Trucking accidents can leave victims with serious injuries, totaled cars, and long-term recovery needs. When your car gets hit by an 18-wheeler, the injuries you suffer are often far worse than the injuries from a car crash, and you could need months or years of physical therapy and other medical care to get you back on your feet. In many cases, these crashes can result in high-dollar compensation for the victims if the case settles or goes to trial. Fayetteville truck accident lawyer Ken Kieklak discusses what the average value of these settlements can look like and how to calculate damages for a truck accident in Arkansas.
How Much Are 18-Wheeler Accident Lawsuits Worth in Arkansas?
Every truck accident case is different, and the damages in any case depend heavily on the facts of how the accident happened and what damages you faced. Typically, auto insurance claims let you recover a portion of the expenses necessary for medical care and lost wages, but insurance settlements often leave out payments for pain and suffering and other intangible, “noneconomic” damages. In a lawsuit, you should take into account all of these damages as well when calculating the potential settlement you could receive.
In a lawsuit, you can claim compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering damages, among other costs. The payments for medical bills can cover past damages and may even cover your ongoing and future costs for rehabilitation, physical therapy, and other damages. The damages for lost wages can pay you back for any time off work you faced because of the injuries. The damages for pain and suffering compensate you directly for the experiences you suffered, even though these damages are not shown by records and bills like the other damages are. Other compensation you can claim in a truck accident case in Arkansas can include the cost of vehicle repairs and other property damage you faced in the crash.
To figure out what your case might be worth, it isn’t quite as simple as adding all of these damages up. In many cases, the damages from medical bills and lost wages are simple calculations where you can add the damages together. However, if you have to project future damages, this can require the help of economic experts and a lawyer who can help parse out what damages you can and cannot claim in your case. The damages for pain and suffering are also complex, with these prices being set by a combination of factors including how severe your personal experience was and how it compares to precedents set in other injury cases for injuries of similar severity. Your lawyer, again, can help calculate these costs.
What is the Average Value of a Trucking Accident Settlement in Arkansas?
Determining the average settlement for truck accidents in Arkansas is difficult. There simply isn’t much data collected across the board to know how each case is settled, and many cases are settled confidentially. Trucking companies often do not want the public knowing that their trucks and drivers cause accidents or else they could lose customers and face public ridicule for unsafe accidents. As such, many trucking accident cases are settled out of court in confidential settlements.
Even if we had good data on what the average recorded settlement might be, this information will not help you much in determining how much your specific case is worth. As we mentioned, the damages in each case are unique to the facts of the case. Instead of trying to see what the average is, there might be data on individual accidents out there that you could compare to your crash and see what your accident could be worth by comparison. However, it is best to go over your case with a lawyer to begin getting an idea of what your claim might be worth.
Factors that Affect How Much a Settlement for an 18-Wheeler Crash is Worth in Arkansas
There are multiple factors that can change how much your case is worth. Certainly, different costs for damages can raise or lower the value of your settlement, since the majority of the values in your case will be based on what your medical bills and lost wages cost you. Different levels of injury could also result in higher or lower damages for pain and suffering, with more severe or permanent injuries typically getting higher damages.
When you settle a case instead of taking it to trial, there are other factors that could change the value of the case. In a settlement, both sides save money because they do not have to spend the time and resources going to trial and fighting the case before a jury. Typically, trucking companies will factor this into settlements by reducing the overall value of a settlement to account for the money you save by skipping the trial.
There are also other economic factors that can affect the money paid for future damages, there are other considerations regarding court costs and attorneys fees, and there might be insurance policy limits that affect what the trucking company is willing to pay. Talk to a lawyer about what a settlement should be worth and whether the offer you got was fair. If it was not fair, we might be able to take your case to court to fight for higher damages from an award at trial.
Call Our Fayetteville, AR 18-Wheeler Accident Victim Attorney
If you or a loved one was injured in a crash involving a commercial truck in Arkansas, contact Ken Kieklak, Attorney at Law, today. Ken is a Fayetteville personal injury lawyer with decades of experience representing injury victims in all sorts of auto accidents, including 18-wheeler accidents. After a truck accident, it is important to work with an injury lawyer to find out if the trucking company’s settlement offer is fair and to fight to get the damages you need covered. For a free case consultation, call our law offices today at (479) 316-0438.