These types of accidents can create serious, permanent, and sometimes life-changing injuries that affect not only the victim, but an entire family as well. Rising medical costs, lost wages, ongoing therapies, and the stress of not being able to work for an extended period of time can quickly put a family into financial and personal jeopardy.

When your life is turned upside down because of someone else’s negligence, you shouldn’t have to manage the fallout on your own. The experienced accident attorneys at Chaffin Luhana are dedicated to helping you recover the compensation you need to recuperate physically and financially, while supporting your family’s efforts to restore as much normalcy as possible.

What You Should Do After an Accident

Whenever an accident occurs, whether it takes place on the road or at the workplace, the first thing you should always do is go see your doctor. Even if you feel fine,  your injuries could show up hours or even days later. Having a medical record will help support any case you may make when trying to recover damages.

If your injuries are serious, the next thing you should do is contact an accident lawyer. Though you may be able to file a workplace injury claim or an auto accident claim on your own, it’s important to realize that you’re going up against insurance companies who have teams of lawyers ready to protect their own interests.

An accident lawyer will thoroughly investigate your case, unearthing evidence that may help you, and examining every aspect of the accident to determine if there are other potentially negligent parties involved. They will go to bat for you with the insurance companies to ensure you get the full amount of compensation you deserve.

Additionally, when you hand your case over to an accident attorney, you can concentrate on recovering while your attorney handles the paperwork, communication, and other potentially stressful activities involved with filing a workplace accident or vehicle insurance claim.

How an Accident Attorney Can Help After a Workplace Injury

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2017 there were about 2.8 million nonfatal workplace illnesses and injuries reported by private industry employers, and a total of 5,147 fatal work injuries. Fatal falls were at their highest level in the 26-year history of the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, accounting for 17 percent of deaths. Transportation incidents, meanwhile, remained the most frequent fatal events, accounting for 40 percent of occupational fatalities.

Employers are responsible for providing employees with a safe working environment, as well as with the required equipment needed to reduce the risk of injury. Under Occupational Safety and Health law, employers must also regularly examine workplace conditions to make sure they conform to applicable safety standards, provide safety training for employees, and use posters, labels, or signs to warn employees of potential hazards.

When an accident happens at the workplace, workers’ compensation may be available to help cover medical care, some wages during recovery, and perhaps any necessary retraining, and it should also provide benefits for survivors of family members killed on the job. In cases of severe or permanent injury, however, or when a loved one is killed, workplace compensation may not provide enough to allow a family to get back on their feet.

On your own, you may feel you have to settle for what workers’ compensation gives you, but with an accident attorney by your side, you stand a much greater chance of recovering more of what you need to manage life after a workplace accident. A workplace accident attorney has the experience needed to point out other potential opportunities for compensation that you may not have been aware of, revealing possible avenues for legal action against either the employer or third-party entities that may share in the accident liability.

What if workers’ compensation doesn’t cover the damage? If you are an independent contractor, for instance, you work in a domestic occupation (nanny, caretaker, housekeeper), or if you’re an agricultural or seasonal worker, you may not be covered by workers’ compensation. In those cases, a workplace accident lawyer can help pursue other avenues of compensation, including filing a workplace injury lawsuit.

The Chaffin Luhana accident lawyers manage all types of workplace injuries, including those caused by slips and falls, struck-by incidents, transportation incidents, exposure to toxins and chemicals, dangerous machinery, electrical issues, safety equipment failures, and more.

How an Accident Attorney Can Help After a Car or Truck Accident

Our roads and highways can be dangerous places. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), roadway crashes took 37,133 lives in the U.S. in 2017. Most of the victims were occupants of passenger vehicles, including cars, minivans, SUVs, and cargo/large passenger vans.

Meanwhile, though accidents with large trucks aren’t as frequent, they can be far more catastrophic, as these vehicles typically weigh more than 10,000 pounds. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 79 percent of the large trucks involved in fatal traffic crashes in 2017 were heavy large trucks, weighing over 26,000 pounds.

A total of 4,761 people were killed in crashes involving large trucks in 2017, a 9 percent increase from 2016. Seventy-two percent of those killed were occupants of other vehicles. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) adds that the number of injury crashes involving large trucks or buses numbered 119,000 in 2016.

In both car and truck accidents, negligence often plays a role. The NHTSA reports that a number of reckless behaviors, including speeding, alcohol impairment, distraction, and driving while drowsy, all play a part in traffic accidents, with speeding and alcohol impairment increasing in recent years. 

Any accident involving a driver who was engaged in unwise or reckless behaviors is an accident that didn’t need to happen. Sometimes there are other factors at play, as well, such as construction zones that aren’t properly designed or labeled, or vehicle parts that aren’t safely designed or manufactured. Often there is more than one liable party involved that can be a potential source of compensation.

In accidents involving large trucks, the rules are clear—drivers and employers must follow laws set forth by the U.S. Department of Transportation. They must adhere to strict time limits, including driving times and break times, as well as posted speed limits and cargo-load limits. Yet the desire to get the load where it needs to go can cause drivers to work beyond their limits, and employers to encourage such behaviors.

An accident attorney knows to examine every aspect of the accident, reviewing the driver’s logs to see if he or she may have been working too many hours without rest, and examining the employer’s records to see what they were requiring of the driver. If the driver was speeding or distracted at the time of the accident, did his or her employer do their due diligence when hiring that person? Did they perform a background check and thoroughly review the driving record? Did they provide adequate training?

There are other things to look into too, such as whether the cargo was loaded correctly, whether the vehicle was properly maintained, and whether there were any mechanical problems that may have contributed to the accident. Though driver error is often the most obvious factor involved after any type of accident, there may be many other factors as well that converged to make the accident possible at that particular moment in time.

The Chaffin Luhana accident attorneys have decades of experience dealing with these types of cases and know how to gather the information and evidence needed to build the strongest case possible for you.

Types of Workplace and Traffic Accident Injuries

Our experienced accident lawyers are ready to help with all types of accident injuries, including the following:

• Fractures and broken bones
• Respiratory injuries
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Spinal cord injuries
• Paralysis
• Cardiovascular, digestive, and other stress-related conditions
• Repetitive motion injuries (back pain, vision problems, carpal tunnel)
• Serious burns
• Severe scarring and disfigurement
• Amputations
• Whiplash
• Wrongful death

Experienced Accident Lawyers

If you or a loved one was injured or killed in a workplace or traffic accident, call us today for a free consultation. Chaffin Luhana is now investigating these cases and will not charge you unless we recover damages for you. Call today at 1-888-480-1123.