Snellings Law PLLC Attorneys are Personal Injury Trial Lawyers
What Is a Commercial Vehicle and Why Are Commercial Vehicles Different?
Growth in Commercial Traffic in North Texas
North Texas is growing, which means more and more business is coming to the area. More business means more traffic overall, specifically from commercial vehicles. While you should always do your best to avoid getting into a wreck with any vehicle, be especially careful around commercial vehicles.
We are commercial vehicle accident lawyers who care about the safety of our community. We want to share the knowledge we have gained from our extensive experience with commercial vehicle accident cases. To prepare you for safe driving in Frisco, Sherman, and all of North Texas, we are going to give you a complete overview of commercial vehicles in this blog. By the end, you and your loved ones will be equipped to navigate our growing community more safely.
What is a Commercial Vehicle?
Do you remember learning about squares and rectangles in geometry class? These two shapes have an interesting relationship. A rectangle is any shape with four sides, and a square is a shape with four even sides. So, all squares are technically rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.
You could think of commercial vehicles in the same way. Most people think only 18-wheelers are commercial vehicles. It is true that 18-wheelers are commercial vehicles (unless you happen to have a friend that prefers to hit the highway on his own personal tractor-trailer). Yet not all commercial vehicles are 18-wheelers.
A commercial vehicle is any vehicle that is owned and/or operated by a business. These vehicles range from delivery vans to lawn care trailers, pool service trucks, and, yes, 18-wheelers. If you see a logo or a phone number on the outside of a vehicle, it’s most likely a commercial vehicle.
We also cannot forget about “on-the-clock” drivers. These are drivers who are driving in their personal vehicles but are still “on the clock” with their employers. It is possible to hold the employer liable if an “on-the-clock” driver causes a wreck. These commercial vehicles are trickier to spot. Asking the right questions and consulting a commercial vehicle accident attorney will help.
Why Are Commercial Vehicles Different?
Now that you know how to spot a commercial vehicle, remember to be extra careful when driving around them. Commercial vehicle wreck cases are more complex than wrecks between two personal automobiles. Commercial vehicle accident cases involve more entities, injuries can be more severe, and the stakes are much higher for commercial insurance companies.
Since these vehicles are owned and operated by businesses and can often times cause severe injuries, they have larger insurance policies with greater coverage than policies held by the average car owner. Commercial insurance adjusters will do whatever they can to minimize your claim’s value. Therefore, it’s important to take steps after a commercial vehicle accident so that you can hold the insurance company responsible for all of the damages their insured caused.
In commercial vehicle wreck cases, gathering evidence is huge. A lot of times, evidence is destroyed after a wreck. If you can, you should take pictures of the scene. This will help document evidence needed later. To make your claim the strongest it can be, there is going to be additional evidence that must be gathered after the crash. Incident reports, logbooks, cargo weight and information about how the cargo was loaded, testimony from employees, and drug and alcohol tests are all pieces of evidence that can be vital to your case. However, they will be nearly impossible to get on your own.
Hiring an experienced commercial vehicle wreck attorney will be the best way to secure evidence. A commercial vehicle attorney also has the knowledge and resources to do formal discovery and hire the correct experts to fully evaluate your claim.
You might run into other problems with those “on-the-clock” drivers. If possible, the commercial insurance company might try to hide the fact that the at-fault driver was driving a commercial vehicle. That way, they can conceal the fact that the insurance policy has much higher minimum limits. They will instead try to offer you the minimum limits of a standard insurance policy.
We can’t stress this enough: commercial cases are a different beast. Matters are much more complex, and the adjusters are much savvier. Your best move is to consult an experienced commercial vehicle accident lawyer.
Wrongful Death and Commercial Vehicle Accidents
In a wrongful death case caused by a commercial vehicle, it is even more important to hire an experienced commercial vehicle accident attorney. Wrongful death cases need to be handled carefully. It’s best to have someone clearly on your side and advocating for you in a wrongful death case. It doesn’t matter how cooperative the company and its insurance may seem. At Snellings Law, we handle wrongful death cases with the same care we would give our own families. If you’ve lost a family member due to the negligence of a commercial vehicle driver, do not hesitate to call Snellings Law.
Why Snellings Law is the Best Firm to Go to for Your Commercial Vehicle Wreck Case
At Snellings Law, we have a whole team of commercial vehicle wreck lawyers that will handle your case. We have proven processes that have worked to get our clients their full settlements after a commercial vehicle wreck. Our firm is driven to help the people of Frisco and Sherman, and we have a passion for serving our community. We are not some mill – we care about every person and case that comes our way. Even if you call us and our firm is unable to help you ourselves, we will always try to connect you with someone who can.
If you have been hurt in a commercial vehicle accident, give us a call today. We can set you up with a free strategy session with one of our commercial vehicle accident attorneys to discuss your case and your next steps.
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