Truck & Motorcycle Accidents

Semi-Truck and Motorcycle Accidents

Semi-truck crashes and motorcycle accidents certainly fall under the car accident category, but they are a little different given the severity of the injury, often fatal. Semi-trucks are giant vehicles that are capable of inflicting serious injury even in low-speed situations. Indeed, force equals mass times acceleration, which means that semi-truck crashes with large mass can result in serious injury even at slow speed.

On the flip side, motorcycles are the smallest form of vehicle on our roads and are thus at a size disadvantage. There’s no such thing as a minor motorcycle accident. If a motorcycle comes in contact with another vehicle, that likely means the motorcycle driver is ejected and suffers serious trauma, perhaps fatal. There are on average 105 motorcycle accidents in Montana per year, and of those, there are approximately 24 fatalities from motorcycle accidents per year.

Semi-truck crashes are unique because they are likely subject to federal semi-truck driving regulations. Certainly, negligence still applies, and in addition, there are numerous rules that articulate the rules for semi-trucks. Essentially semi-truck drivers are held to a higher standard, due to the severity and frequency of semi-truck accidents.

Regulations range from training, education, alcohol, and drug consumption, sleep, hour and mileage limits, speeds, and others. Additionally, semi-truck crashes typically involve an employer and in some circumstances, the semi-truck company can be subject to distinct liability. Semi-truck drivers and their companies must adhere to strict regulations, including preserving records and data logs, and it’s important to act quickly in a semi-truck accident case before records and evidence begin to disappear.

Motorcycle accidents are unique degree of injury. We have represented motorcycle accident victims with severe and fatal injuries. Motorcycle accident cases are also unique in that juries can be critical of the motorcyclists, even when the motorcyclist is not at fault for the crash in any way.

Some people simply do not like motorcycles and have an attitude of “well, you signed up for that” when they hear of motorcycle accidents, even if the motorcycle rider was not at fault. Whether fair or not, it is important to fight against that type of perception and argument in any case. It is also critical to diagnose any head injury associated with the crash, as many motorcycle accidents involve some degree of head injury.

Contact us regarding motorcycle accidents and semi-truck crashes.