While it’s great to have companies like FedEx, UPS, Amazon, and DHL deliver packages to your doorstep, it’s another thing if delivery trucks cause injury accidents because drivers are hurrying to stay on schedule. If you’ve been in a crash, you may wonder what to do if a FedEx truck hits your car in Alabama.
In the 24 months before December 7, 2021, FedEx drivers were involved in a total of 405 accidents, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. This includes 10 fatal collisions and 159 crashes involving injuries. Of the 405 accidents, 236 required one or more vehicles to be towed. FedEx employs more than 42,000 drivers who log over a billion miles a year on the road.
These statistics demonstrate that FedEx truck crashes are serious and can result in severe injury or death. You may be entitled to financial compensation if you or a loved one has been injured or killed in a crash with a FedEx or other delivery truck.
You don’t have to face mounting medical bills, time off work, and other setbacks all alone. A skilled and experienced Alabama truck accident lawyer can fight for your rights.
Car accidents and truck accidents resulting in injury must be taken seriously, even if you think you haven’t been badly hurt. Sometimes severe symptoms arise hours or days later. The most important thing to do immediately after a FedEx truck hits your car is to ensure your own safety and seek medical attention. Following are seven steps to take if you’ve been injured in a vehicle accident:
The actions you take following an accident with a FedEx truck can help your attorney make your case for damages.
Delivery drivers have strict schedules and delivery quotas every day, which can cause them to hurry and sometimes cut corners. Drivers who are more concerned with speed than safety can cause accidents. Following are some common injuries suffered in delivery crashes:
In 2019, there were 11,243 truck accidents on Alabama roadways involving all kinds of trucks. That year, a person was injured in a traffic accident every 11 minutes and 19 seconds in Alabama.
Many different things can cause delivery truck accidents. Some of these are:
When a FedEx driver hits your car and you suffer damages, you should hire an attorney to notify them that you are seeking compensation. This notification serves as the starting point for settlement negotiations.
The strength of your case is based on your lawyer’s ability to show that the driver was careless or took actions without regard to your safety. There are several steps to building a successful case.
To make your case for damages, your attorney must show that four elements of negligence existed in your FedEx truck accident case. These elements include the following:
Duty – The driver owed you a duty of care.
Breach – The driver breached that duty.
Cause – The breach of duty caused your accident.
Damages – The accident led to your injuries and other losses.
In addition to proving negligence, Alabama has another bar to reach to collect damages in your FedEx truck accident case. The state uses a contributory negligence standard to determine whether you can collect compensation. You cannot collect damages if you are even 1% responsible for your accident. Only a handful of states use this very high standard.
Insurance companies will fight to prove that you are partly responsible for your damages to avoid paying a claim. It is very important that you do not talk to them without an attorney present, as they may try to twist your words to find the 1% of your blame they need.
To overcome the high standards set in Alabama to collect damages, your attorney must work tirelessly to prove your case. Some of the things an experienced lawyer will do include the following:
When determining what to do if a FedEx truck hits your car in Alabama, a skilled attorney will take all these steps and potentially more to overcome the high burden Alabama places on plaintiffs in personal injury cases.
You still have a case for damages if your car was parked when the FedEx truck hit it. There would be a case for property and personal injury damages if someone in the car got hurt.
Take lots of pictures or video footage around all areas of your parked car. Pay particular attention to where your vehicle is situated in relation to the curb or marked parking areas. FedEx and their insurance company know that they only have to show that you were 1% responsible for your damages to avoid compensating you. If they can show that you were parked too far off the curb, that might be enough.
The statute of limitations for personal injury cases in Alabama is two years. This means if you want to sue a party that caused you harm in a FedEx delivery truck accident, you must file your lawsuit promptly. The clock begins on the date of your accident in most cases, unless there are exceptions that apply.
Your family’s trauma following a collision with a FedEx Truck is only made worse when a loved one dies at the scene or later in the hospital due to their injuries. You can file a wrongful death suit, but it will include damages treated differently than in Alabama personal injury cases or wrongful death cases in other states.
Alabama allows for compensatory economic and non-economic damages in personal injury cases. These are designed to make victims whole again.
The state only awards punitive damages in wrongful death cases as a way to focus on what the defendant did wrong. These damages are designed to punish the defendant for their negligent actions and deter other people from acting similarly in the future.
The statute of limitations on a wrongful death claim is two years from the date of death. When damages are awarded, they are shared among the heirs to the estate directly instead of becoming part of the estate. This helps protect the damages against collection from creditors.
If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in a FedEx truck accident, you don’t have to face this tragedy alone. The skilled and experienced attorneys at Caldwell Wenzel & Asthana can assess your situation and determine if you may qualify for financial damages.
Our Alabama accident lawyers will hold FedEx accountable and aggressively go toe-to-toe with insurance companies to get the justice you deserve. To find out more about how we can help, call us at (251) 444-7000. The initial consultation is free, and we are prepared to fight for your legal rights.