Representing St. Louis Truck Accident Victims

Everywhere you look on Interstate 70 or other major highways running through the St. Louis and Metro East areas, you will see large commercial trucks. Many trucks travel through the Gateway to the West, whether they are stopping to make deliveries in the metropolitan area or just passing through on the way to their destinations. Unfortunately, these trucks cause crashes in Missouri that injure motorists regularly.

An accident involving a tractor-trailer or commercial truck is usually much more complicated than a car crash. Large trucks and commercial motor vehicles are subject to complex federal regulations and must carry substantial personal injury liability insurance. To recover financial damages after a St. Louis truck crash, one has to understand the reasons for trucking accidents and the relationships among the driver, the owner, the leasing company, and the company connected to the cargo of the truck.

If you’re involved in a truck accident in Missouri, it’s important to contact an attorney who knows the intricacies of the trucking industry, including the current federal regulations. Corporate fleet owners often have teams of risk management attorneys and accident specialists ready to suppress evidence and hinder your financial recovery.

Attorneys with specific experience handling truck accidents have resources available that can help prove unlawful or negligent behavior on the part of the trucking company or truck driver. It may be necessary to hire an accident reconstructionist or trucking industry expert to help prove your case. The large majority of truck accident cases end in settlement, and a truck accident attorney in St. Louis can take steps to ensure that you end up with the full compensation that you need and deserve.

If you or a loved one suffered injuries in an accident with a commercial truck, St. Louis personal injury attorney Christopher Dixon may be able to help. Contact The Dixon Injury Firm today.

The Dangers of Tractor-Trailer Accidents

Carrying the weight of the U.S. economy, tractor-trailers transport nearly 70 percent of all freight moved in the United States annually. Millions of trucks share the roadway with passenger vehicles, logging in more than 300 billion miles traveled every year. With this many trucks operating in the United States, it’s no surprise there are nearly 500,000 truck accidents involving tractor-trailers annually, resulting in about 5,000 deaths. Every sixteen minutes, someone suffers injuries or dies in a tractor-trailer-related crash.

Tractor-trailers typically weigh between 50,000 and 80,000 lbs. More than 20 times the weight of the average sedan, tractor-trailers require 40 percent longer to come to a complete stop. A fully loaded tractor-trailer traveling at 65 mph requires more than 500 feet to stop; that’s over the length of a football field. With an average length of 70 feet, these massive vehicles lack the maneuverability of smaller cars, making it difficult to avoid hazards on the road such as other accidents or debris.

Because of the sheer size and weight of tractor-trailers, significant damage almost always occurs to the passenger vehicle involved in a crash. In fact, reports show that 98 percent of related deaths occur to the occupants of the passenger vehicle. Even low-speed truck accidents can result in devastating personal injuries and fatalities due to this inherent weight differential.

Common Causes of Truck Accidents

The Large Truck Causation Study performed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration revealed the true causes of large truck accidents. The research included 1,127 large trucks and 959 motor vehicles. There were 251 deaths in these and 1,408 reported injuries.

The study revealed the following notable insights into why these accidents happen, most of which involved driver errors or mechanical failures:

  • The use of drugs was responsible for 26 percent of the accidents. This includes prescription drugs and illegal drugs that affected the driver’s reaction time. Drugged driving is an enormous problem across the United States.
  • Speeding was a factor in 23 percent of truck accidents. The force of impact from an 80,000-pound truck increases with speed.
  • Truck drivers are often unfamiliar with the areas they travel, and 22 percent of the accidents involved a driver that was not familiar with the road.
  • In 14 percent of the accidents, at least one cause was the driver’s failure to check blind spots.
  • Truck driver fatigue was present in 13 percent of the accidents.
  • It is not unusual for a driver to forget safety measures. In nine percent of the accidents, the driver failed to use a turn signal.
  • According to the study, eight percent of the accidents involved distracted driving.
  • Big trucks are difficult to maneuver, and seven percent of the accidents were the result of drivers who underestimated the level of evasive action needed.
  • Aggressive driving was present in seven percent of the accidents.

Additionally, brake system failures, poor tire maintenance, and drunk driving contribute to numerous large truck crashes each year. Claimants might demand damages from negligent drivers, truck owners, and parts manufacturers for injuries sustained in 18-wheeler collisions.

Proving Negligence in a Truck Accident

The above statistics indicate that most truck accidents result from driver mistakes, including general carelessness. However, some crashes happen due to product defects, roadway hazards, or reckless conduct. Each accident’s specific facts determine whether injured claimants should bring negligence, product liability, gross negligence (recklessness), premises liability, and/or wrongful death litigation.

Many truck accident victims have multiple claims against negligent drivers, their employers, truck manufacturers, and/or fleet owners. Experienced St. Louis semi-truck crash lawyers might help their clients identify any underlying unlawful conduct and demand appropriate damages. In most cases, injury attorneys recommend filing negligence litigation against liable parties.

A commercial truck driver isn’t always the at-fault driver, but when they are, the damage can be catastrophic. Proving negligence is the overall goal of a truck accident lawyer in most cases. You determine negligence by determining who is at fault with provable evidence.

Claimants must typically show that the truck driver violated specific rules of the road, most commonly:

  • Speeding
  • Texting and other distracted driving
  • Following too closely
  • Traveling too fast for conditions
  • Failure to obey traffic control devices
  • Impaired driving
  • Unsafe lane changes

They must show that this violation resulted in their injuries. Proving that truck drivers violated Missouri vehicle and traffic laws, including specific St. Louis ordinances applicable to commercial vehicles, or federal trucking regulations could result in accelerated negligence per se judgments.

Additionally, attorneys may recommend filing gross negligence (recklessness) claims if the truck driver drove while under the influence of drugs/alcohol, engaged in two or more dangerous safety violations, or intentionally forged hourly service logs.

Due to the prevalence of fatigued driving among long-haul truck operators, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has mandatory hours of service limitations.

These generally include:

  • The 11/13-Hour Driving Limit – Commercial truck drivers cannot operate their vehicles for more than 11 hours under normal conditions and 13 hours in weather or heavy traffic conditions. This limit resets after drivers take ten consecutive hours off-duty, which must generally include sleeping.
  • The 14/16-Hour Driving Window – Tractor-trailer operators only have 14 total hours to drive the designated 11 hours (they add two hours if drivers encounter hazardous conditions). After 14 hours, the driver must take a designated 10-hour break even if he only drove for six hours that day.
  • The 60/70-Hour Weekly Limit – Long-haul truck drivers cannot drive for more than 60 hours in a 7-day workweek or 70 hours in an eight-day workweek. These limitations reset only when drivers have at least 34 hours off.
  • The 30-Minute Break Provision – Drivers must take at least a 30-minute break after driving for eight consecutive hours without interruption.

Semi-truck operators must keep detailed logs of their compliance with these hours of service regulations, which experienced St. Louis truck accident lawyers may request immediately following collisions. In some cases, truck drivers reveal that employers indirectly encourage their drivers to violate hourly service regulations and forge logbooks to increase profit margins and reduce delivery time.

18-Wheeler Accidents and Infrastructure Damage

The FMCSA requires truck owners to carry between $750,000 and $5,000,000 worth of incident insurance depending on the vehicle’s size, weight, and freight. These limits exist because of the excessive infrastructural damage and mass casualty accidents often caused after 18-wheeler crashes.

In recent years, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York asked the Department of Transportation to investigate the connection between commercial truck bridge accidents and GPS systems. The use of GPS navigational devices is popular among truck drivers, but they are of great concern as truck-bridge strikes are increasing. Bridge strikes can cause traffic to slam into the back of the trucks and cause damage to the bridges above, which can cause millions in infrastructural damage and dangerous chain-reaction collisions.

Many truckers follow the route suggested by a GPS device and ignore warning signs of low-clearance bridges. This often occurs when drivers use personal GPS devices, including phone applications, instead of designated commercial GPS systems. Sometimes, low-budget employers or contracting parties refuse to provide truckers with up-to-date commercial GPS systems.

It is becoming increasingly difficult for our transportation infrastructure, including bridges, tunnels, and multi-lane highways, to support bigger trucks. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials showed that many ramps on even interstate highways were unable to accommodate the off-tracking width of tractor-trailers, forcing semi-trucks to intrude into the traffic lanes used by cars.

Smaller passenger vehicles often cannot avoid merging trucks, especially because they’re frequently in blind spots. Such accidents involving trucks are a serious concern because they can often be deadly. The Study of Characteristics and Evaluations of Factors Associated with Large Truck Crashes found that eighty-one percent of truck accidents resulted in a fatality.

Truck Accident Lawyer in STL
Chris Dixon & Greg Motil, St. Louis Truck Accident Lawyers

Talk to Our Truck Accident Lawyers in St. Louis and the Metro East Today

If you have been the victim of a commercial truck accident and need a lawyer to assess your case, you will need real-time assistance. This is why you’ll want The Dixon Injury Firm by your side. We can help you gather copies of the negligent truck driver’s driving logs, onboard recording devices, and evidence from the accident so we can file a claim against the at-fault driver and the trucking company.

To begin, call us at (314) 208-2808 and schedule your free case review. We are always here to help.

Our dedicated St. Louis truck accident lawyers often handle:

Accidents involving any vehicles regulated by the FMCSA, including HAZMAT trucks, buses, large work vehicles, flatbed trucks, tractor-trailers, 18-wheelers, and transporters may require the assistance of experienced St. Louis commercial vehicle accident attorneys.

Who Is Liable If I Suffered Injuries in a Collision With a Commercial Truck?

Motor vehicle accident cases are complex, but truck accidents present even more legal challenges. Many factors determine who is at fault following tractor-trailer accidents. Since truck crashes often result in serious injuries to the motorist, often with little or no harm to the truck driver, many injured motorists consider the truck driver completely responsible. However, multiple parties may bear financial liability for St. Louis and Metro East truck crashes. Consider the following potential avenues of recovery against careless individuals and/or entities.

The Truck Driver

If you suffer injuries in a collision with a commercial truck, a court will only hold the truck driver liable under situations in which you can prove negligence.

These commonly include:

  • The truck driver drove in an erratic way that violated state traffic laws
  • The truck driver was distracted and not paying attention to the road
  • The truck driver was impaired by drugs, alcohol, or excessive fatigue
  • The truck had a mechanical problem (potentially supporting direct truck owner or parts manufacturer liability)
  • The truck driver was drowsy or violated hours of service laws

Long-haul truck drivers work hard, but most cannot fairly compensate claimants for the serious injuries resulting from large truck collisions. As such, most claims against negligent 18-wheeler operators settle with commercial liability insurers. Furthermore, even if the truck driver clearly caused the accident, the following third parties could also be liable.

The Truck Driver’s Employer and/or Truck Owner

Under a legal principle called vicarious liability, employers are liable for their employees’ tortious conduct. This includes driver negligence. Proof that the truck driver negligently or recklessly caused your injuries is typically enough to hold his employer liable for all your financial damages. Vicarious liability also covers the truck’s registered owner if different from the driver’s employer. However, employers may bear direct liability for truck accidents if they encouraged the driver to violate federal safety provisions or neglected to perform necessary vehicle maintenance. Trucking companies are often negligent for improper training or hiring dangerous drivers who should not be on the road in the first place.

Trucking Companies and Cargo Loaders

In some cases, truck drivers operate as independent contractors and not employees. Trucking companies and distributors may contract with the driver and vehicle owner to avoid vicarious liability and high commercial insurance premiums. However, experienced injury attorneys might hold evasive trucking companies liable for giving the truck driver back-to-back assignments that resulted in driver fatigue, or the cargo loaders could be liable for failing to load the truck properly, causing it to swerve too heavily on one side when turning a corner. These cargo accidents often result in dangerous jackknifing incidents when the tractor and trailer fall out of sync and block multiple lanes.

Public Entities

Commercial truck accidents that happen, even in part, due to failing or poorly designed infrastructure may support negligence claims against municipal entities. For example, injured claimants might demand damages from the State of Missouri, through the Missouri Department of Transportation, by invoking the state’s tort claims liability (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.610). Individual claimants may recover up to $300,000 if public liability significantly contributed to large truck accidents in St. Louis.

However, special administrative procedures and accelerated notice deadlines apply to these claims. Illinois also has special rules if a public entity contributed to your truck crash in St. Clair County or Madison County. While claimants normally have five years from the date of accident or three years from the date of death to file litigation following truck accidents, shorter timeframes generally apply to public claims. It’s important to connect with local truck accident counsel immediately if evidence indicates failed infrastructure or dangerous roadway designs contributed to a St. Louis tractor-trailer crash.

Truck and Parts Manufacturers

Tractor-trailers require expensive commercial braking systems, multiple axles, blind-spot safety monitors, and over a dozen wheels to operate effectively. These commercial parts must function as marketed for their specific purposes, like to safely stop 80,000-pound trucks, and often require weekly maintenance. Long-haul truck drivers must even perform tire safety checks during most trips. Passengers injured by tire blowouts or brake failures might sue drivers and employers for failing to perform safety checks, truck owners for failing to perform standard maintenance, and even vehicle manufactures and dealers for selling dangerous parts (product liability claims).

Third-Party Drivers

Inexperienced drivers often panic when they witness large trucks trying to merge onto highways. They may suddenly change lanes, enter the truck’s blind spots, or attempt to go around the truck in such cases. This erratic behavior often leads to chain-reaction crashes involving large trucks and other vehicles. You might hold third-party drivers jointly liable for causing such accidents in St. Louis.

Damages You Can Receive After a Truck Accident

Most viable truck accident cases settle with commercial vehicle insurers within policy limits. Federal and state law mandates higher than average bodily injury policies—at least $750,000 for trucks versus $25,000 for cars—due to the overwhelmingly serious and fatal injuries frequently associated with large truck crashes.

These conditions commonly include:

These primary conditions frequently lead to serious secondary concerns, including infections, fibromyalgia, bedsores, muscle weakness, cognitive decline, and depression. Both victims and their families suffer when negligent truck drivers cause life-altering injuries.

Like most truck accident cases, you can claim damages.

Here’s a brief list of the different compensation you can win in truck accidents:

  • Current and future accident-related medical expenses and rehabilitation
  • Any property damage to the vehicle or other possessions
  • Lost wages and the loss of future earning potential
  • Pain and suffering due to long-term physical and emotional damage
  • General damages such as pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and loss of companionship
  • The severity and implications of your injuries

The above damages represent the most common financial losses incurred following serious truck crashes. They include the claimant’s economic losses, generally consisting of out-of-pocket medical costs, lost income and benefits, and caretaker charges, and non-economic (pain and suffering) damages. Seriously injured claimants often report that the emotional trauma associated with their injuries far outweighs their direct damages.

For this reason, Missouri allows truck accident victims to demand compensation for their physical pain, frustration, discomfort, inconvenience, emotional anguish, lost hobbies, and overall lost enjoyment of life. Victims may demand financial settlements for past damages and future anticipated expenses stemming from the crash. Experienced St. Louis truck accident lawyers often retain medical, occupational, and economic experts to calculate the lifetime impact and value of these claims. Commercial insurers frequently settle tractor-trailer accident cases after reviewing the true extent of your financial entitlements.

The amount of compensation you can get in a truck accident varies. It depends on general and special damages, but keep in mind, you may be able to sue the driver’s employer. The damages you can claim stem from the above bullet point list, though there are other factors at play. If an insurer refuses to pay and the claim escalates to a case, a jury might find a victim’s injuries or the implications of those injuries to be worth much more than originally proposed in a demand letter.

General Types of Tractor-Trailer Accidents

Understanding how the truck accident occurred often helps prove your entitlement to damages. Many accidents do not occur without associated negligence, and experts can use evidence to reconstruct the event and determine the crash’s main cause. Be advised that liable insurance adjusters and risk management lawyers, especially those protecting high-value policies, may manipulate the crash facts to avoid liability. They often attempt to convince claimants that irrelevant factors, such as the music you were playing, contributed to the crash and reduce your overall entitlement to damages.

While specifics may vary, most crashes involving tractor-trailers fall into one of six categories:

  1. Turns: Trucks require ample time and space during turns—often, neither is available.
  2. Underrides: Drivers of passenger vehicles might not stop in time, causing an underride.
  3. Stopped trucks: Others can strike stopped or broken-down trucks.
  4. Rear-end collisions: Trucks need ample time to stop. Tractor-trailers can rear-end slowed or suddenly stopped vehicles.
  5. Improper maneuvers: Failure to stay within a lane, failure to stop/yield, failure to use a turn signal.
  6. Cargo shifts: Improperly or overloading a truck can cause a truck to overturn or jackknife.

Law-abiding drivers are not generally responsible for failing to recognize and avoid these dangerous truck accidents; although, adjusters may state otherwise. Drivers do not share liability with truck drivers simply because they lawfully operated their vehicles in potential blind spots, stopped short for sudden traffic, or were unable to allow trucks to merge onto highways. 

While you can never prevent all crashes, there are many things we can do as drivers to help avoid collisions with tractor-trailers, such as:

  • Keep a safe distance: Refrain from tailgating or cutting off a tractor-trailer.
  • Stay visible: Tractor-trailers have large blind spots—if you cannot see the driver, they cannot see you.
  • Turn signals: Always use your turn signal and never changes lanes abruptly.
  • Give trucks wider berth: Trucks need more time to accelerate and have upwards of nine gears to shift through.
  • Avoid road rage: Never instigate road rage or retaliate.
  • Pull completely off the road: In the case of an emergency, pull completely off the road and use your hazard lights to alert other drivers.

Truck accidents cost Americans nearly $20 billion each year, and the average cost of a tractor-trailer crash is estimated to be $59,000 per case. This generally represents the cost of expensive vehicle repairs and basic medical care for soft tissue injuries such as whiplash. Claimants suffering from catastrophic injuries, including disabling back and neck pain, often incur six- or seven-figure damages following St. Louis truck crashes.

Knowledgeable injury attorneys may loosely estimate the direct and maximize insurance value of your truck accident claims. If the cost of your injuries exceeds available insurance, you might sue negligent truck owners, employers, and corporations for the balance of your damages.

Additional Factors Contributing to St. Louis Truck Accidents

Truck crashes happen due to a combination of factors. One of the factors is the lack of another driver’s understanding of how to share the road with big trucks. Trucks carry large loads; the cargo may shift and cause jackknifing and rollovers. Cargo that falls off the truck can cause accidents, and it is extremely important for trucking companies to properly secure their load.

Adverse weather conditions can also contribute to 18-wheeler accidents, which is why federal regulations give drivers an additional two service hours to encourage careful vehicle operation or emergency stops. Braking and controlling a truck is difficult when there is ice on the road. Snow, rain, and fog decrease visibility. Studies found that a large number of truck accidents involve inexperienced drivers.

Mechanical problems are also a cause of truck accidents. Semi-trucks need significantly more maintenance than other cars due to the constant long distances trucks travel. Many companies and drivers fail to properly check trucks for potential mechanical issues.

The Dixon Injury Firm’s Truck Accident Lawyers Answer Your Questions

How Do Truck Investigations Work?

Like any type of traffic crash, you need to determine the cause of your truck crash to seek compensation. Commercial trucking is a complicated industry, and commercial trucks are highly complex machines. Many federal regulations could come into play, and it is necessary to have someone with experience handling your truck accident investigations.

Investigations have two purposes—to identify liable parties and gather evidence to support your claim of liability.

Some aspects of a truck crash investigation are below.

  • Black box – Commercial trucks should have “black boxes” that are event data recorders similar to those on a train or airplane. This black box can show the speed, braking activity, and other information about the truck driver’s operation before the accident. Often, a trucking industry expert will need to analyze the data from the black box to help put together what happened.
  • Truck cameras – Many trucking companies are installing cameras in truck cabs, some of which face the road in front of the truck and others that face the truck driver. These cameras can capture what was happening on the road before the crash, such as obstacles in the road, the truck driver suddenly braking, and more. The inward-facing cameras can reveal whether a driver was distracted or engaging in other dangerous behaviors. Obtaining this footage from the trucking company can be critical to your case.
  • Witness interviews – Often, other drivers in the area witness the truck crash happening, and they can help shed light on how the truck driver was operating the big rig before it crashed. A witness might state the trucker was tailgating and then crashed into the back of your car, or the truck driver changed lanes when it was unsafe to do so. Witnesses can be beneficial to your claim.
  • Citations and violations – If the police issued any citations to the truck driver for violating traffic laws or federal regulations, you would need to gather that information. Obtaining the police report can help to shed light on any misconduct by the truck driver or the officer’s opinion about what caused the crash.
  • Surveillance footage – There are cameras everywhere throughout the St. Louis area, and if a surveillance camera captured the crash happening, we could obtain that footage. This is highly persuasive evidence, as the insurance company or jury can see what happened with their own eyes instead of relying on your word or the recounts of witnesses.
  • Accident reconstruction – Our firm has a network of experts who can help with investigations, including accident reconstruction experts. They can review the scene and all evidence available and help to decipher the cause of the crash.
  • Trucking accident records – It is also important to review records from the trucking company, including the driver’s delivery logs, shift records, employment records, and more. These can shed light on whether the driver violated hours of service restrictions or if the company negligently hired or retained the truck driver.

As soon as you hire us to handle your truck accident case, we can begin the investigation process. This includes sending a notice to the trucking company to ensure it does not destroy incriminating records or evidence. This is only one reason why you should not delay in seeking our help after your crash in the St. Louis area.

How Do You File a Truck Accident Claim?

Once we determine who should be liable for your truck accident, we can begin the claim process. This includes filing insurance claims with all proper parties—possibly with the truck driver and trucking company—and providing evidence to support your claim.

You claim must:

  • Properly assert liability for the crash
  • Demand the right amount of damages for your losses, which we can calculate

Once we file the claim, we handle all communications with insurance adjusters. This ensures that you do not accidentally say something that the insurance adjuster could misinterpret to limit your financial recovery.

Once the adjuster makes a settlement offer, we will advise you whether the offer is adequate. If not, we can negotiate with the insurance company and provide additional evidence if needed to obtain a higher offer.

If an adequate offer does not happen, we can prepare a personal injury lawsuit to file in civil court. This can give us leverage and often leads the insurance company to favorably settle the matter out of court to avoid going to trial.

Does It Make a Difference if My Truck Accident Happened in Missouri or Illinois?

Yes, it certainly does matter whether your accident happened in one state or another. Even though Missouri and Illinois are right across the river from one another and share the St. Louis metro area, the two states have different laws regarding personal injury claims.

First, Missouri allows you five years to file an injury lawsuit, while Illinois only allows you two years to file a claim. This makes a huge difference in your case. Other laws that can vary involve comparative fault, punitive damage caps, and more. Because our firm handles injury claims on both sides of the river, we know which state law to apply to your truck accident case.

Further, the location of your accident will determine what court will oversee a lawsuit if you have to file one. All courts have particular procedures and rules, and you want an attorney who is familiar with the court involved in your case, should your claim make it to that stage of the process.

That said, our lawyers know the laws and can practice law in both states. You can call us regardless of where in Illinois or Missouri you live or where your accident took place, and we’ll see what we can do to help you.

Will Your Truck Accident Claim Go to Court?

When you get ready to take on a trucking company in an injury claim, you might imagine that you will need to testify in court. However, most truck accident victims do not have to go to trial, as their lawyers successfully settle their cases out of court.

We know that trial is stressful for you—when you are already dealing with so much—so we work to resolve your matter before trial whenever possible. That said, if the insurance company is only making lowball offers, we will not hesitate to bring a strong case in front of the jury to decide.

If you do need to tell your story to a jury, we will thoroughly prepare you for this experience. We work to provide the support you need to successfully tell your version of events without any unnecessary stress or surprises. While you might want to avoid going to court, it is sometimes worth doing so to ensure you receive maximum compensation for your injuries from the trucking company.

Chris Dixon STL Personal Injury Lawyer
Chris Dixon, STL Truck Accident Lawyer

What if I Don’t Have Money to Hire a St. Louis Truck Accident Lawyer?

Another fear that many truck accident victims might have is that they cannot afford to hire a lawyer. You might know you need additional help going up against a truck corporation and its insurance company, but you might put off calling law firms since you do not think you have the funds to hire an experienced lawyer. There is good news for those in this situation.

While some lawyers—such as divorce or estate planning lawyers—might charge costly fees upfront for their services, this is not the case for trusted personal injury law firms. We know that injured truck accident victims often do not have the funds to pay a large retainer or hourly fees. This is why we take cases on a contingency fee basis.

Contingency fees mean:

  • We evaluate your case and answer your questions for free
  • If you choose to hire us, you do not have to pay anything upfront
  • Our firm can cover the costs of investigating and filing your claim
  • If we fail to secure a settlement or award for you, we receive no fees
  • If we obtain financial recovery for you, our fees come straight from your settlement or award

This arrangement means that you never need to come up with money from your own pocket. If you have a successful case, our fees are a percentage of your recovery, which you will know and agree to before we even begin representation. There are no surprises and no requirements that you come up with large sums of money just to have the legal help you deserve.

The Benefits of Retaining the Dedicated Truck Crash Lawyers at The Dixon Injury Firm

Unlike passenger vehicle collisions, which normally involve between $25,000 and $100,000 worth of auto insurance, commercial truck accident cases can result in multi-million dollar settlements or verdicts. Risk management attorneys and insurance adjusters vigorously defend these claims and often convince struggling victims or grieving families to accept lowball settlements.

Claimants without dedicated truck accident lawyers do not generally receive fair settlement offers following large truck crashes in St. Louis or Illinois. Sometimes insurers even “delete” necessary evidence, including black box data and pre-repair photographs, before claimants obtain injury lawyers.

Do not let commercial insurers and their attorneys take advantage of you following devastating St. Louis truck accidents. Eligible claimants might retain dedicated truck accident counsel without any upfront or out-of-pocket costs, as our injury lawyers accept cases on a contingency fee basis. This means we don’t charge consultation fees or get paid unless we win your case. Our firm might even front the court costs, expert witness expenses, and accident investigator fees necessary to maximize the value of your truck accident claims.

Whether a tractor-trailer sideswiped your car, a cement truck rear-ended you, or unsecured cargo fell off a truck and hit your vehicle, we can determine if you can recover needed financial damages following St. Louis truck accidents.

Schedule a free and confidential case analysis with our truck crash injury team today by calling (314) 208-2808 or contacting us online.

The Dixon Injury Firm
9666 Olive Blvd #202,
St. Louis, MO 63132
Phone:(314) 208-2808

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