New Haven Garbage Truck Accidents

It’s easy to think of garbage trucks as friendly, familiar vehicles, lumbering through our neighborhoods in the early morning hours. While it’s true that garbage trucks perform a necessary function and form a critical cog in our waste management system, these large, tough metal vehicles loom over smaller cars and outweigh them by thousands of pounds. When a garbage truck accident happens in New Haven, the results may be serious or even catastrophic for motorists in other vehicles involved in collisions — this is why it is critical you call a New Haven truck accident lawyer to get the justice you deserve.

Why Garbage Truck Accidents Are Surprisingly Common

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), there were over 1,400 injuries and 107 fatalities in garbage truck accidents in a single recent year in what’s described as an “unprecedented uptick” in accident numbers in the last decade. These massive trucks present a significant danger to other motorists. Common causes of garbage truck accidents in New Haven and elsewhere include the following:

Poor visibility: garbage trucks operate in the early morning hours with dark, foggy conditions and have extended blind spots
Frequent stops, starts, and reverses
Garbage trucks often block the roadway
Fatigued drivers
Garbage truck drivers must rely on direction from the worker on the back of the truck due to limited visibility
Speeding
Distracted driving
Unsafe lane changes due to blind spots
Mechanical problems/inadequate maintenance
Brake failure
Falling debris
Unbalanced loads, sudden load shifts

When a garbage truck is involved in an accident, it takes an investigation to determine the cause of the accident and to identify the liable party.

Liability In Garbage Truck Accidents In New Haven

Garbage truck accident claims often require careful navigation due to the different timelines and filing requirements involved in claims against government entities like city waste management agencies. In other cases, garbage trucks are owned by private companies which may be liable for damages. Proving liability for a truck accident claim requires providing compelling evidence that the driver, company, or agency is liable for damages due to the following:

They owed a duty of reasonable care to others on the road
They breached this duty through negligence
Their breach of duty directly caused the accident and injuries
The injury victim suffered damages from the accident

Once our New Haven personal injury attorneys gather strong evidence of liability, they file the accident claim against the appropriate insurance company to recover the maximum damages available.

What Damages Can an Injury Victim Recover After a Garbage Truck Accident In New Haven?

In some cases, a garbage truck injury victim may be fortunate enough to escape with minor injuries, but still shouldn’t be left responsible for an emergency room bill and a few days of lost pay. In worse cases, a garbage truck accident victim may suffer severe or even catastrophic injuries with life-altering consequences.

The consequences of an accident become the injury victim’s economic and non-economic damages in an injury claim. Common damages recovered include past and future medical expenses, past and future income loss, lower future earning capacity, compensation for pain and suffering, and compensation for other damages that sometimes apply, such as for disfigurement, the loss of a limb, the loss of one of the senses, and diminished quality of life.

If a loved one dies from their injuries in a garbage truck accident, family members could gain compensation for their loss through a wrongful death claim.

How Can a New Haven Truck Accident Lawyer Help?

When a garbage truck is involved in a serious accident with injuries to others, the injury victim shouldn’t have to bear the consequences alone. Instead of navigating a complex accident claim without legal representation, call the results-oriented law form of Weber & Rubano today at (203) 888-8888 or contact us online for a free evaluation of your case. We are ready to take prompt action on your behalf.