The Physics of a Semi Truck vs. Car Accident
Posted in: Truck Accidents
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Legal Help for the Injured
A serious truck accident in Columbus can upend your life in seconds—leading to extensive medical treatment, time off work, and permanent disability. If a negligent truck driver or company is responsible, you deserve more than vague apologies or an insurance lowball offer.
The Columbus truck accident attorneys at Kisling, Nestico & Redick have recovered millions across Franklin County and are recognized by leading personal injury law firms in Columbus. Whether negotiating with national trucking insurers or litigating in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, KNR brings relentless advocacy, deep local knowledge, and a record of success to every truck injury claim.
To learn more about how our law firm can help and why we are the right semi-truck accident lawyers for you, contact us today at (614) 487-8669.
Whether it happened on broad Street, I-270, 315, or while merging on 670 towards Nationwide Arena, a Columbus truck crash can be catastrophic. You might have been unable to do anything other than focus on yourself. You may be in pain or shock.
The best thing to do is to wait for an ambulance. However, here are a few steps to take after a truck wreck:
Determining who is liable for your truck accident is one of the most important steps in pursuing full and fair compensation. In Columbus, liability typically falls on the party—or parties—whose negligence caused the crash. But identifying the responsible party in a commercial truck accident is often more complex than in a standard car accident.
Depending on the facts of your case, several entities could be held legally accountable, including:
Because trucking accidents often involve multiple stakeholders and layers of insurance coverage, it’s crucial to work with an experienced Columbus truck accident attorney who can thoroughly investigate your case, gather evidence, and hold every negligent party accountable.
Some of the most common causes of truck accidents in central Ohio include:
At Kisling, Nestico & Redick, we are here after any trucking accident:
Negligence is the failure to maintain a duty of care, which causes someone harm. Every driver on the road is required to uphold an ordinary duty of care.
Truck drivers with a commercial driver’s license (CDL) are held to an even higher standard. Truck driver negligence means failing to act as a reasonable driver would in a similar situation. A driver might speed, fail to yield, or run a red light. Or, negligence can mean being less careful than the driver should have been. A careless driver may be distracted, drowsy, or fail to check their blind spots.
To prove the other person was negligent, you must show that the driver’s carelessness caused the accident. You must show that were it not for the negligent conduct, the crash would not have occurred. You also must establish that the crash was a foreseeable risk of the driver’s negligent behavior.
Finally, you must prove that you suffered an injury in the accident they caused that you can be compensated for.
When the truck driver was negligent and caused the accident, our truck accident lawyers will pursue compensation from the driver and their insurance provider. However, we may also pursue compensation from the employer and their insurance policy.
At Kisling, Nestico & Redick, our Columbus truck accident lawyers have handled virtually every type of truck accident case, including ones in work zones. When there is construction, the company hired to do the job must properly place signs, cones, and other warnings and equipment. If anything is misplaced or the company improperly closes a lane, shifts a lane, or directs traffic, then there may be a crash.
If we uncover evidence that improper road design or an improperly managed work zone is the underlying cause, we may pursue a claim against the private construction company or the municipality in charge.
Truckers and trucking companies are highly regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
The FMCSA and the state of Ohio both enforce several trucking regulations. Some of the ones we often address during truck accident cases in Franklin County include:
At KNR, we are well-versed in FMCSA regulations and will thoroughly analyze the evidence for any violation.
When we find evidence of regulatory violations, we carefully document the evidence and prepare to use this as proof of negligence. We may be able to connect the regulatory violation directly to the crash, or we may use the violation as evidence of the trucker or company’s overall careless or reckless conduct.
This deadline does not apply to your insurance claim. Insurers typically require notification in a reasonable amount of time after the crash. If you wait weeks or months to notify the insurer, your claim may be denied. That’s why it is important to speak with a Columbus semi-truck accident lawyer as soon as possible.
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Fight for Everything You’re Owed
When a negligent trucker or trucking company causes harm, you may be entitled to compensation:
A truck accident claim can help you recover your:
KNR has helped numerous truck accident victims in Columbus get the compensation they need after truck accidents. Please review our case results to learn more.
If your loved one initially survived the accident, then they had a personal injury claim. However, they may have later passed away before filing a claim. Through a survival action, your relative’s estate can still pursue damages.
A wrongful death claim is different. It is based on the surviving family member’s injuries. Through a wrongful death lawsuit, you and your surviving relatives can pursue compensation for your mental anguish as well as the loss of your relative’s financial support, services, and companionship.
Truckers and trucking companies typically have insurance policies with larger limits than personal drivers. This can be very helpful because the high cost of your physical, psychological, and financial injuries are likely covered.
The insurer may ask you for a written or oral statement about the truck accident. You should not give a statement without talking to a truck accident attorney. An innocuous comment in a formal statement could be twisted against you. Or, if you are unprepared, you may not have the most accurate answer.
Instead of feigning friendliness, the insurer may be almost hostile. Whatever the situation, you should have an attorney for accidents with semi-trucks handle the insurance claim. We may have to deal with two different insurers if the trucker and trucking company have policies through different companies.
Whether you are pursuing compensation under the truck driver’s insurance policy, the trucking company’s insurance policy, or both, you can expect an insurer to try and mitigate their losses.
One way they do this is to dig into your medical history and look for pre-existing conditions. The insurer may argue that your current injuries or condition are entirely or partly to blame on something else that occurred before the accident. We limit the insurer’s access to your medical history to reduce the risk of this happening. We provide the insurer with medical records relating to your accident injuries, but we recommend you do not sign a waiver, which would let the insurer review your entire history.
The insurer may argue that you did not take steps to reduce your injuries. They may claim you made yourself worse. However, we will establish that you sought and received appropriate medical care.
Additionally, the trucking company may allege you contributed to the crash. If the insurer found you partly to blame, they will reduce your compensation by your percentage of fault.
It is important to have an 18-wheeler accident lawyer to gather and analyze evidence, establish that the other party was negligent, and prove your damages. By effectively presenting evidence of their negligence and your injuries we can negotiate for better settlements.
Unfortunately, settlements are not always attainable. An insurer may wrongfully deny your claim, act in bad faith, or refuse to offer an appropriate sum. That is when we prepare to take your case to trial.
There is a significant amount of information under the truck driver and trucking company’s control after a crash. However, we can access them during the discovery phase.
To ensure that information is still available months down the line, we send a preservation letter to all potential parties. This informs them of your claim and tells them to maintain any potential evidence they otherwise may discard.
During discovery, we will use interrogatories, requests for documents, and depositions to gather more evidence. This includes any results from tests on the truck or specific parts, data from the truck’s electronic data recorder, the truck driver’s logs, the driver’s employment records, and the company’s truck maintenance and repair records.
We might also enlist a medical expert to testify about the extent of your injuries, medical care, and pain. We may even hire a vocational expert or economist to explain your future working and earning capabilities.
Expert witnesses can be a crucial source of evidence regarding negligence and your damages.
Our client was a dump truck driver who was rear-ended on Route 8 in Summit County. The client…
What Makes KNR Special?
Preparing for trial is a multi-step process, It includes an independent investigation, thorough use of discovery to gather evidence, an aggressive pretrial motion practice, and establishing the most effective arguments for the jury.
We take trial prep very seriously. By the time the trial date nears, we will have the strongest and most effective argument possible.
We don’t just handle truck accident cases, we build them strategically to pursue maximum compensation. Our Columbus-based attorneys understand the high stakes involved in commercial truck crashes and know how to stand up to powerful trucking companies and their insurers. Here’s what sets us apart:
Our team understands how local adjusters, judges, and juries in Franklin County and surrounding areas evaluate truck accident claims—and we don’t back down when insurers try to minimize your injuries or shift blame.
With more than 500 years of combined legal experience, over 30 skilled attorneys, and millions recovered for injury victims across Ohio—including numerous truck accident victims in Columbus—we are ready to fight for you and your family.
“KNR was outstanding. They listened, understood, and handled everything. I’m grateful for their support.” – John P.
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Expect More From Your Lawyaer
The Columbus truck accident attorneys at KNR will handle every aspect of your claim. Let us do what it takes to secure max compensation. Call (614) 487-8669 today. 100% free consults and no costs unless you recover compensation.
