ARI Insurance Companies was initially founded in 1879 as American Reliance Insurance Company. Its long tenure as an insurance agency has attracted much interest from other businesses wishing to expand and join forces; in 2016, the company did indeed join with another agency, AmTrust Financial Services. ARI Insurance provides multiple types of insurance to its customers, one of which is commercial insurance for businesses that have truck drivers on their payroll. Truck drivers must be properly insured, as their own personal insurance policies will not cover driving for money or for a company. In the event of an accident, you can take legal action against the insurance agency. Normandie Law Firm can provide you with an attorney who can fight ARI Insurance for a truck accident injury lawsuit.
Why Truck Accidents Happen
Truck accidents are common occurrences on freeways and interstates because of the reduced speed limit they must travel at and because of the sheer size of the vehicles. The trucks are often much harder to control and are not able to avoid accidents as cleanly and efficiently as many cars can. Truck drivers must take special courses to receive their commercial driving licenses (CDL), which goes to show the level of care and skill needed to operate the vehicles. We have included a list of reasons for truck accidents below.
- Driver Exhaustion: Many drivers elect to stay on the road for longer than is legally allowed (11 hours of a 14 hour period is the limit). They may have to make it to different businesses to drop off goods or meet deadlines, and the traffic the encountered during the day may make them feel like driving through the night will make up for lost time. The drivers may fall asleep behind the wheel and drift off the road, or they may not be able to react to other vehicles in time.
- Drunk driving: Too often, truck drivers will have alcohol during their drives. They may stop at local bars or have liquor with dinner, which can affect their inhibitions and cause them to have no control. Drunk driving is a serious issue with all kinds of drivers, and the problems amplify when the driver is operating such a large truck.
- Improperly Loaded Trailers: The trailers that are attached to trucks need to be properly loaded or filled. Sometimes, workers will stack all the materials in the trailer at the rear, which can lead to weight distribution problems and the trailer will tip over in certain turns or when any impact is made. Further, any trailers that are uncovered should not be overfilled. If there are also other items being transported, like construction vehicles or lumber or pipes, there should be ample warnings and hazard signs on the truck.
- Road defects: Potholes, sharp turns, steep hills, sudden driveways, and other issues on the road can all increase the chances of an accident occurring. Not every driver is familiar with the area and knows what to look out for and avoid, and if some defects are hidden, the truck driver can crash.
- Weather issues: Snow, fog, sleet, rain, storms, and other inclement weather can all affect a truck driver’s visibility and lead to crashes. These weather problems are more dangerous if they occur at night.
- Truck defects: All trucks should be examined before the drivers go on long treks. There may be issues with the tires, hitches, brakes, engines, headlights, taillights, and more. A defect with the truck can cause severe crashes.
- Careless driving: Truck drivers may speed, run red lights, follow too closely, run stop signs, take prohibited roads, turn without signaling, and more. These careless actions can cause other drivers to swerve out of the way, or truck drivers may simply initiate the crashes.
In addition, other drivers may not know how to drive around trucks. They may pass on the right, tailgate, and more. It is hard for some drivers to maneuver around the vehicles, and you should always be extremely cautious.
If you have been involved in an accident, contact a Los Angeles lawyer for accident injury claim with ARI Insurance.
Procedure After A Truck Accident
Victims of truck accidents should do all they can to stay safe after an incident and to get the necessary help for their injuries. If you have been hurt, your first order of business should be medical assistance. You may have suffered any kinds of injuries, and the paramedics or emergency room doctors can treat you. Even if you feel you were not injured, you should still get treatment; some injuries may be hidden due to adrenaline. Moreover, if you wait too long to get treatment, the insurance agent can claim that you were hurt elsewhere or that you were not that injured to begin with.
You should hold on to any receipts and medical notes from the doctor so that you can prove the course of treatment and how much money you paid for the services.
It is also very necessary that you gather as much proof of the accident as possible. You can take pictures of your injuries, the damage done to the vehicles involved, the scene of the accident, and more. You may also wish to take videos if you can. If the accident occurred near a business or populated area, you may be able to request surveillance camera footage to add to your claim.
Bystanders and passengers of other vehicles may have seen the incident happen. You can request their statements or written testimonies to be added to your evidence, as numerous perspectives and support will benefit your claim.
The truck driver’s insurance information and contact details should also be collected, as you will need to specifically target that company for your claim. If you do not get this information, it will be very hard to locate the driver and file your lawsuit.
The police may come to the scene of the accident; if they do, you can request a copy of the police report after they have interviewed everyone and drawn conclusions. They may also choose to charge the truck driver, and the presence of these charges could be used to show that the trucker was at fault.
Finally, you should find an attorney in Los Angeles who can sue ARI Insurance for a truck accident. If you do not have an attorney, you may not have the ability to collect your rightful restitution, and the insurance agent will reject your claim.
Too often, individuals will forget to collect evidence or will not go to the doctor. You should follow the procedure for the best chance of success with your claim, and contact a lawyer that can sue ARI Insurance for a truck accident injury.
Truck Accident Lawsuit Restitution
Injuries suffered in a truck accident should be fully paid off. The value of your case will be determined by the insurance agent handling it. He will look at your injuries and how serious they were, as well as how negligent you were in the incident. If you were not that badly hurt, you likely won’t receive a large settlement offer. However, if you were left with a permanent alteration to your daily life and career and if you were an unwitting victim in the incident, your offer may be quite large. Our lawyers for ARI Insurance injury claims will make sure you receive:
- Medical bill coverage for surgery, hospitalization, medication, rehabilitation, and future treatments
- Property damage for any lost or damaged belongings or vehicular damage
- Lost income for days of missed work and future missed earnings
- Pain and suffering for emotional trauma, PTSD, fear, anxiety, and more
We will also make sure that you are paid wrongful death damages to cover funeral and burial fees, loss of consortium, pre-death medical bills and pain and suffering, and more if a family member or loved one died in the truck accident. Our lawyers with experience in truck accident cases against ARI Insurance will be more than willing to fight tooth and nail for the maximum compensation you deserve.
Verdicts and Settlements from Truck Accident Lawsuits
Individuals often call our law firm that can file a lawsuit against ARI Insurance for a truck accident and want to know the relative value of their cases. They want to know if their claims are worth a lot of a little, and what they can do to increase the worth. There is no calculator that allows individuals to know the exact worth of their claims. Instead, you can look at similar verdicts and settlements to determine how much money is often awarded in these cases. Bear in mind that these are merely examples and do not indicate the definite amount you would receive if you were to pursue a claim.
- $675,000 Settlement: A woman was at an intersection when a truck made a wide left turn across the lanes of traffic. She could not avoid the collision and wound up suffering numerous fractures to her wrist, ribs, and back. She also sustained a closed head injury and developed a mood disorder after the incident. The driver was found negligent in his actions and the insurance company paid a hefty settlement.
- $3,500,000 Settlement: A man on a motorcycle was traveling on the freeway when a truck driver in a waste disposal truck pulled across his lane without signaling. The motorcycle driver could not stop and tried to avoid impact by laying down, but he fatefully rolled beneath the wheels of the truck and was crushed. The truck driver did not see the motorcyclist, and to make matters worse, was driving with restrictions on his license. The man’s family sued for wrongful death damages and won.
- $1,500,000 Settlement: An older man was driving his motorcycle on the highway. A truck driver did not signal as it entered his lane and proceeded to push him off the road and into the center concrete barrier separating the directions of traffic. The man, who was in his 60s, died at the scene of the accident. His family filed a wrongful death claim against the truck driver and the company and successfully acquired damages for the incident.
For more details, call a Los Angeles truck accident attorney that can sue ARI Insurance.
The Firm for You
The best law firm to sue ARI Insurance for a truck accident is Normandie Law Firm. We can provide you with the best attorney for ARI Insurance truck accident claims and will not stop pursuing everything you deserve. If you are in need of a lawyer for ARI Insurance truck accident lawsuit, look no further. Our attorneys have decades of combined experience and we have the most successful methods for winning your claim.
Call an injury lawyer for truck accident claim against ARI Insurance to set up a free legal consultation. We are available around the clock and will gladly answer all of your questions and concerns. We will also give you more details about our zero fee guarantee, which promises that we won’t get paid until and unless we win your case, and the money will come from the insurance company’s settlement. If we lose, we don’t get paid at all.
Further, we employ bilingual attorneys. Our lawyers speak Spanish, so if you need a Spanish speaking truck accident attorney, we can provide you with one.
Get in touch with Normandie Law Firm today to speak with a lawyer who is experienced with truck accident cases with ARI Insurance.
