Bronx NY Truck Accident Lawyer

Truck Injury Attorneys
Bronx, NY

The Bronx, the northernmost of New York’s five boroughs, is home to several world-famous New York landmarks: Yankee Stadium, the New York Botanical Garden, the Bronx Zoo, and the Bronx Museum of the Arts. According to the U.S. Census, it is the most diverse place in the United States. The Bronx contains affluent communities and poor neighborhoods, as well as everyone in between. The Bronx also has New York City’s largest park, as well as booming, revitalized residential and commercial development.

The Bronx is the 3rd most densely populated county in the United States. With tens of thousands of businesses and over two million residents requiring deliveries at any given time, truck accidents are likely to happen. Many of them will be serious. If you or a member of your family is involved in a serious truck accident and the other party is to blame, you deserve to be compensated for your injuries and expenses.

Should you or someone you love be hurt or killed in a truck accident, you will need to consult an experienced truck accident attorney to recover damages from the party responsible for the accident. Professionals who have years of successful experience getting compensation from truck accident victims can assist you the best.

Where Do Most Motor Vehicle Accidents Happen in the Bronx, NY

According to NYC Open Data, there were over 13,000 traffic accidents in the Bronx, in 2021. Among them, 557 were truck accidents involving semi-trucks or box trucks. Although the Bronx has a reasonably low motor vehicle accident fatality rate, there were still roughly 1.5 vehicle accident fatalities per 100,000 residents in 2021.

Jerome Avenue and Clifford Palace. Although only four motor vehicle accidents occurred at this intersection in 2021, there were multiple injuries, and one motorist lost their life in a crash here.

The Bruckner Expressway. Near East 141st Street alone, there were 7 crashes in 2021, which led to one fatality and injuries to 13 people.

East Gun Hill Road. Multiple accidents took place on this road in 2021. But the most hazardous location was close to the Bronx River Parkway where 16 collisions took place and resulted in injuries to 15 motorists, 2 bicyclists, and 2 pedestrians.

Bronx River Parkway. Throughout 2021, a total of 13 car accidents occurred at the on-ramp from the Cross Bronx Expressway. Unfortunately, these collisions led to one fatality and caused 24 individuals to sustain injuries.

The Cross Bronx Expressway. This particular expressway stands out as one of the Bronx’s most hazardous highways. Throughout 2021, this road experienced hundreds of crashes.

The list could also include East 196th St. and Valentine Ave, East 168th St. and College Ave. in Concourse, as well as Goble Place and Inwood Ave., in Mt. Eden. Over the past few years, several collisions took place in these locations.

Federal and State Rules and Regulations for Trucks Overview

Due to their size and power, commercial trucks pose a multitude of risks to other motorists sharing the road with them. As a response to this, the government has implemented strict regulations that must be adhered to by truck companies and truck operators. For example, the maximum load limit of a truck is 80,000 lbs. There are limitations to the hours a truck operator can drive weekly and daily. Also, trucking companies must regularly perform checks and maintenance on their vehicles regularly, to make sure that they are ready for the road and not a hazard to the driver and other motorists.

New York is a no-fault auto insurance state, which means that if you are injured in a car accident, you must file a claim with your own car insurance policy, regardless of who is at fault. But nonetheless, when negligence is established, you can pursue a claim against the truck driver, or other parties that may be responsible.

Common Types of Truck Accidents in the Bronx, NY

While comprising less than 5 percent of the total registered vehicles across the country, large trucks still make up over 13 percent of all fatal vehicle accidents in the United States. As a major transportation hub with a high volume of commercial vehicles traversing its streets, the Bronx experiences its fair share of truck-related accidents. These accidents take a variety of forms. The most common types are the following:

Tire blowouts. A truck’s tire can explode due to the negligence of the driver or the trucking company. If, for example, the responsible party didn’t properly inflate it, it could lead to a blowout. Even though, most of the time a truck can still circulate properly with a defective tire, this can still lead to an accident. Also, the tire can disengage from the truck and cause damage to other vehicles or properties.

Sideswipes. A sideswipe accident between two regular cars often falls in the “fender-bender” category, as it results in minor damages. However, the consequences can be catastrophic if a truck is involved in such an accident with a regular vehicle. The car may be forced off-road, into other vehicles, or even worse, pulled under the truck.

Rollovers. Rollovers involving trucks are some of the most devastating traffic accidents that can happen. Accidents like these often occur because the truck driver was operating their vehicle recklessly or negligently when taking sharp turns or sudden swerves.

Jackknives. These truck accidents occur when the truck driver applies the brakes improperly or when they make improper turns. This can cause the truck’s trailer to swing outward forming an angle with the tractor trailer. The motion resembles the folding of a pocket knife, thus the term.

Head-on collision. This type of truck accident often happens at high speeds, resulting in severe truck accident injuries or fatalities especially if the vehicle that collides with the truck is a regular passenger car.

Read-end collisions. When a truck rear-ends a passenger vehicle, the latter can be forced off the road or crushed on impact. Truck accidents like these can lead to multiple injuries or fatalities to the driver of the regular car and their passengers. Such accidents can happen due to the truck driver’s negligence or severe malfunctions of the truck.

T-Bone accidents. When a truck collides with another vehicle at a perpendicular angle, a T-shape is created, thus the term for this type of truck accident. These accidents can also be devastating for the vehicle hit by the truck, often resulting in catastrophic injuries for the other driver. Accidents of this type can happen when the truck driver operates their vehicle recklessly, ignoring red lights, stop signs, or speed limits.

Wide turn accidents. Accidents of this sort happen when a truck operator performs a right turn, usually at an intersection. In this case, the truck needs to swing out wide, in order to finish the turn safely. This creates a dangerous situation for the vehicles in the close vicinity of the truck. Collisions can happen when the neighboring motorists or the truck operator lack awareness of the space needed by the truck to perform the turn.

Common Causes of Truck Accidents in the Bronx, NY

Hundreds of truck accidents occur in the Bronx every year and almost each one of them results in injuries for the other driver and their passenger(s). But why do these accidents happen? Well, here are some of the most common causes that led to Bronx truck accidents over the past few years.

Distracted Driving

The rise of mobile phones and other similar devices has brought in a considerable spike in traffic accidents. Nowadays, if a truck operator or another motorist is distracted and their distraction leads to an accident, a mobile phone or tablet is almost always involved. But regardless of the nature of the distraction, a moment of inattention from a truck driver can lead to catastrophic injuries, damages, and the deaths of multiple persons.

Reckless Driving

The most common element in reckless driving is speeding. Tailgating, unsafe lane changing, running red lights, or aggressive behavior behind the wheels (honking, flashing lights, etc) can also be added to the list. When a truck driver chooses to drive recklessly, the occurrence of an accident is high and the outcome can be devastating.

Driver Fatigue

Like many workers in other industries, truck drivers are often overworked. They can spend many hours on the road without sufficient and proper rest. A fatigued truck operator may have slower reaction times, reduced alertness, and there is also the likelihood of falling asleep behind the wheel. Evidently, this can lead to accidents.

Substance Intoxication

Even worse than fatigue, alcohol or drug can seriously impair a truck driver’s reaction times, coordination, alertness, and cognitive abilities. Intoxicated driving can also lead drivers to exhibit reckless driving and fail to adhere to traffic rules. Even though many trucking companies screen their drivers well and also require regular testing, truck accidents due to substance intoxication still happen in the Bronx, NY every year.

Poorly Secured Cargo

Trucks often carry extremely heavy cargo. If such cargo isn’t properly restrained and secured, it can easily shift or fall off the truck during transit. The cargo itself or parts from it can severely damage other vehicles and cause injuries to other motorists. Or, its shifting can lead to the loss of control of the truck.

Vehicle Maintenance Negligence

Trucking companies have the duty of keeping their trucks in a safe and operating condition. That’s because if a malfunction happens while the truck is in transit, the driver can lose control of the truck and cause an accident. Also, if a trucking company fails to comply in any way with federal trucking laws, it can be held accountable for any potential truck accident.

Hazardous Road Conditions

A pretty important portion of all truck accidents that take place in the United States (about one third) is caused by issues with roads. Potholes, slippery roads, or missing hole coverages are some of these issues. The thing is, several parties can be held liable for a condition of this sort. For example, if a truck accident takes place due to a pothole in the road, some of the liable parties can be the municipality because they didn’t fix the pothole, the truck driver because they were negligent, or the truck maintenance company because the tires they installed didn’t withstand this predicament.

How Can a Bronx Truck Accident Lawyer Help You

At Hill & Moin, our experienced truck accident lawyers can provide valuable legal assistance in several ways, if you have been involved in a truck accident. Among other things, this is what we will do for you:

Provide legal guidance. Here, we can’t stress this enough. Don’t wonder about your rights! Contact us and we will explain your rights to you as clearly as possible. We will also evaluate the strength of your truck accident claim and help you navigate the whole legal process.

Gather and process evidence. A truck accident can be considerably more complex than a vehicle collision involving regular passenger cars. Thus, in order to determine what exactly led to the accident and who’s responsible for it, a thorough investigation needs to be conducted. Our truck accident attorneys will gather and secure all available evidence such as medical reports, police reports, witness testimonies, photos from the scene, etc., in order to build a strong truck accident case.

Determine liability. As we’ve already mentioned, truck accident cases can be complex and liability may not be easy to establish. Our Bronx truck accident lawyers will assess all the potentially liable parties, determine who is responsible for the accident, and make them pay for your injuries and damages.

Deal with insurance companies. Insurance companies frequently employ tactics aimed at reducing the amount of compensation they have to pay to truck accident victims. That’s why dealing with them can be challenging. Our Bronx truck accident attorneys will keep you safe from such tactics and make sure you are paid the compensation you deserve.

Calculate damages. When they analyze your truck accident case, our legal experts will make a full assessment of your damages. Based on that, they will be able to determine the maximum possible compensation amount, and then fight to secure it for you.

Represent you in court. If a fair settlement can’t be reached, our Bronx truck accident attorneys are fully prepared to represent you in court. We will thoroughly prepare your case, examine witnesses, assess the opposition’s case, and advocate for you in front of the jury and judge.

Contact a Bronx Truck Accident Lawyer at Hill & Moin Today!

At Hill & Moin, we are dedicated to obtaining the maximum compensation possible for victims of serious traffic accidents, including truck accidents. Our seasoned Bronx personal injury attorneys are committed to your best interests and to getting you the compensation you need and deserve. You might be entitled to medical expenses and lost pay. Additionally, you can be entitled to damages for pain and suffering, damages for loss of companionship, and punitive damages, based on the circumstances of your case and the extent of the injuries. We manage truck accident cases on a contingency fee basis; if we do not obtain compensation for you, you owe us nothing.

Contact Hill & Moin LLP today at (212) 668-6000 for a free consultation with an attorney to learn about your Personal Injury Recovery SolutionsⓇ. 

Don’t wonder about your rights!