Silver Spring, Maryland Truck Accident Attorney

Call Us After Accidents Involving Big Rigs, Semis & More

The commercial trucking industry is subject to extensive regulation under federal law. Despite these regulations, truck accidents are a frequent occurrence and cause innocent victims to suffer terrible injuries. The effects of these injuries are life-altering.

Obtaining compensation for these injuries can be difficult due to the legally and factually complex nature of truck accidents. If you suffered an injury as a result of a truck accident, you should get representation from an award-winning Silver Spring, Maryland truck accident lawyer, like those at Portner & Shure, P.A. We have spent more than 30 years litigating complex personal injury cases including those involving truck accidents.

For a free consultation, dial (240) 233-2801 or contact us online.

Common Causes of Truck Accidents in Maryland

The working conditions in the trucking industry are difficult. Truck drivers spend countless hours in isolated conditions transporting cargo across our nation’s highways. The working conditions and industry competition cause many truck drivers to ignore federal law and engage in negligent actions that result in truck collisions.

Common causes of truck collisions include:

• Driver fatigue: Truck drivers are required to take mandatory rest breaks while driving. Many truck drivers forgo mandatory rest periods to keep driving. This is because they are financially penalized if they fail to deliver their cargo on schedule. Fatigue causes truck drivers to experience reduced reaction time, impaired sensory perception, and impaired decision-making.
• Drug use: Truck drivers often result to using prescription or over-the-counter stimulants to combat the effects of fatigue. Once the effects of a stimulant wear off, the effects of fatigue are amplified. Additionally, the abuse of stimulants often leads truck drivers to begin abusing other substances such as alcohol.
• Improper maintenance: Due to the competitive nature of the trucking industry, truck drivers and trucking companies fail to perform proper maintenance on their vehicles to save money.
• Illegal maneuvers: To deliver their cargo on schedule, truck drivers sometimes illegally travel in excess of the posted speed limit. Truck drivers sometimes drive in areas where commercial trucks are prohibited from driving such as residential or highly congested. These areas do not provide commercial trucks with sufficient space to turn, which can cause collisions with other vehicles.
• Distracted driving: Truck drivers become distracted with items such as cellular phones and radios. Additionally, the sheer complexity of a truck means that there is more equipment that a truck driver has to monitor, which can also cause a truck driver to become distracted.

Injuries & Compensation in Truck Accidents

A commercial truck is a 40-ton vehicle. When a commercial truck is involved in a collision on a highway, the resulting injuries are catastrophic due to the sheer mass and speed.

Truck collisions produce severe injuries such as:

• Spinal cord injuries
• Brain injuries
• Concussions
• Broken bones

Truck accident victims often require emergency medical treatment along with intensive rehabilitation such as physical therapy, orthopedic treatment, and occupational therapy to fully recover from their injuries. The financial cost of a truck accident can economically destroy a truck accident victim. Truck accident victims can seek compensation for the cost of their medical treatment, future medical treatment, lost wages, and for the pain and suffered they endured as a result of their injuries.

Litigation & Defenses in Truck Accident Cases

Truck accident cases are legally and factually complex cases to litigate. Truck accident cases require extensive investigation and preparation to make a strong case in most instances. To win, a truck accident victim must prove that the truck driver acted negligently and that their negligence resulted in the victim suffering an injury. A truck accident victim must prove their case by a preponderance of the evidence, i.e., 51%.

Insurance companies make it difficult to meet this burden by retaining expensive and aggressive defense attorneys to defend truck accident lawsuits. Maryland law provides several defenses that insurance companies can use to defend truck accident cases. Insurance companies often utilize the defense of contributory negligence, which precludes a victim from recovering if evidence is produced showing that the victim’s negligence contributed to the accident.

Why Hire Portner & Shure, P.A.?

The award-winning attorneys at Portner & Shure, P.A. know how to properly investigate truck accidents. Our truck accident attorneys in Silver Spring are familiar with federal law regulating the trucking industry and know how to obtain crucial evidence such as black-box crash data, truck driver employment files, drug test results, driving logs, and travel schedules. Our attorneys know how to utilize complex expert witness testimony in court to successfully prove their case. Our experience has allowed us to obtain favorable settlement and judgments on behalf of our clients.

Portner & Shure, P.A. receives no fee unless our client obtains a settlement or judgment in court. Our professional staff speaks English, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Vietnamese, and Korean. To schedule a free consultation regarding your Silver Spring truck accident case, call us at (240) 233-2801 or contact us online.