Gulfport Truck Accident Attorney

If you were in a truck accident in Gulfport, MS, and the truck driver is to blame, you deserve accountability and financial relief for your harm and loss. Let a Gulfport truck accident lawyer from Haug, Farrar, Franco & Ruiz, PLLC, fight for your rights and interests. Our legal team has years of experience filing large truck accident claims in Gulfport. 

We take the time to prepare every case we handle for trial. Even though most truck accident claims are settled, our thorough preparation enables us to present the strongest argument for the maximum compensation. You can expect professional, knowledgeable, reliable, and honest legal representation and client service at our firm.

When you’ve suffered injuries and property damage in an accident with a commercial truck, you need legal help to stand up to the trucking companies and insurers. Contact Haug, Farrar, Franco & Ruiz, PLLC, for a free, no-obligation initial case review. You’ll learn how experienced legal representation for truck accident cases can help you secure compensation for your medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and vehicle repairs.

What Is Considered a Truck in Mississippi?

The Mississippi Department of Public Safety recognizes various configurations of commercial trucks, including:

• Single-unit/box trucks
• Truck tractors
• Truck/trailers (single-unit truck pulling a trailer)
• Tanker trucks
• Flatbed trucks
• Dump trucks
• Concrete trucks
• Auto transporters
• Garbage trucks
• Pole/log trucks
• Intermodal trucks
• Towing trucks
• Fire trucks

State law defines a truck tractor as a motor vehicle designed and used to draw other vehicles and carry loads other than a part of the vehicle with a gross vehicle weight of more than 10,000 pounds. The law also defines a semitrailer as a trailer-type vehicle designed and used with a truck tractor.

What Are Common Commercial Truck Accidents in Mississippi?

Commercial trucks are involved in various accidents. Some of the most common types of large truck accidents include:

• Sideswipe collisions, where a truck bumps or grinds along the side of an adjacent vehicle
• Side-impact or T-bone collisions
• Rear-end collisions
• Head-on or front-end collisions
• Underride accidents, where a vehicle gets wedged underneath a semitrailer
• Jackknife accidents, where a semitrailer swings forward toward the tractor, causing the two vehicles to fold in on each other like a pocketknife
• Rollover accidents, where a truck flips onto its side or roof
• Runaway or road departure accidents
• Cargo accidents, which are caused by shifting cargo or cargo falling out of the truck onto another vehicle or the roadway

Many kinds of truck accidents occur due to negligence by a truck driver or trucking company. Some of the most frequent causes of truck accidents in Gulfport include: 

• Speeding or traveling too fast for road, traffic, weather, or visibility conditions
• Tailgating and following too closely
• Improper braking
• Distracted driving, including cell phone use and texting
• Drowsy or fatigued driving
• Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• Running red lights and stop signs
• Failing to yield the right-of-way
• Changing lanes or turning without checking mirrors or using indicators
• Reckless driving
• Aggressive driving and road rage
• Inadequate truck or trailer maintenance, including tire and brake maintenance
• Unsafe cargo loads, including excessive or unbalanced weight or failing to secure cargo items from shifting during travel
• Driver inexperience or lack of training on the truck type

What Injuries Can Someone Sustain in a Truck Accident?

Due to their size and weight, trucks collide with much more force than smaller personal vehicles. As a result, truck accidents more frequently cause severe, potentially life-threatening injuries. Examples of injuries that truck accident victims can suffer include:

• Severe lacerations or abrasions and scarring
• Degloving injuries, which occur when skin is torn away from underlying tissue or bone
• Burns from post-crash vehicle fires
• Dislocated joints
• Ligament sprain and tears
• Muscle and tendon strains and tears
• Broken bones
• Whiplash
• Nerve damage
• Spinal disc herniations
• Internal organ damage and internal bleeding
• Spinal cord injuries and paralysis
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Traumatic amputation, dismemberment, or limb loss

What Compensation Could I Recover in a Gulfport Truck Accident Claim?

After a truck crash, you may have the right to seek financial recovery from a liable truck driver or trucking company for losses you’ve sustained due to injuries and property damage. Compensation for truck accident victims can include money for:

• Medical treatment and rehabilitation of your injuries, including emergency care, surgeries, hospitalization, prescriptions, pain management care, and physical therapy
• Long-term care, such as home health services or housekeeping, after suffering prolonged or permanent disabilities due to your injuries
• Loss of income due to missed time from work or reduced earning capacity while on part-time or light duty due to medical restrictions imposed by your injuries
• Loss of future earning potential and employment benefits if you become permanently disabled from work
• Physical pain and anguish
• Emotional trauma or distress
• Loss of enjoyment and quality of life because of disabilities or permanent scarring and disfigurement that interferes with your daily life
• Costs of vehicle repairs or reimbursement for the value of your totaled car

What if I Am Partly at Fault in a Truck Accident?

When you think you may bear some of the blame for a truck accident, you might wonder whether that could affect your right to seek compensation from the truck driver or trucking company at fault for the crash. Under Mississippi law, an injured person can file a compensation claim even if they share some of the fault for the accident that caused their injuries. 

The state’s comparative negligence rule states that an injured person’s negligence that contributed to their injury does not bar them from seeking financial relief from other negligent parties. However, the rule further states that when an injured person shares some of the fault for causing their injuries, their compensation may be reduced in proportion to their percentage of responsibility for the accident and their injuries.

For example, suppose you sustained $100,000 in losses from a truck accident that you bear 25 percent of the fault for causing. Under the comparative negligence rule, a settlement or jury verdict may reduce your financial recovery by $25,000 to reflect your 25 percent share of fault for the truck accident. In Mississippi, an injured person can bear 99 percent of the fault for the accident and still file a claim to recover the other one percent of their losses.

How a Gulfport Truck Accident Lawyer Can Help

When you’ve sustained injuries and property damage in a truck accident in Gulfport, MS, you may want to file a legal claim against an at-fault truck driver or trucking company to recover compensation for your harm and losses. However, going up against trucking companies and insurers may seem daunting. Motor carriers and insurers have substantial resources to fight truck accident claims. 

Many truck accident cases also involve challenges, such as complex evidence, complicated corporate structures, and multiple insurance coverages for the trucking company. You need an experienced Gulfport truck accident lawyer from Haug, Farrar, Franco & Ruiz, PLLC, to guide you through the claims process and advocate for your right to financial recovery. 

While you devote your time and energy to healing and putting your life back together after a devastating truck crash, let our legal team handle the details of pursuing the financial recovery you need, including:

• Investigating the crash to recover all available evidence, including the truck driver’s hours-of-service logs, the truck’s event data recorder (“black box”) logs, the truck’s cargo manifest, the police crash report, accident scene photos, surveillance or traffic camera footage, and eyewitness testimony
• Reviewing the evidence and working with accident reconstruction and trucking industry experts as necessary to determine who may bear liability for the crash
• Evaluating your legal options for financial recovery, including identifying applicable insurance coverage
• Documenting your injuries and losses to calculate how much compensation you may deserve to recover in your case
• Filing your claims with the trucking and insurance company and dealing with corporate representatives, insurance adjusters, or defense attorneys on your behalf
• Fighting for the compensation you need by vigorously negotiating a fair and full settlement, or if necessary, by taking your case to court and seeking compensation through truck accident injury litigation 

Finally, our firm can help by filing your claims on time. Your insurance policy may have deadlines for seeking coverage, such as collision or medical payments coverage. And when you need to file a lawsuit against the at-fault truck driver or trucking company, Mississippi’s statute of limitations will likely require you to file suit within three years of the crash. While three years may sound like plenty of time, building a solid truck accident case takes time. This is why you should speak to an attorney knowledgeable about Mississippi truck accident lawsuits immediately after a truck crash.

Contact Our Gulfport Truck Accident Law Firm Today

If you were hurt in a truck crash caused by a truck driver or trucking company’s negligence, turn to a personal injury attorney for truck accidents to pursue accountability and compensation for your injuries and losses. Contact Haug, Farrar, Franco & Ruiz, PLLC, today for a free no-obligation consultation with a knowledgeable Gulfport truck accident lawyer to discuss your legal options for seeking financial recovery.