Bad Weather Truck Accidents in Allentown

No one enjoys driving through pounding rain, let alone through sleet or heavy snow in the colder months of the year. Nevertheless, sometimes you don’t have a choice but to brave the elements and navigate your car through less than favorable weather conditions. You have just as much of a responsibility to act lawfully and safely behind the wheel in those conditions as you do during a clear and sunny day.

It’s often possible to sue over injuries you suffered in a bad weather truck accident in Allentown, just like you could if you’d been hurt in any other kind of truck crash caused by a negligent truck driver. However, it’s also much trickier to get a good result from this type of claim than many injured people expect. You should seek help from an experienced truck accident lawyer before trying to demand compensation entirely on your own.

Holding a Truck Driver at Fault for a Bad Weather Wreck

Most successful lawsuits or settlement proposals over traffic accidents involving commercial trucks are built around the legal theory of negligence. A trucker is negligent—and, because of that, liable to pay for someone else’s injuries and losses—if they violate a duty of care they had to act responsibly under specific circumstances, and then cause an accident through that breach of duty which directly leads to someone else suffering a serious physical injury.

In order to hold a truck driver legally liable for a bad weather truck wreck in Allentown, you need to prove they caused the wreck to happen in the first place through a specific reckless or careless act behind the wheel. In practice, this means you need to show that they violated a specific traffic law or failed to properly adjust their driving behavior for the road conditions they were dealing with—for example, by slowing down and turning their headlights on when driving through rain.

Fighting Accusations of Comparative Fault

One other thing you may need to be prepared for when suing over an Allentown truck accident involving bad weather is proving that you weren’t at fault for causing the wreck through your own negligent behavior. You have a duty of care to drive safely just like truck drivers do, and if a court or insurance company believes you violated that duty before getting into a wreck with a semi-truck, they might assign you a percentage of comparative fault for your crash-related losses.

After that, the court or insurance company would reduce the total amount of money you’re eligible to receive by that same percentage—or, if you’re more than 50% to blame for the accident as a whole, they might throw your claim out altogether. This is a perfect example of the kinds of legal roadblocks a skilled lawyer can help you avoid while seeking compensation after a serious truck crash.

Contact an Allentown Attorney for Help with a Bad Weather Truck Accident Case

Rain or shine, everyone who drives on public Pennsylvania roads is expected to act lawfully and carefully at all times behind the wheel. If a truck driver has caused you serious harm because they failed to act carefully during rough weather, you may have grounds to sue them and their employer over all the negative effects this incident will have on your life.

Getting paid fairly in the wake of a bad weather truck accident in Allentown is far from a simple task, and not one you want to try accomplishing alone. Call Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers today to discuss your potential claim and learn more about what a winning lawyer can do for you.