Car and Truck Accidents
Car Accidents
Automobile accidents are one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Each year thousands of people die in car accidents while many more suffer serious or permanent injury.
While most automobile accidents can and should be avoided by a conscientious driver, many are the result of negligence on the part of a careless or distracted driver. Frequently, an accident occurs when one driver makes a poor decision, fails to follow the rules of the road, or when the driver allows themselves to be preoccupied with things inside the car as opposed to watching the road and other motorists. As personal injury trial attorneys, Mason Law Firm has handled cases involving distracted drivers, impaired drivers, or drivers who were too tired to maintain a proper lookout as they operated a vehicle on the local roads and interstates.
With in-car cell phone usage and “texting while driving” on the rise, driver distraction is fast becoming a major factor in many otherwise avoidable automobile collisions. Drivers are charged with the responsibility of keeping a lookout for others using the same roadways and when a text or phone call becomes more important than safely operating their vehicle, that driver has been negligent. Couple the distracted driver with vehicle speed and size, and a disaster is waiting to happen.
Drinking and driving is also a major problem on South Carolina roadways. All too often as trial attorneys we see the devastating effects of drinking and driving on a very personal level as experienced by our clients and their loved ones. Over the years Mason Law Firm has successfully handled numerous injury or death claims for victims of drunk drivers and their families. Alcohol related accidents are often fatal or involve life changing injuries due primarily to the increased speeds and complete lack of attention on the part of the drunk driver.
Mark A. Mason’s experience as a prosecutor of DUI cases makes him particularly skilled at proving that impairment caused an automobile accident.
If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or killed due to the negligence of another driver, under the law you may be eligible to receive full and just compensation not only for your medical bills but also for other categories of damages you may incur. An insurance company wants to end your case as quickly as possible and may not treat you fairly just so they can close their file quickly in order to save money for the company.
An experienced personal injury trial attorney at Mason law Firm can help you understand and protect your legal rights. Mason Law Firm can help you recover for:
Pain and Suffering | Past Medical Costs | Future Medical Costs| Rehabilitation Costs | Lost Wages | Loss of Future Earning Capacity | Loss of Enjoyment of Life | Permanent Disability | Spousal Claims for Loss of Society | Other Accident Related Damages
If you or someone close to you has suffered a motor vehicle accident injury, you should speak with an experienced Mount Pleasant auto accident attorney at Mason Law Firm as soon as possible. We can help you be sure that your legal rights and any benefits to which you may be entitled are aggressively pursued.
Our experienced injury accident attorneys will evaluate all of the legal issues related to your case, including compliance with South Carolina traffic laws, all applicable motor vehicle regulations, issues related to your medical treatment and assessment of any liability of a third party.
Mason Law Firm has experience maximizing the amount of insurance that can be recovered in motor vehicle accident cases. There are complicated insurance issues involving stacking, coordination of benefits, subrogation, primary and excess liability coverages, uninsured and underinsured motorist policy provisions, to name a few, that must be navigated to maximize the amount of money a client can recover.
We have access to the experts, investigators and other highly qualified personnel to assist in the preparation of your case.
Because there are deadlines for filing personal injury claims, meeting with a Mount Pleasant auto accident attorney at Mason Law Firm to evaluate your case as soon as possible is highly recommended.
We make home and hospital visits and we will come to you wherever you are in the state. Call us today for your free case evaluation.
Truck Accidents
Commercial trucks can, and often do, pose serious dangers to drivers on the Interstate highways and other major roadways. Commercial truck drivers should be professionally trained and are required to adhere to strict Federal and state safety regulations. Failure to do so in a semi truck can result in fatal truck accidents. Mason Law Firm will investigate the actions of a truck driver to determine whether any of those regulations were violated and if so, whether those violations led to the collision.
Sometimes establishing negligence on the part of the truck driver requires an investigation into whether the truck driver purposely skipped Interstate weigh stations or took circuitous back road routes in order to avoid detection of illegally overloaded containers or whether required driver logs are altered or left blank. Truck drivers may also falsify required sleep records – which are used to proving they were not driving more than a certain number of hours per day, they may ignore required pre-trip safety inspections or, if those inspections reveal any dangerous defects, a trucker may choose to not report discovered vehicle defects to their employers or the appropriate authorities in order to avoid down time from their schedules. For a truck driver or the company they are hauling for, time off the road is usually equal to less money made. Drivers are encouraged to drive as often as possible and sometimes that leads to bad decisions on the part of the employer and employee-driver.
Usually a serious injury or death claim involving a trucking accident will involve not only the truck driver who was behind the wheel, but also their employer. A trucking company may have failed to properly train a driver or may have failed to properly investigate the credentials provided by a trucker on a resume before hiring them. Sometimes a trucking company fails to remove a driver from the road despite numerous warning signs that the driver poses an unreasonable risk to the motoring public based on their past performance while an employee of the company. Allowing an untrained or unqualified driver to get behind the wheel, or to remain behind the wheel, of a semi-tractor trailer combo can become a basis for holding the trucking company liable for injuries or deaths caused by their employee driver. Mason Law Firm and its attorneys have successfully handled numerous cases involving an employer’s negligent hiring, negligent training or negligent retention of truck drivers or other employees that ultimately led to injury of death.
When semi-truck drivers are dispatched with a tight schedule, they may act in haste, skipping many of the pre-trip safety requirements since truck drivers are often paid by the number of runs they complete or the miles they cover during a shift. This desire to squeeze as many runs as possible can result in a serious truck accident, or even a fatal truck accident. A truck driver’s inattention can also cause many problems for other drivers on the roadways.
Caution should always be used when in the presence of commercial vehicles including 18-wheelers and other heavy freight-carrying trucks.
Driver fatigue is the most common form of commercial truck driver impairment. Very often the drivers are exhausted due to hectic scheduling and a demanding workload, coupled with a need to earn money to support their families.
Unfortunately, in response to these opposing pressures, some commercial truck drivers choose to use both legal and illegal drugs, including cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamines (“speed”) and Ephedra based pills commonly known as “white cross” to help them stay awake through their tiresome and strenuous schedules. Too often the results are disastrous for the trucker and for the other motorists sharing the road. Mason Law Firm has established in past cases that truck drivers used drugs while driving.
Common causes of trucking accidents include:
- Failure of trucking company to determine if the truck driver is properly qualified
- Failure of trucking company to adequately train or properly supervise it’s drivers
- Poorly Maintained Equipment (Brakes, Lights, Suspension, etc.)
- Overloaded Trucks or Oversized Trucks
- Drivers choosing to operate in conditions of poor visibility due to smoke, fog, snow, or rain
- Fatigued, sleepy or overtired driver driving too long and too many hours without required rest
- Failure to Maintain Proper Distance
- Failure to yield the right of way
- Aggressive driving behavior (Road Rage)
- Truck drivers under the influence of drugs and alcohol while driving
- Truck drivers with history of prior driving violations including accidents
If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in a truck accident involving a semi truck or other commercial motor vehicle, you may have a truck accident claim. Our practice focuses on personal injury litigation including wrongful death cases. We work with families of fatal truck accident victims. Please contact Mason Law Firm for a free initial consultation and evaluation of your claim.