Trust a New Mexico Truck Accident Lawyer If You Were Involved in a Collision With an Overweight Truck

Because of the size of a semi-truck, you could end up with life-altering injuries if one hits your passenger car. If the truck violates laws regarding maximum load weight, it could deliver an even greater level of force to your car. You may need a truck accident lawyer to protect your right to seek a financial award for your hardships.

Your truck crash attorneys can perform several actions for you. When insurance companies accuse you of lying about the accident or exaggerating your injuries, your attorneys can seek facts that show you are telling the truth.

Why Overweight Trucks Are Dangerous

Federal and state regulations require truck drivers never to carry more than the allowed maximum amount of weight. The weight limit depends on the number of axles on the truck.

Some of the dangers of a truck carrying too much weight include:

• Being more difficult to steer
• Taking longer to stop
• Causing brakes to wear out and fail prematurely
• Potentially causing a tire blowout
• Increasing the chances of a rollover

The extra weight could cause the truck driver to lose control or be unable to stop in a normal amount of time. A semi-truck accident lawyer might argue that the driver could’ve avoided an accident if the truck carried a legal weight.

Establishing Fault in a Trucking Accident

When you hire a big rig collision attorney to help you file a personal injury lawsuit, the attorney will investigate the crash. 

New Mexico is an at-fault state. This means the party who caused the accident could be liable to pay a financial award to the victim if negligence occurred. Negligence means the at-fault party could have avoided the accident by taking different actions.

Through the investigation, your truck wreck lawyers will seek to establish fault and show negligence. In a crash with an overweight truck, the fact that the truck driver was violating New Mexico law or federal law by carrying too much weight could show negligence.

Types of Awards Our Truck Accident Lawyers Could Seek for You

If your commercial truck accident attorneys can establish fault and show negligence, they can seek damages in your truck accident case, such as the following:

• Economic damages: Economic damages have a specific amount attached to them. They may include your medical bills and lost wages, among other items.
• Non-economic damages: Non-economic damages do not have an amount attached to them. You could sue for mental anguish and emotional distress after an overweight truck accident as non-economic damages. Financial awards for scars and disabling injuries can fit under non-economic damages, too.

In some cases, your truck accident lawyers may be able to seek punitive damages against one of the negligent parties. Punitive damages aim to punish the at-fault party for willful conduct, hoping to ensure it doesn’t happen again. For example, if the trucking company forced the driver to violate the weight limit laws, this could show malicious and willful misconduct by the company.

Contact Our Truck Accident Lawyers for Help Today

If you suffer injuries after being hit by a truck that is carrying an overweight load, you may end up with more serious injuries because of the extra weight. Our tractor-trailer crash lawyers can provide advice on whether filing an injury lawsuit is a good idea for you.

Our team at Fadduol, Cluff, Hardy & Conaway, P.C. is ready to begin working on your case as soon as you hire us. Call our truck accident lawyers at 800-433-2408 today to schedule a consultation.