UNLESS WE WIN
The Firm offers contingency fees, advancing all costs of the litigation, and accepting the full financial risk, allowing our clients full access to the legal system while reducing the financial stress while they focus on their healthcare and financial needs.
The Dangers of Overloaded Trucks
Overloaded trucks and subsequent accidents, or accidents caused by excess truck weight are completely preventable. It is crucial that truck drivers and trucking companies take responsibility and observe the weight limits set forth in Ohio and across the country. Some of the many dangers an overloaded truck can pose to motorists include:
- Overloaded cargo may shift, making it more difficult for a truck to control the rig.
- Overloaded vehicles may speed up unintentionally when moving downhill, making it more difficult for the driver to brake.
- An overloaded truck may cause a bridge or road collapse.
- Too much weight can cause too much tire pressure and lead to tire blowouts.
- A truck that is overloaded and going uphill can experience trouble and stall.
- Overloading a truck raises its center of gravity and increases the chances of a rollover.
- Increase in weight increases the stopping distance for a vehicle.
- Too much weight on a vehicle’s suspension system can cause spring, shock or brake failure, handling or steering problems.
- Overloading a truck with under inflated tires may lead to tire failure.
Overloaded Truck Accidents
The most efficient way of determining the cause of a truck-related accident is to contact an experienced personal injury attorney who can investigate with the assistance of accident experts. If a serious injury or death has resulted, victims are likely to be compensated for various damages, medical costs, lost earnings, and pain and suffering.
Trucking employers and transport companies are accountable for their drivers and their on-road behavior. If trucking management or drivers overload their commercial vehicles, they can be liable for contributing to unsafe and dangerous roadways.
Truck Accident Lawsuit FAQ
Can I sue a Trucking Company?
Yes, filing a lawsuit following a trucking accident can help recover medical costs and other damages. A trucking company may be liable for a negligent driver, overloading cargo, failing to maintain vehicles, overworking drivers, and for other road violations.
When a truck is overloaded, a driver will have less control over their rig. With added weight, there will be less maneuverability and less ability to brake properly. The stopping distance will increase for any vehicle with added weight. If a rig is overloaded enough, the brakes may even fail. Tire blowouts will be more common as well with overloaded trucks.
Why Do Truckers Overload Cargo?
To maximize their load and profit, trucking companies often push the limits of safety with their cargo. Transportation companies overload their trucks intentionally or accidentally. But in the end, the result can be the same, because overloaded trucks pose a risk to Ohio motorists.
Trucking companies may take more risks than you are aware of, and when accidents and injuries occur, they must be help accountable for their actions.
What is an Excessive Truck Load?
As a plaintiff injured by a truck accident, you may require an attorney to recover driver logs and cargo records to determine if the truck in question was overloaded.
Trucking Negligence
Each year in Ohio and around the nation, there are thousands of road accidents involving heavy truck negligence. The vast majority of serious trucking accidents are preventable. Truck accidents are particularly deadly, due mostly to the size and weight of the vehicles in question.
Truck Accidents are often the result of a lack of driver training, defective truck components, poor truck maintenance, overloading truck, driver fatigue, tire blowouts or reckless driving. Regardless of the cause, transport companies can be held liable when accidents occur and motorists are injured by heavy truck negligence.
Joe Lyon is an experienced Cincinnati, Ohio Trucking Accident Attorney reviewing lawsuits and settlements involving heavy truck negligence. Contact The Lyon Firm for more information regarding legal action following a heavy truck accident.
The Lyon Firm has the resources and experience required to assist you in filing a road injury claim and lead you through a difficult legal process following a truck accident.
The Lyon Firm works to make America’s roads safer by holding transportation companies accountable for trucking accidents, overworked truck drivers, falsifying log books, overloaded vehicles, and reckless driving.
Truck Accident Lawsuits
Even with dozens of regulations set in traffic laws, thousands of truck accidents occur because of deliberate safety violations, impaired drivers, poor vehicle maintenance, defective truck tires, and instances of driver error.
The Lyon Firm can investigate complex road factors with the help of witness testimony, hard evidence, and expert assistance. Joe Lyon works with industry experts and is well-versed in gathering evidence to prove another party is negligent. Our goal is to ensure you are able to move forward with your life after a terrible and traumatic event.
The Lyon Firm is dedicated to making America’s roads safer for truck operators and other motorists by holding negligent drivers and and transportation companies liable for accidents and injuries.
If you have been injured as a result of a truck-related road accident in Ohio and Kentucky and want to file a claim, the Lyon Firm may be able to recover compensation for the following:
- Medical costs (past and future)
- Lost income
- Disfigurement
- Physical pain & Emotional and mental anguish
Why are these cases important?
Trucking employers and transport companies are accountable for their drivers and their on-road behavior. If trucking management overworks their drivers or is aware of their drowsy driving and fatigue, they can be liable for contributing to an unsafe working environment and dangerous roadways.
CONTACT THE LYON FIRM TODAY
Questions about Truck Accident Cases
Trucking companies and drivers may be negligent in their duties, and can be sued for endangering motorists and passengers on the road. A lawsuit against these companies for endangerment gains recovery for those who have suffered from negligence of drivers.
Yes, filing a lawsuit following a trucking accident can help recover medical costs and other damages. A trucking company may be liable for a negligent driver, overloading cargo, failing to maintain vehicles, overworking drivers, and for other road violations.
When a truck is overloaded, a driver will have less control over their rig. With added weight, there will be less maneuverability and less ability to brake properly. The stopping distance will increase for any vehicle with added weight. If a rig is overloaded enough, the brakes may even fail. Tire blowouts will be more common as well with overloaded trucks.
A report by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), found that U.S. motor vehicle deaths increased 7.7 percent nationwide in 2015. Driver fatigue is a likely cause for many of the accidents. The problem has become so serious that safety agencies have expanded their definitions of impaired driving to include drowsy drivers.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that in 2013, drowsy driving was responsible for 44,000 injuries, and 800 deaths.
These statistics are likely underestimated. When a crash occurs, most drowsy drivers do not report the cause due to concerns about insurance, employment or legal consequences. About 23 percent of adults say they know someone personally who has crashed due to falling asleep at the wheel. Approximately eleven million drivers admit they have had an accident or a near miss because they were too tired to drive.
Other common causes of Ohio accidents include:
- Vehicle brake problems
- Truck traveling too fast for conditions
- Driver unfamiliar with roadway
- Roadway problems
- Driver intoxicated with illegal or over-the-counter drugs
- Driver inattention
- Driver made illegal maneuver
- Driver distraction
- Truck tire problems
- Driver following too close
- Cargo overloading
- Driver intoxicated with alcohol
The best way to determine the cause of an accident you are involve in is to contact an experienced personal injury attorney to investigate with the assistance of accident experts. If a serious injury has resulted, victims are likely to be compensated for property damages, medical costs, lost past and future earnings, and pain and suffering.
Trucking employers and transport companies are accountable for their drivers and their on-road behavior. If trucking management overworks their drivers or is aware of their drowsy driving and fatigue, they can be liable for contributing to an unsafe working environment and dangerous roadways.
There are more than 15 million commercial trucks transporting over 70 percent of all U.S. goods every year. Commercial trucks—delivery tractor trailers, busses, big-rigs and semi-trucks—are very heavy and difficult vehicles to control. A small amount of inattention or fatigue can result in fatal accidents. If an accident occurs in part because a driver was fatigued, trucking companies and drivers may be liable for damages and sued for endangering other vehicle occupants on the road.
Driver fatigue, or physical or mental exertion that impairs performance, may be due to a lack of sleep, extended work hours, strenuous work or non-work activities, or substance related.
One study published by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration reported that 13 percent of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers were fatigued at the time of their last accident. The Truck Crash Causation Study reported over 12,000 commercial truck crashes over a span of about three years, which resulted in more than 249 deaths and 1,654 injuries.
To maximize their load and profit, trucking companies often push the limits of safety with their cargo. Transportation companies overload their trucks intentionally or accidentally. But in the end, the result can be the same, because overloaded trucks pose a risk to Ohio motorists.
Trucking companies may take more risks than you are aware of, and when accidents and injuries occur, they must be help accountable for their actions.
As a plaintiff injured by a truck accident, you may require an attorney to recover driver logs and cargo records to determine if the truck in question was overloaded.
Our Firm will help you find the answers. The Firm has the experience, resources and dedication to take on difficult and emotional cases and help our clients obtain the justice for the wrong they have suffered.
Experience: Joe Lyon is an experienced Cincinnati Personal Injury & Accident Lawyer. The Lyon Firm has 17 years of experience and success representing individuals and plaintiffs in all fifty states, and in a variety of complex civil litigation matters. Accident lawsuits can be complex and require industry experts to determine the root cause of an accident or injury. Mr. Lyon has worked with experts nationwide to assist individuals understand why an injury occurred and what can be done to improve their lives in the future. Some cases may go to a jury trial, though many others can be settled out of court.
Resources/Dedication: Mr. Lyon has worked with experts in the fields of accident reconstruction, biomechanics, epidemiology, metallurgy, pharmacology, toxicology, human factors, workplace safety, life care planning, economics, and virtually every medical discipline in successfully representing Plaintiffs across numerous areas of law. The Lyon Firm is dedicated to building the strongest cases possible for clients and their critical interests.
Results: Mr. Lyon has obtained numerous seven and six figure results in personal injury, automotive product liability, medical Negligence, construction accidents, and auto dealership negligence cases. The cases have involved successfully litigating against some of the largest companies in the world
Watch our Video About Subrogation in Auto Accidents
Tens of thousands of drivers and passengers are injured in large commercial truck crashes every year. U.S. truck drivers suffer a disproportionate number of injuries in motor vehicle crashes, and the number of deaths and injuries of innocent motorists in these accidents is five times larger. Common truck accident injuries include:
- Orthopedic Injuries
- Rollover Injuries
- Amputation
- Severe whiplash injuries
- Burn Injuries
- Spinal Cord Injuries
- Traumatic Brain Injuries
Our Victories
The Lyon Firm aggressively, professionally, and passionately advocates for injured individuals and families against negligent individuals or companies to obtain just compensation under the law.
DISTRACTED DRIVER
$1,000,000
(Brown County, Kentucky): Joseph Lyon was second chair a case involving a driver texting and driving when he crossed the median, killing a father of four. The case was resolved once discovery confirmed the cell phone records proved the texting-related incident. The settlement will pay for the surviving childrens’ education. The driver was likely facing additional criminal charges at the time of the settlement.
MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT
$495,000
(Cincinnati, Ohio): Joe Lyon was lead counsel in a $495,000 settlement. The case involved a motorcycle operator who sustained fractures of the calcaneus, talus, medial cuneiform, tarsal bones, and tarsometatarsal when a car ignored its driving lane and crossed into his right-of-way. Settlement provided repayment of medical bills of $20,000 and funds for future education to re-enter the work force in a less physically-demanding job.
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We will determine, together with you, what makes sense for the next step for you and your family to take.
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