For the first quarter of 2021, traffic deaths rose 10% nationwide as compared with the same period last year. For the state of Oregon the numbers are even higher. Take, for instance, the city of Portland which saw a staggering 45% increase in traffic accident fatalities from the same period of 2020. Truck accidents account for roughly 10% of all motor vehicle crashes and are the most dangerous by far. When a regular family car is hit by a large truck weighing 20 times more, the people in that sedan often sustain life-changing injuries, if they make it out alive at all. In most cases, the victims will require extensive and very expensive medical care, and they will be unable to work and earn for an extended period. The damages can be huge and if you want to receive fair compensation you’ll have to enlist the help of the best Oregon truck accident lawyers you can find.To get the money you deserve you need to determine the true cause of the accident. Unlike car accidents, in a truck crash there may be more than one liable party. Many truck accidents are indeed caused by reckless driving, speeding or driving while intoxicated. Distracted driving is rapidly becoming one of the most frequent causes of motor vehicle crashes in the US. In these types of situations, the truck driver is fully to blame for what happened. However, there are many other cases when it’s the trucking company that should be held accountable.

Aerial view of loading dock full of trucks; image by Ivan Bandura, via Unsplash.com.

Putting a driver behind the wheel of a large truck is a huge responsibility. The trucking company needs to make sure the driver has a valid license and provide ample training. Sending an inexperienced driver on the road at the wheel of an 80,000 lbs truck is a recipe for disaster. An experienced truck accident lawyer in Portland will ask to see all the relevant documents concerning the driver and his training. Also, your attorney will have a look at the data recovered from the truck’s electronic logging device which monitors the activity of the driver to ensure compliance with the federal hours of service regulations. If the driver had been on the road for more than 11 hours that’s a violation of federal regulations. A skilled truck accident lawyer can successfully argue that the driver’s judgment and reaction times were impaired by the lack of sleep. If the company encouraged the driver to work overtime, they will have to pay for their greed. Many truck accidents are initially put down to a driving error, but appearances can be deceptive. For instance, you and other eyewitnesses might blame the truck driver if you notice him changing lanes abruptly. However, a careful investigation conducted by a knowledgeable accident lawyer might reveal that the load shifted causing him to lose control of the vehicle and he was desperately trying to correct that. Or maybe he didn’t slow down because the brakes failed, not because he was reckless. Assessing the true cause of the accident can make all the difference, as you’re much more likely to get the kind of damages you deserve if you go after the trucking company, rather than file a claim against the driver.