Belleville Truck Accident Attorney
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Has a truck accident in Belleville caused you or a loved one serious bodily injury? Are you unsure how your life will be the same after such a painful accident and experience?
If this describes your situation, we urge you to contact our compassionate Belleville truck accident attorneys at The Floyd Law Firm. The father-son duo of Walter and Mark Floyd will be able to provide stellar legal representation and will be able to help right your situation after such a tragic occurrence.
What’s The Difference Between a Pickup Truck and a Semi?
The Code of Federal Regulations defines the difference between pickup trucks and truck tractors. The difference is:
- A pickup truck is “a non-passenger automobile with a passenger compartment and an open cargo area (bed).” Many light or medium-duty trucks are pickup trucks.
- Truck tractor “includes most heavy-duty vehicles specifically designed for the primary purpose of pulling trailers, but does not include vehicles designed to carry other loads.” Truck tractors do not include automobile haulers, straight trucks with trailer hitches, or tow trucks.
While the statutory requirements of what makes a truck a truck tractor is complex, a core difference between these truck types is the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR). The GVWR is the maximum weight your vehicle can pull, which includes the weight of the vehicle itself.
What Makes Truck Accidents So Dangerous?
Often trucks, even consumer-grade light trucks, are much heavier than other vehicles on the road. This is just examining the vehicle’s curb weight, meaning the weight of the vehicle itself as manufactured with no payload.
For example, the average consumer-grade passenger vehicle weighs 4,156 pounds, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In comparison, even light trucks can weigh from 6,000 to 10,000 pounds and a semi with an empty tractor-trailer can weigh 6.5 times that of a standard passenger vehicle.
Adding a potential payload to a truck accident can significantly increase the victim’s fatality risk. NHSTA researchers found that if a heavy truck is involved in a fatal crash, 71% of the time, the person who died was the occupant of the other vehicle, not the truck driver.
Considering that interstate highways in Illinois – a common location of fatal truck accidents – can have a speed limit of 70 miles per hour, it’s no wonder that truck accidents can cause serious bodily injury at a minimum.
Contact a Belleville Truck Accident Lawyer at The Floyd Law Firm
While the truck driver that hurt you or a loved one likely didn’t mean to do so, that doesn’t mean that absolves them from responsibility for their negligence. It’s their duty to right their wrongs in the eyes of the law.
That’s why The Floyd Law Firm has experienced truck accident lawyers who always seeks the maximum possible compensation in your Illinois truck accident case. Recovering millions of dollars in successful jury verdicts and settlements shows our dedication to our client’s successful physical and emotional recovery.
So, reach out to our Belleville truck accident attorneys at The Floyd Law Firm today to receive your free, no-obligation Illinois trucking accident case consultation today. Call (314) 863-4114 or book your case review with a Belleville injury lawyer online.