The physics involved in any vehicle accident can lead to people suffering catastrophic injuries. This makes the situation all the more tragic when such harm could have been prevented. If you're preparing to file a claim or a lawsuit in relation to such an incident, it's worth looking at the issues in the case the same way a lawyer would.
Causation
The first major question is about whether a clear line can be drawn from one driver's inaction or actions and the events that ensued. For example, someone who blows through a 4-way stop without slowing down or looking both ways can be seen as the proximate cause of an accident at an intersection. Is that really the case, though, if there was a long patch of untreated ice on the road and they tried to brake?
Causation can get tricky. It's unwise to not take care of the brakes on an 18-wheeler, but failing to do so might not factor into some cases. On the other hand, a trucking company's logs might show a pattern of poor maintenance. That would make the issue relevant in a larger context in the view of many truck accident attorneys.
Someone Worth Suing
It might feel crass to look at an incident through this filter, but auto accident attorneys do want to be paid. Following a collision with an uninsured driver, for example, there may just not be a party that's worth pushing a claim against. Instead, the victim in such an accident would likely spend most of their effort working to advance a claim with their own insurance company.
There are certainly cases where it may be necessary to retain counsel to go after your own insurance carrier. If they're disputing whether you have the right to claim catastrophic damages beyond a certain limit, a common problem in no-fault insurance states, you might end up litigating the matter even though it's your insurer.
In trucking cases that go to trial, attorneys frequently choose to paint a rig's driver in a fairly sympathetic light. This is because they want a jury's focus to be on the parties that have money: the fleet operator and its insurance provider.
Physics
Many auto and trucking collision cases boil down to physics problems. Expert testimony is often useful in these cases, and auto accident attorneys want to know they can explain incidents to insurance adjusters and jurors in an accessible manner.
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