Certain types of motor vehicle collisions are often worse than others. For example, collisions that occur at very high speeds tend to lead to massive damage to the vehicles involved. Collisions with a major discrepancy in size between the vehicles involved can also be particularly severe.
When a collision involves a large commercial vehicle like a semi-truck or a bus and a four-wheeled passenger vehicle, the outcome of the crash can be extremely negative for those in the smaller vehicle. What are the consequences commonly associated with commercial vehicle collisions?
-
Complete vehicle destruction
When a large truck hits your passenger vehicle, the possibility of your vehicle being unsafe to drive in the future substantially increases. People who collide with commercial vehicles often need to replace their cars instead of repairing them.
While the big commercial truck may not even have any visible signs of damage to it, the smaller passenger vehicle may potentially have a bent frame or bent axle that will cost more to repair than the vehicle is worth or leave the structural integrity of the vehicle permanently compromised.
-
Catastrophic injuries
The occupants of the smaller passenger vehicle can easily incur permanent injuries as a result of a crash with a commercial vehicle. Such collisions could cause traumatic amputations, spinal cord damage or brain injuries. Other times, people suffer such extreme injuries that a crash may prove fatal.
-
Complicated insurance claims
Commercial trucks that weigh 10,001 pounds or more are subject to federal insurance requirements that dwarf what the state demands. Typically, a commercial vehicle will have at least $750,000 of liability coverage, although those transporting dangerous materials could have several million dollars worth of insurance coverage.
Given how much insurance is at play in a commercial collision claim, the professionals for the insurance companies frequently employ very aggressive tactics to pay less than what the crash costs or the policy could cover. It can be hard for people to estimate the future impact of their injuries after a crash, let alone to start preparing for a protracted negotiation process with insurance professionals.
Many people recovering from commercial collisions need help handling negotiations or litigation. Knowing what to expect after a commercial vehicle crash will help you better protect yourself from the long-term consequences of the wreck.