Overloaded Truck Accident Lawyers

When you are searching for truck accident attorneys who can help, experience with actual truck accident cases is key. We work with cases involving semi-truck accidents on a regular basis. In fact, we helped an accident victim win more than $5 million after showing that the trucking company was negligent in causing the accident. We also won multimillion-dollar settlements in two other cases involving trucking companies. We have the experience that can benefit your case.

Attorney Mark T. Sumwalt has more than four decades of experience practicing law in Charlotte, including litigating cases throughout the state of North Carolina. With his experience with personal injury cases, he knows how to track down the most important facts, giving us the best chance at achieving a beneficial outcome.

Attorney Richard L. Anderson is a native of Charlotte with nearly three decades of experience trying cases. Although most cases like truck accidents that involve personal injuries settle before they go to trial, you always want experienced trial lawyers on your side, just in case. Rick always prepares as if a case will go to trial, ensuring that nothing catches him off guard.

How Our Overloaded Truck Accident Lawyers Can Help You

One of the most important things that our truck accident attorneys can do for you is to listen to you. Although this may sound like a simple thing, it’s something that sets Sumwalt Anderson apart from other Charlotte truck accident lawyers. Some personal injury attorneys are more interested in rushing their clients in and out of the office, spending as little time as possible answering their questions, so they have the time to take on even more clients. That is not the way our overloaded truck accident lawyers work.

Instead, we are willing to spend whatever time is necessary to listen to our clients. After all, we cannot represent you to the best of our ability unless we fully understand the hardships you are facing and your goals for the future. We want you to be as honest as possible with us about everything related to the accident and about your discussions with the insurance company to date. For example, if you have concerns that you never will be able to enjoy some of your favorite activities again, we need to know about this, so we can include this as part of the settlement amount we are requesting.

We listen to our clients, and then we act on your behalf. We do not take actions without discussing them with you first. Call us at (704) 377-3770 for a free review of your case today.

Our Charlotte Truck Accident Lawyers Know How to Investigate These Types of Cases

When you hire us after a truck accident, we need to thoroughly investigate the case. For us to be able to bring a successful personal injury lawsuit on your behalf, we must prove that a negligent party caused your truck accident. For example, if the truck that hits you is violating North Carolina statute § 20-118 in terms of the amount of weight it is carrying, this is a clear indication of negligence. Trucks have a weight limit, depending on the number of axles they have. The maximum weight limit is 90,000 pounds for only the largest trucks with several axles.

If a truck driver knowingly overloaded the trailer, if a trucking company forced the driver to overload the truck, or if a client loaded the truck improperly, we have a party we can hold responsible for causing your accident. Sometimes, our investigation may show that multiple parties appear to be negligent. We do not back down when facing complex situations when your health and financial future are at stake. We know the importance of winning a settlement for you, and we will work tirelessly to make sure that happens.

Why Is an Overweight Truck Especially Dangerous?

According to Truck Smart, a typical passenger car traveling at 65 miles per hour needs 316 feet to stop, while a truck hauling 80,000 pounds needs 525 feet. If the truck is carrying too much weight, it will need even more distance to stop, which could end up being the cause of your accident. Additionally, because the overweight truck takes longer to slow down, that truck will hit you with greater force than a truck following weight limit laws, likely increasing the severity of your injuries.

Even for an experienced truck driver, it is difficult to control an overweight or improperly loaded truck. The unstable or excessive weight in the trailer can cause the driver to lose control, which may end up being the direct cause of your accident. Our overloaded truck accident lawyers in Charlotte know how to use this information to help the strength of your case.

Trust Our Overloaded Truck Accident Lawyers to Decipher the Impact of Your Injuries

Clients who hire our overloaded truck accident lawyers often want the case to come to a conclusion as quickly as possible, so they can receive their settlement payment. At Sumwalt Anderson, this is our goal, too. However, we also know that rushing a settlement is not always in your best interest.

We need to have a full diagnosis of your injuries and of the impact they will have on your life before we can begin to seek a settlement. Doctors need to determine the future you are facing through the diagnosis they develop. They need to have a long-term treatment plan developed before we should be ready to settle. Once you agree to a settlement, you cannot go back to the insurance company and request more money later if your doctor discovers a new injury related to the crash. Therefore, we cannot settle until doctors are certain they know about all your injuries.

We promise that we will work quickly and thoroughly at the same time, always with the goal of helping you receive the best possible settlement for your overloaded truck accident lawsuit.

Our Overloaded Truck Accident Lawyers Also Can Help When a Wrongful Death Occurs

Because of the extreme weight of an overloaded truck, such trucks can outweigh a sedan by as much as 60 times and a standard pickup truck by as much as 30 times. This weight disparity causes the truck to deliver significant force to the passenger vehicle that the overweight truck hits.

Unfortunately, this excessive force can cause fatal injuries for people in the passenger vehicle. For surviving family members, the death of a loved one often brings emotional trauma and financial hardships. If your loved one died because of an accident with an improperly loaded truck, you have the right to seek damages on behalf of your loved one. Trust our wrongful death attorneys to represent you to the best of our abilities.

Reach Out to Sumwalt Anderson for Help With Your Overloaded Truck Accident Lawsuit Today

At Sumwalt Anderson, we know that choosing to hire truck accident lawyers can feel like a difficult choice. You want to believe that the insurance company representing the trucking company is telling the truth when it says it will look out for your best interests and will take care of you. Unfortunately, this rarely happens in real life. More frequently, the promises the insurer makes to you over the phone immediately after your accident disappear when it’s time to negotiate a settlement that actually compensates you fairly.

Our overloaded truck accident lawyers know that insurance companies rarely follow through on these promises, because we hear it from our clients on a regular basis. We have clients who choose to hire us after they try to negotiate with the insurer on their own, and they tell us how the insurance company is more interested in boosting its profits than in paying victims a fair settlement amount. Although we prefer victims to choose to hire our Charlotte truck accident lawyers within a few days of the accident, we usually can take on cases at any point in the process.