When individuals are involved in jackknife truck accidents in Orland Park, they often end up with serious injuries—sometimes life-altering ones. Medical appointments can dominate your life, along with calls to insurance companies. On top of all the other complexities, pursuing a settlement can feel overwhelming.
At MJB Law Offices, we use our 39 years of litigation experience and background as a former state attorney to get you the best payment possible. Our lawyers know the ins and outs of personal injury litigation and can take on your case. Call today to speak with an experienced tractor-trailer collisions attorney.
Common Causes and Injuries in Jackknife Truck Accidents
A jackknife truck wreck is an accident in which the front cab of a truck and its attached trailer fold in a V or L shape, resembling a folding pocket knife. Many factors contribute to the severity of jackknife wrecks, which cause these incidents to happen suddenly and without warning, such as:
- Hard braking that causes trailers to lose traction
- Slippery roads where ice, snow, or rain reduce traction
- Sharp or high-speed turns that destabilize trailers
- Malfunctioning equipment like worn brakes or tires
- Speeding, especially downhill or around curves
- Driver fatigue lowering reaction time
- Improperly or overloaded cargo that later shifts and destabilizes the trailer
Survivors are often left with catastrophic injuries, including traumatic brain injuries, partial or full paralysis, broken bones, and psychological trauma. These forms of harm typically require long-term medical care, resulting in high bills and expenses.
Damages Available to Injured Parties
Individuals injured in a jackknife truck crash in Orland Park can pursue several types of damages. However, the majority of their claims will fall into economic or non-economic damages. Economic damages are calculated from documented expenses like medical bills, property damage, or lost wages.
Non-economic damages allow you to recover payments for intangible harms, such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, or loss of enjoyment of life. While assigning a dollar amount to these experiences is difficult, a lawyer can calculate these figures based on a formula and what others have received in similar cases.
Although rare, courts might levy punitive damages in cases involving willful or wanton misconduct. These payments are designed to punish the parties responsible and deter similar conduct from them and others.
Parties Who Should Be Held Responsible
Jackknife truck crashes can involve multiple parties in Orland Park. Naturally, this will encompass any motorists at fault for the accident, regardless of whether they were driving the truck or other vehicles. Beyond that, entities related to the truck can also find themselves responsible, such as:
- The trucking company
- Cargo loaders
- Truck manufacturer, in the case of defects
- The maintenance provider if repairs caused mechanical failure
Even the government can be held liable if unsafe road conditions, poor signage, or lack of maintenance contributed to the accident. However, these entities employ teams of lawyers with experience in reducing payouts. They try to shift the blame to other parties or dispute the extent of the plaintiff’s injuries.
Comparative Fault
Illinois follows a legal rule called “modified comparative negligence,” which states that anyone is entitled to damages unless they were more than 50 percent at fault for the crash. The attorneys for opposing parties can use comparative negligence to justify lower offers, arguing that the plaintiff was more at fault than they were.
A personal injury lawyer can combat those arguments by collecting evidence like photos and videos of the accident scene, witness statements, trucking logs records, or data from the truck’s “black box,” which records the driver’s actions in the lead-up to the crash.
Get Help With a Jackknife Truck Accident From an Orland Park Attorney
When you hire the legal team at MJB Law Offices, we can identify the right parties to file claims against, gather the best evidence, seek timely responses from insurance companies, and keep track of all legal deadlines.
Hiring a confident local lawyer makes all the difference in your experience of the aftermath of jackknife truck accidents in Orland Park. Call for a free consultation today, and let us do the heavy lifting for you.
