As you know by now, truck accidents can cause serious injuries - and those serious injuries come with serious medical bills. Your Eau Claire, WI truck accident lawyer can help you get some much-needed financial support after your crash, but you need to find a team with plenty of experience. At Johnston | Martineau PLLP, we’re ready to use our 40+ years of legal experience to get you through your next steps. Read on to see why you need a semi truck lawyer, and contact us today to get started.
Truck Accident Lawyer Eau Claire, WI
Cars aren’t designed for run-ins with big rigs. They may be able to handle a crash with another car or SUV, but no amount of engineering can fully protect you from a semi truck accident. Now, you’re dealing with the aftermath: repair bills, medical expenses, and a whole headache with insurance providers who don’t want to pay.
Unlike an ordinary car accident, the insurance situation can be pretty complicated after a freight truck crash. Some trucks are independently operated, so the driver may have his or her own insurance coverage. But some are parts of corporate fleets, and corporate insurance is difficult to deal with. Much like other insurers, these companies may try to deny claims and delay payments - but there’ll be communication issues all the way to the top.
In the meantime, you’re just trying to put your life back together. But it’s hard to do when you’re still dealing with your recovery. You can’t clock in for work, because you’re still going back and forth between doctors and physical therapy. This means you can’t collect your regular paychecks, and you can’t pay off your other bills, either.
You’re in a tough financial spot, and it was all due to someone else’s negligence. Maybe the truck driver wasn’t paying attention, or a drunk driver swerved in front of your vehicle. The bottom line: You shouldn’t be the one paying.
This is why your Eau Claire truck accident lawyer is such a valuable ally. Your attorney can investigate your crash to determine who else can be held accountable for your injuries. By working together with your legal team, you can take action and file a lawsuit. Your freight truck lawyer can also fight on your behalf against insurers who refuse to pay, but you’ll need an experienced attorney on your side to get you through the process.
Why Experience Matters In Truck Accident Cases
At Johnston | Martineau PLLP, we’re ready to use our experience to help you through your recovery:
- Our team has over 40 years of combined legal experience. We know how insurers may try to avoid paying, and we know how to get you the money you deserve.
- We’ve won millions of dollars for our clients. Your case is about more than just money, but it can help you pay for your medical care and recovery.
- We have insider insight to how insurance companies operate. This helps us develop winning strategies for cases like yours.
Contact Us Today
If you’ve been injured in a truck accident, you deserve compensation. Get in touch with Johnston | Martineau PLLP today, and see what an Eau Claire truck accident lawyer from our team can do for you.
Types of Truck Accident Cases We Handle in Eau Claire, WI
Commercial truck wrecks bring a different set of challenges than passenger vehicle collisions, from federal trucking regulations to multiple potentially liable parties. Knowing the category of crash you experienced helps clarify what evidence matters most and who may be held accountable.
- Rear-End Truck Collisions: A loaded semi can take significantly longer to stop than a passenger car, and rear-end crashes often result from speeding, distraction, or tailgating. Our approach includes preserving electronic logging device data and onboard camera footage to show what the driver was doing before impact.
- Jackknife Accidents: This occurs when the trailer folds toward the cab at a sharp angle, often triggered by sudden braking, icy conditions on I-94, or uneven cargo weight. We bring in reconstruction professionals to evaluate whether driver behavior, brake condition, or loading practices caused the loss of control.
- Underride and Override Crashes: Underride wrecks happen when a smaller vehicle slides beneath the trailer, while override events involve the truck rolling onto a passenger car. These claims often examine compliance with federal rear and side guard requirements, along with the carrier's maintenance records.
- Rollover Accidents: Rollovers commonly stem from taking curves too fast, abrupt lane changes, or cargo shifting mid-route. Investigation centers on driver training files, hours-of-service logs, and how the freight was secured before the trip began.
- Blind Spot Collisions: Large trucks carry substantial no-zones on every side, which can lead to sideswipes during lane changes and merging maneuvers. Truck accident attorneys in Eau Claire review traffic camera recordings and eyewitness accounts to establish where each vehicle was positioned.
- Hazardous Material Incidents: Tankers and carriers transporting fuel, chemicals, or other regulated freight can cause fires, spills, or contamination after a crash. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration tracks thousands of large truck incidents annually, and these matters often require coordination with state and federal safety agencies.
- Cargo-Related Wrecks: Overloaded, unbalanced, or poorly secured freight can cause trailers to tip or items to spill onto the roadway. Liability may reach beyond the driver to include the loading crew, freight broker, or shipper responsible for preparing the load.
- Fatigued or Impaired Driver Cases: Federal hours-of-service rules cap how long commercial drivers can operate without rest, yet violations still occur. Subpoenaing logbooks, fuel purchases, and GPS data helps confirm whether fatigue, alcohol, or drugs contributed to the crash.
- Mechanical Failure Claims: Brake malfunctions, tire blowouts, and steering defects often trace back to skipped inspections or rushed maintenance. These cases may involve the trucking company, a contracted repair shop, or the parts manufacturer, depending on the source of the failure.
- Multi-Vehicle Pileups: A single commercial truck losing control on I-94 or US-53 can trigger chain-reaction collisions affecting several drivers. Sorting out fault requires careful sequencing of the events, and we coordinate with each involved insurer to protect our client's recovery.
The strength of an Eau Claire truck accident claim often depends on how quickly evidence is preserved after the wreck, since logs and electronic data can be overwritten within weeks. If you or someone in your family was injured in a commercial vehicle collision, the team at Johnston | Martineau PLLP can review what happened and walk you through your next steps.