If you are hurt by a truck in Cleveland, Ohio - KNR can help.
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Legal Help for the Injured
Cleveland’s highways, including I-90, I-77, I-71, I-480, and I-490, are heavily trafficked by large trucks and commercial vehicles, and lake-effect weather off Lake Erie only adds to the danger. When these trucks crash, the results can be catastrophic. If you have been seriously injured in a Cleveland truck accident, the experienced Cleveland injury attorneys at Kisling, Nestico & Redick are here to help. We know how overwhelming it can be to deal with medical bills, missed work, and insurance claims. Let KNR fight for the full compensation you deserve.
To schedule a free, no-risk consultation with a truck accident lawyer near you, call (216) 658-1330 today.
We're Award-Winning & Highly-Skilled Attorneys
To assign responsibility, you must determine the underlying cause of the truck collision. After the crash, an officer will conduct a cursory investigation. The trucking company and its insurer will also perform an investigation.
You should not rely on either the police report or the other insurer’s conclusions. It is best to work with an experienced semi truck accident lawyer who will thoroughly and independently investigate the cause of the accident.
The most common causes of truck accidents include:
At Kisling, Nestico & Redick, we have handled truck accident claims in Cleveland for decades. We have recovered compensation in all types of truck crashes, including:
Cleveland is home to many high-traffic areas and busy intersections, where serious truck accidents can occur due to negligent driving. State and local crash records point to several corridors and intersections that see frequent commercial-vehicle collisions, including the I-90 Innerbelt, the I-480 Valley View Bridge, the I-71/I-77 split, and the Ohio Turnpike, along with these surface-street hot spots:
These locations are particularly prone to truck and other vehicle collisions due to high traffic volumes and complex road layouts. If you have been injured in an accident at one of these locations, KNR’s Cleveland truck accident lawyers can help you navigate the legal process and pursue maximum compensation.
Due to their size and weight, truck accidents often result in severe injuries. At KNR, we understand the impact these injuries have on victims and their families. Common injuries from truck accidents include:
If you suffered any of these or other injuries in a truck accident, KNR can help you pursue compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, pain, and suffering. Cleveland’s trauma centers, including MetroHealth (a verified Level I trauma center), University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center (Level I), and Fairview Hospital (Level II), treat many of the region’s most serious truck-crash injuries.
Truck accident injuries can have long-term consequences that impact victims’ lives in profound ways. Severe injuries like TBIs, spinal cord injuries, or amputations often require ongoing medical care, physical therapy, and other forms of rehabilitation. In some cases, victims may suffer from PTSD or other psychological effects, which can make it challenging to return to daily life or employment.
The impact of these long-term injuries can also extend to the victim’s family, as they may need to provide additional care and support. At KNR, we understand these lasting effects and will pursue compensation that accounts for future medical expenses, loss of income, and pain and suffering.
The severity of your truck accident injuries plays a significant role in determining the value of your claim. More severe injuries generally result in higher medical bills, longer recovery periods, and more substantial lifestyle changes, all of which increase the compensation you may be eligible for. Serious injuries like spinal cord damage, brain injuries, and wrongful death claims often lead to higher settlements or verdicts because they involve extensive care needs, potential lifetime income loss, and significant emotional distress.
By working with KNR, you will have an experienced attorney who can effectively document the full impact of your injuries, including the extent of physical, emotional, and financial damages. We will fight to ensure that the severity of your injuries is accurately reflected in the compensation you receive.
If you were involved in a Cleveland truck accident, the following could help you prepare for an insurance claim or lawsuit:
After a Cleveland truck accident, it is essential to determine who is liable, whether it is the driver, the trucking company, or another party. Liability rests with the party whose negligence caused the collision, such as the driver speeding or the company failing to maintain the truck. Identifying the responsible party allows you to pursue compensation from their insurer or directly from the business if needed.
People have a duty to act as a reasonable person would under the same or similar circumstances. This goes for truck drivers, trucking companies, cargo owners and loaders, maintenance providers, truck manufacturers, and anyone involved in the trucking industry.
Negligence arises when a party or business fails to act reasonably. Instead, its actions increase the probability of an accident. Another way to think of negligence is carelessness. When a person acts carelessly, they potentially place themselves and others in harm’s way.
Truckers have a commercial driver’s license, and in many ways, are held to a higher standard than regular drivers. Unfortunately, a common cause of truck accidents is still truck driver negligence.
CDL (commercial driver’s license) holders must obey the rules of the road. This means complying with federal trucking regulations and acting carefully to avoid an accident. The truck driver is negligent when they fail to take these steps.
Truck drivers can be independent contractors or employees. When a trucker is an employee who negligently causes a crash, the employer-trucking company is liable for the driver’s actions.
However, truck drivers are not always the negligent party. The truck driver’s employer is often responsible, and their neglect is the underlying cause of the collision.
Trucking companies that fail to inspect and maintain their vehicles properly are negligent. For example, a runaway truck accident could occur if poorly maintained brakes fail.
Ensuring all roadways are designed to be as safe as possible is a challenge. Engineers have to consider the amount of traffic on the road, the shape of the road, lighting, passing and no-passing zones, and necessary traffic instructions, like stop signs and lights, yield signs, and speed limits.
These factors must also be considered in construction zones. Construction companies and municipalities need to ensure signs and safety equipment are visible yet do not impede the driver’s ability to drive safely.
In some circumstances, truck accidents arise because the roadways or work zones are poorly designed and do not take into account the size, weight, and limitations of commercial vehicles.
Truckers and trucking companies are highly regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
The federal trucking regulations and the state of Ohio both enforce several rules. Some of the ones we often address during truck accident cases in Cuyahoga County include:
At KNR, we are well-versed in FMCSA regulations and will thoroughly analyze the evidence for any violation. Identifying and proving such violations is crucial in establishing negligence, which can strengthen your case and ensure you obtain the compensation you deserve.
Federal hours-of-service rules limit how long a commercial driver can stay behind the wheel, and violations are a frequent source of negligence in truck crashes. Under FMCSA rules, a property-carrying driver may drive a maximum of 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty, and may not drive beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty. Drivers are also capped at 60 hours on duty in 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days, and they can restart that weekly clock only after 34 consecutive hours off duty. When a driver or carrier falsifies logs or pushes past these limits, those records often become powerful evidence that fatigue and corner-cutting caused the wreck.
If you are injured in a truck accident, we will thoroughly investigate the incident. We will look into the truck driver’s history as well as the trucking company’s records. In addition, we will search for any indication of FMCSA regulatory violations.
At first glance, a violation may seem minor. However, failure to conduct even one inspection could lead to a defective truck going out, placing the driver and other motorists at risk. Prior violations can establish a truck driver or motor carrier’s negligence. Therefore, they should be held liable for your injuries.
Fight for Everything You’re Owed
When a truck accident injures you, and it is another person or business’s fault, we are here to help you pursue full and fair compensation for your injuries.
The attorneys at KNR have successfully assisted numerous Cleveland truck accident victims in securing the compensation they deserve. For example, we recently helped a victim in Cuyahoga County recover damages after a collision with a negligent truck driver.
You may be eligible for compensation for:
Whether through an insurance settlement or a court award, your truck accident compensation should cover both special and general damages. To understand the full range of recovery available, see how truck accident damages and compensation are calculated.
Special damages refer to the economic losses you have experienced, including medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, and lost wages due to your injuries. This category also encompasses any reduction in earning capacity as a result of the accident.
General damages cover your non-economic injuries, such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, and mental anguish. Valuing these damages is subjective, and we may encourage you to keep a journal documenting your pain and psychological impact to strengthen your case.
If the at-fault party acted particularly recklessly, you might be entitled to punitive damages. These are designed to punish the wrongdoer rather than compensate you for injuries.
If a loved one initially survived a truck accident but later passed away, their estate can pursue a personal injury claim for the damages incurred from the accident to the date of their death. This is known as a survival action.
If your relative died immediately from their injuries, you would need to pursue a fatal truck accident claim. This claim covers your mental anguish, the loss of income, services, and companionship due to their passing.
Even if you were partly at fault for the crash, you may still recover. Ohio follows modified comparative negligence under ORC 2315.33: you can recover damages as long as you are not more than 50% responsible for the collision, and your recovery is reduced by your share of fault. For example, if a jury values your case at $100,000 but finds you 20% at fault, you would receive $80,000. Because insurers use any hint of shared fault to cut what they pay, building a clear liability record is one of the most important things we do for your truck accident claim.
KNR secured a $3,100,000 settlement for a client who suffered severe injuries from a truck collision on I-71. The settlement resulted from pre-suit negotiations and was essential in helping the driver get his life back in order without financial devastation.
We were able to obtain a $750,000 settlement for our client, who was t-boned by a truck in a Stark County intersection.
Our client was heading west on Windmill Road in Portage Township when the defendant failed to stop at a stop sign and hit our client’s car. Our client suffered numerous injuries which needed multiple doctor appointments. The case was settled for $912,500.
Following a truck wreck, the best way to get compensation is typically through an insurance settlement. The trucking company should have a liability policy with a significant policy limit. The truck driver also should have an insurance policy. As an independent contractor, the truck driver typically needs proof of insurance to work.
However, the presence of an applicable insurance policy does not guarantee a settlement or a smooth claim process. You can run into all sorts of issues when pursuing a truck accident settlement.
Another important FMCSA regulation is insurance coverage. Truck drivers and companies must have public liability insurance that covers both property damage and bodily injuries.
The minimum policy limit depends on the truck’s weight and the cargo type. For example, for-hire vehicles under 10,001 pounds moving non-hazardous freight must have at least $300,000 in coverage under 49 CFR Part 387, while heavier non-hazardous freight haulers must carry at least $750,000.
These regulations are often helpful to truck accident victims. Such insurance requirements increase the likelihood that the at-fault party has insurance. Also, truck drivers’ and companies’ policy limits are higher than personal auto insurance requirements. As a result, there is a greater likelihood of obtaining a fair settlement for your injuries.
How the truck driver’s or company’s insurer treats you can vary. However, you should not expect the insurance adjuster to be overly friendly or helpful. The insurer is not focused on your best interests. Instead, they want to protect the policyholder and its bottom line. It will only pay out if it has to. Even then, it will work to pay you as little as possible.
You should be cautious in communicating with the truck driver or company’s insurer. The insurance company will try to get you to make a statement on the record. Your best response is to decline and speak with a Cleveland 18 wheeler accident lawyer.
The truck driver’s insurance company will look for any evidence that you were fully or partly at fault. If there is evidence of negligence on your part, the insurer will use this to reduce your payout. Comparative negligence claims are common following truck accidents. Kisling, Nestico & Redick regularly fights claims that our clients were negligent. We strive to reduce your percentage of liability for the collision.
The insurer will also want to look into your medical history. Insurers often ask crash victims to sign a medical waiver, which gives the insurer the right to look through all of your medical records, not only the records associated with your truck accident injuries.
By working with an attorney, you can avoid this. Your lawyer will ensure the adjuster receives the necessary medical records but cannot dig into your past and blame your injuries on something from before the crash.
After being injured in a trucking accident, your focus may be on getting a settlement. We will strive to obtain you a fair settlement as quickly as possible, though this can take months or years. When you accept a settlement, you do so in exchange for agreeing not to file a lawsuit against the liable party or for dropping an ongoing lawsuit. However, a settlement is not always possible. You may find that the truck driver or trucking company was not insured as required. Or, the insurer may have wrongfully denied your claim and refused to settle. Another possible problem is an insurer that simply refuses to negotiate in good faith and resolve the claim for a fair amount.
When we cannot obtain a pre-trial settlement and the insurer is acting in bad faith, we will prepare for trial.
If you need to take your truck accident claim to court, you have to prepare to prove the other party’s liability. You need evidence to establish the truck driver, trucking company, or another party was negligent. You must have additional evidence that this negligence directly led to the accident.
Then, after establishing that negligence occurred and caused the crash, you must also prove you suffered injuries. You will need to present evidence of the type and severity of your injuries and the financial costs associated with these injuries.
During a trial, we will present this information to a judge and jury. It is up to us to present the evidence in the most persuasive manner possible to convince the jury of the other party’s liability and the value of your injuries.
One of the pre-trial phases is discovery. During discovery, the parties exchange information through interrogatories (questions), requests for documents, and depositions (out-of-court interviews with witnesses and relevant parties).
Discovery is essential to our investigation. Prior to filing a truck accident lawsuit and discovery, we will begin our independent investigation into the crash and gather as much evidence as possible.
However, there will be information and records controlled by other parties that we cannot obtain outside of discovery. For example, during discovery, we can obtain the trucker’s driving log and employment history, the trucking company’s maintenance records, the trucking company’s history of accidents, and the truck’s stored electronic data.
Because critical proof can disappear within days, we move fast to preserve it. The records and data that most often decide a truck accident claim include the truck’s electronic control module (ECM) or black-box data, electronic on-board recorder (EOBR) and hours-of-service logs, the driver qualification file, and the carrier’s maintenance and inspection records. We also pull the police report, photos, and any traffic, weather, or surveillance video. Sending a spoliation letter early helps stop a trucking company from erasing or overwriting this evidence before we can secure it.
Gathering evidence during a truck accident claim is critical. At Kisling, Nestico & Redick, we obtain a copy of the police report. We gather any photos you or your witnesses took. We look for possible video footage from nearby traffic, weather, or surveillance cameras.
Our team will seek out witnesses who did not automatically come forward and ask all of the witnesses to provide statements regarding what they saw and heard leading up to and during the accident.
KNR will also thoroughly investigate the background of the truck driver and trucking company to see if there is a history of traffic violations, accidents, or regulatory violations.
During truck accident cases, we may hire one or more experts to support your claim. Our team may hire an accident reconstructionist, engineer, or other trucking experts to testify regarding the other party’s actions and why they amounted to negligence.
KNR might also hire a medical expert to discuss your injuries, including the pain you suffered and the future medical care you will need. Additionally, if you suffered serious injuries, we may hire a vocational or economic expert about your ability to work and your lost earnings.
Witnesses to your truck crash can make a significant difference, especially if a witness is an objective third party. If someone saw the crash and is willing to testify, we will ask them to speak in court regarding what they saw and heard.
The Ohio statute of limitations for personal injury and truck accident lawsuits is two years under ORC 2305.10. This means that you generally have two years from the date of the crash to file. This deadline only applies to lawsuits and not your insurance claim.
Insurers require that you notify them of a claim soon after the accident. Waiting to notify the insurer can lead to your claim being denied based on the delay.
Contact a truck accident lawyer if you are worried about the statute of limitations.
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What Makes KNR Special?
Since our inception in 2005, Kisling, Nestico & Redick has been dedicated to helping personal injury victims fight for the compensation they deserve after an accident affects their way of life. We have helped more than 10,000 people, and we’re ready to keep fighting for Ohioans and anyone who deserves compensation for their personal injury claims.
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Contact KNRWhat Makes KNR Special?
At Kisling, Nestico & Redick (KNR), we are committed to making the recovery process after a truck collision in Cleveland as smooth as possible. Dealing with insurance claims can be overwhelming when you are in pain, but our experienced lawyers know how to get results.
With 750+ years of combined legal experience and billions recovered for Ohio clients, including many right here in Cuyahoga County, we are confident in our ability to help you secure maximum compensation. Our Ohio truck accident attorneys handle these claims statewide and bring that experience to every Cleveland case.
“Excellent, in all aspects. Kind and compassionate, and listened to details. Well, satisfied. Thanks, guys !!” John P.
From understanding liability to knowing the steps to take after a collision, these answers cover the questions Cleveland truck accident victims ask us most.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a truck accident in Cleveland, KNR is here to help. With offices across Ohio, we proudly serve the Cleveland area and offer free, no-obligation consultations. We also handle related cases for our neighbors, from Cleveland car accident lawyers to Cleveland motorcycle accident lawyers. Our experienced team is ready to assist you in navigating the complexities of your case. Call (216) 658-1330 or 1-800-HURT-NOW today for your free consultation, or schedule a free consultation online.
Truck Accidents
Truck Accidents
Truck Accidents
Truck Accidents
Truck Accidents
Truck Accidents
