Under federal law, commercial trucks cannot travel on interstate highways or cross state lines on any other type of road with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 80,000 pounds across the cab, trailer, and cargo combined. Louisiana imposes broadly similar restrictions on in-state traffic, with limited exceptions made for trucking companies that apply for and receive special permits to take an overweight truck through a pre-approved route.
Any truck driver or trucking company that puts an illegally heavy truck on public roads is breaking the law and putting everyone around their vehicle at risk of life-altering harm. If you have been injured in an overloaded/overweight truck accident in Baton Rouge, seeking the support of a skilled truck accident lawyer from Tomeny | Best may be a vital first step toward getting fairly reimbursed for the harm you have unfairly sustained.
Important Evidence in Overweight Truck Crash Claims
Most of the time, establishing civil fault for a truck accident involves referencing the accident report generated by police officers who responded to the crash scene, including any citation those officers issued to the truck driver for violating traffic law prior to the incident. However, police officers are not equipped to determine whether a tractor-trailer involved in a wreck in Baton Rouge was illegally overweight or otherwise overloaded with cargo, so that information will not be included in the accident report.
Instead, it may fall to an individual injured person to find and preserve evidence like driver logbooks and shipping manifests to establish how heavy the truck that hit them was. Help from seasoned legal representation can be vital not just to tracking down this kind of information but also to determining whether a trucking company has knowingly altered or destroyed relevant evidence in an attempt to hide what they knew was illegal activity.
Recovering Fairly for Short-Term and Long-Term Losses
Legal counsel can also play a vital role in identifying specific losses that an overweight truck crash in Baton Rouge has caused and proactively demanding compensation for them through a lawsuit or settlement demand. While every case is different, examples of damages that often factor into truck accident litigation include:
- Medical bills
- Lost work earnings and/or income
- Personal property damage and related expenses
- Physical discomfort and pain
- Mental anguish and suffering
- Lost enjoyment/quality of life
Importantly, a dedicated lawyer can help demand compensation for expected future losses as well as losses that have already occurred by the time the legal process begins. For example, in addition to emergency medical bills, a comprehensive claim could also demand reimbursement for the expected costs of rehabilitative and therapeutic care needed to address permanent and disabling injuries.
Contact a Baton Rouge Attorney for Help With an Overloaded/Overweight Truck Accident Lawsuit
Overloading a truck with more cargo than it is designed to carry makes it structurally unsound, more likely to break down during transit, and more likely to cause catastrophic damage to anything—and anyone—it comes into contact with. Nevertheless, there is no shortage of truckers and trucking companies who are willing to put others at risk for the sake of saving time and money, and that illegal misconduct sometimes has life-altering consequences.
Taking effective legal action after an overloaded/overweight truck accident in Baton Rouge will be much easier with the team from Tomeny | Best on your side. Call today to schedule a free consultation.
