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Mike Bottaro truck accident attorney

Rhode Island Truck Accident Lawyers

Tractor-trailers and other commercial trucks are some of the largest vehicles on the road, which means truck accidents can be extremely dangerous and even fatal.

After a truck accident in Rhode Island, you may face severe injuries that make it difficult or impossible to earn a paycheck. That’s why when the insurance company tries to cover only a fraction of your losses, you need an advocate ready to stand up for the compensation you deserve. A Rhode Island truck accident lawyer can provide you with the advice and advocacy you need and deserve.

At Bottaro Injury Lawyers, our attorneys pursue our firm’s overriding goal of always doing the right thing for our clients. Turn to our firm when you need experienced Rhode Island attorneys to help you stand up against big trucking companies and insurers. After you contact us about your truck accident case, we will quickly get to work reviewing the facts and helping you understand your legal rights and options. With our No Fee Guarantee, you do not need to worry about paying money upfront to hire our firm. You only pay if we win you money.

Don’t face the aftermath of a Rhode Island truck accident on your own, especially if it wasn’t your fault. Our Rhode Island truck accident attorneys are ready to fight for maximum compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Contact Bottaro Injury Lawyers today for a free initial case evaluation.

Who Can Be Held Liable for My Truck Accident-Related Injuries?

Liability in most accidents involving passenger vehicles typically falls on one or more of the drivers involved. That is not necessarily the case in truck accidents, in which liability may be split among several parties. Depending on the circumstances of your truck accident, responsible parties could include:

  • The truck driver
  • The driver’s employer
  • The owner of the tractor and the trailer
  • The owner of any freight being delivered
  • The manufacturer of the trailer, tractor, or another part of the truck
  • A third-party maintenance or service company

If you’re unfamiliar with truck accidents, it’s helpful to have a lawyer on your side who understands Rhode Island trucking laws and has experience standing up to trucking companies and their insurers.

How Our Rhode Island Truck Accident Lawyers Can Make a Difference for You

Truck accident victims often suffer severe or even fatal injuries. Even a seemingly minor crash can cause neck injuries, concussions, broken bones, and other serious injuries that can affect your daily life and ability to work.

If you were injured or a loved one was killed in a trucking accident, you deserve an attorney who understands the full financial impact of your accident. Insurance companies are sometimes quick to offer settlements that only cover a fraction of your losses. The attorneys at Bottaro Injury Lawyers want to thoroughly investigate your case and help you pursue the full compensation you deserve.

When you hire us to handle your claim, we’ll work to help you:

  • Get the medical treatment you need.
  • Gather medical records related to your truck accident injuries.
  • Investigate the cause of your accident.
  • Calculate current and future financial damages.
  • Negotiate with the insurance company to seek maximum compensation.
  • Take your case to trial if the insurance company offers an unreasonable settlement.

How Long Do You Have to File a Truck Accident Lawsuit in Rhode Island?

Rhode Island law limits how long you have to file a lawsuit to pursue compensation for losses you sustained in a truck accident. Under Rhode Island’s statute of limitations on truck accident claims, you typically have only three years from the date of the truck accident to file a lawsuit against the parties at fault for the crash. If you file suit after the statute of limitations has expired, the opposing parties can file a motion to have the court permanently dismiss your case.

Demanding Fair Compensation for Truck Accident Victims

If you have sustained a truck accident injury in Rhode Island, you may be entitled to recover compensation for related expenses and losses. Fair and full compensation in your truck accident injuries could cover:

  • Costs of medical treatment and rehabilitation, including emergency treatment and hospitalization, surgeries, physical and occupational therapy, prescription medication, and medical and mobility devices and equipment
  • Costs of long-term care if your injuries result in permanent disabilities or chronic infirmities
  • Lost income and wages if you miss work due to your injuries, or loss of future earnings if disabilities prevent you from returning to your pre-accident job or full-time work
  • Physical pain and distress
  • Emotional trauma or suffering
  • Loss of quality of life because of visible scarring and disfigurement, or physical disabilities that interfere with daily living
Demanding Fair Compensation for Truck Accident Victims

Common Types of Truck Accidents in Rhode Island

At Bottaro Injury Lawyers, our goal is to help victims of Rhode Island truck accidents seek the compensation they deserve. Our lawyers have experience handling many different types of trucking accidents, including:

  • Rollover accidents
  • Jackknife accidents
  • Underride accidents
  • Override accidents

Our firm has the experience and resources to thoroughly investigate the crash to determine the exact cause of the truck accident. We have successfully held truck drivers and trucking companies responsible for crashes caused by:

  • Distracted driving, including texting while driving
  • Fatigued or drowsy driving
  • Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
  • Negligent or reckless driving, including speeding, tailgating, disregarding red lights, stop signs, and other traffic controls, or failing to use turn signals and mirrors
  • Inadequate truck maintenance
  • Unsafe cargo, including excessive loads, unbalanced loads, or failing to secure loads from shifting
  • Truck defects

Types of Rhode Island Truck Accident Injuries

Victims of truck accidents often suffer severe and even life-threatening injuries, but even seemingly minor truck accident injuries can lead to long-term pain and require expensive medical treatment.

If you’ve suffered injuries caused by a truck accident, you may be in pain, unable to work, and in financial distress. You deserve advocates who can help you pursue compensation for your injuries. The attorneys at Bottaro Injury Lawyers want to help.

Some examples of truck crash injuries include:

  • Brain injuries, including concussions, contusions, diffuse axonal injury, or hematomas
  • Spinal cord injuries, including fractured vertebrae, herniated spinal discs, and paralysis
  • Chest injuries, including rib fractures, internal bleeding, ruptured organs, punctured or collapsed lungs, or myocardial contusions
  • Arm and leg injuries, including fractures, muscle damage, infections, blood clots, infarction, gangrene and necrosis, and traumatic amputations
  • Back injuries, including spinal injuries, whiplash, and muscle injuries
  • Head injuries, including ear injuries, eye injuries, nose injuries, jaw and mouth injuries, skull fractures, and open head injuries
  • Neck injuries, such as sprains, strains, or whiplash
  • Pelvis injuries, including fractured hips, organ damage, or bladder or bowel obstructions
  • Soft tissue injuries, including bruising, lacerations, abrasions and road rash, avulsions (where skin is torn away from the underlying tissue or bone), and burns

Rhode Island Truck Accident FAQs

Truck Accident

What is the most common injury caused by rear-end crashes?

Rear-end crashes affect everyone differently, but one of the most common injuries they cause is whiplash. Whiplash is a neck and upper back injury that occurs when the head and neck are forcibly snapped backward and forward, much like the cracking of a whip. Many whiplash injuries result from the violent back-and-forth motion that occurs when a car gets rear-ended and its occupants launch forward into seat belts and airbags.

What kind of damage can a rear-end collision cause?

The damage your vehicle sustains in a rear-end collision depends on where precisely it is hit. If your car gets hit by a truck from behind, the impact could damage your trunk, taillights, exhaust system, muffler, catalytic converter, and more. If you run front-first into the back end of a truck, the collision could damage your front bumper, headlights, hood, windshield, engine, transmission, and radiator.

Should you go to the hospital if you get rear-ended?

Yes. Going to a hospital, urgent care clinic, or doctor’s office is one of the most important steps you can take in the aftermath of a rear-end accident. Not only will your provider diagnose and treat your injuries, but they will also document your condition in your medical records, which will play a key role in your injury claim. 

What happens to your body in a rear-end collision?

In a rear-end truck accident, the truck’s momentum is transferred first to your vehicle and then to your body. Even a relatively low-speed collision can force your body to fly forward into your seatbelt, airbag, or dashboard, then snap back into your seat. In many rear-end accidents, the head snaps back and forth more rapidly than the rest of the body, which is restrained by a seat belt. This leads to common injuries like whiplash and concussions.

Can a minor car accident cause back pain?

Yes. Even a relatively low-speed rear-end truck accident can result in serious injuries with painful symptoms like back pain. The violent backward and forward motion of the human body in a rear-end collision can easily stretch and damage soft tissue, including the ligaments, tendons, and musculature of the back. If you have back pain from a minor rear-end truck accident, you could be entitled to compensation from a personal injury claim.

Should I get a lawyer if I got rear-ended?

Yes, it’s always a good idea to consult a lawyer after a truck accident, no matter how minor it seems at first. Truck accident cases are complex and confusing, and trucking companies and their insurers use this fact to their advantage. Our knowledgeable truck accident lawyer can protect your interests, fight back against underhanded tactics aimed at denying or undervaluing your claim, and demand full compensation for your losses.

 

What is a commercial truck?

A commercial truck typically refers to a vehicle large enough that a commercial driver’s license (CDL) is required to operate it legally. Examples of commercial trucks include box trucks, semi-trucks, tractor-trailers, 18-wheelers, tanker trucks, dump trucks, garbage trucks, and cement trucks.

How are truck accidents different from other types of vehicle accidents?

Cases arising from truck accidents often prove more complex and time-consuming than other types of motor vehicle accident cases for several reasons, including because they often involve:

  • More liable parties – Truck drivers as well as the freight companies that employ or contract with them may bear responsibility for causing an accident. That means that truck crash claims may become more complex, as multiple liable parties try to contest their legal liability or share of liability to compensate injured victims for their losses.
  • More injured parties – Truck accidents often involve many vehicles, especially when a crash occurs on a busy road. If many people suffer injuries from a truck crash, it can make resolving claims more complex.
  • More evidence – Thoroughly investigating a truck accident often requires reviewing many more types of evidence, including items like truck driver logs, logs from the truck’s electronic data recorder (black box), surveillance or traffic camera footage, truck inspection and maintenance records, and the load manifest detailing the truck’s cargo.
  • Complicated insurance and corporate structures – Many trucking companies have complex corporate structures and layered insurance policies that can make it difficult to determine the proper party to sue or how much insurance coverage exists to compensate injured victims.

Why should I hire an attorney to help me with my truck accident case?

Trucking companies and their insurers have considerable financial resources to defend themselves against truck accident claims. You should hire a Rhode Island truck accident attorney from Bottaro Injury Lawyers to help level the playing field. Our seasoned attorneys can thoroughly investigate your case to determine who caused the accident, recover evidence needed to build a persuasive claim, and aggressively pursue truck accident compensation through settlement negotiations or at trial.

What should I do after a truck accident?

Taking the following steps after a truck accident can help strengthen your future legal case:

  • Document the accident scene. You or someone you trust should take photos or video of the accident scene as soon as possible. Take pictures and videos of the vehicle damage, traffic controls, skid marks in the road, and weather, lighting, and traffic conditions at the time of the crash.
  • Seek medical attention immediately. No matter how mild your injuries may seem at first, you should get a complete medical exam as soon as possible. Even minor injuries can become serious if not treated properly. A doctor can diagnose the injuries you sustained and provide documentation that they were caused by the truck accident. This medical care is also an essential part of your physical recovery.
  • Keep copies of bills and invoices. If you miss work, make sure to keep records of your wages or income. That can help you calculate your financial losses.
  • Start a journal about your recovery. Document the physical pain and distress that your injuries and medical treatment cause you and their effects on your quality of life.
  • Avoid social media. Don’t post about the accident, your injuries, or your legal case. Also, avoid posting photos or videos of yourself while still recovering from your injuries. Insurers frequently monitor accident victims’ social media accounts for any posts that they can take out of context to contradict the accident victim’s claims and allegations.
  • Contact a lawyer. After a truck accident, you’ll likely be approached by investigators and insurance adjusters hired by the trucking company. Their main objective is to minimize possible expenses and legal liability for the trucking company, so they may offer you a lowball settlement. Consulting with an attorney as soon as possible can help protect your rights to compensation before accepting a low settlement or offering a statement.

How much does it cost to hire a Rhode Island truck accident lawyer?

If you’re facing serious financial pressure while trying to recover from the injuries you suffered in a truck crash, you may be worried about the cost of engaging an experienced truck accident attorney in Rhode Island. That’s why the truck accident law firm of Bottaro Injury Lawyers offers clients a No Fee Guarantee. This means you do not need to pay anything unless and until we win compensation in your case. There are no upfront retainers or charge hidden fees. We want you to get the legal representation you need without worrying about how to afford it.

Get a trusted car accidents lawyer on your side

Talk to a Truck Accident Lawyer in Rhode Island

If you were injured in a crash involving an 18-wheeler, semi-truck, big rig, or other commercial truck, contact Bottaro Injury Lawyers today. We offer free, no-obligation consultations that give you a chance to talk to a truck accident lawyer in Rhode Island about your legal rights and options for pursuing a case.

Our attorneys fight to recover financial compensation and justice on behalf of clients who were injured in truck accidents in Providence, Pawtucket, East Providence, North Smithfield, Warwick, and throughout Rhode Island and Southeast Massachusetts.

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