How Trucking Companies In Colorado Avoid Responsibility for a Crash

In Colorado, the person or party at fault for causing a traffic accident is responsible for paying for a victim’s bills and losses. Unfortunately, when the other party involved in your accident is a trucking company, it may try to avoid responsibility using a variety of tactics. To achieve a fair case outcome, you may need to hire a truck accident attorney in Denver for legal counsel.

Shifting the Blame to You

According to Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-21-111, an individual’s comparative negligence (proportion of fault for an accident) will diminish his or her recoverable damages by an equivalent amount. Under this law, if you are allocated a percentage of fault for a truck accident in Denver, your financial recovery will be reduced.

Since Colorado is a modified comparative negligence state, if a plaintiff is found to be 50 percent or more at fault for an accident, he or she cannot recover any financial damages. A trucking company may try to use this law against you to shift the blame and diminish – or eliminate – your payout.

Downplaying Your Injuries

A trucking company or its insurance provider may try to dispute the severity of your injuries to reduce the value of your claim. The insurance company may request an excessive amount of medical evidence to prove your injuries, for example, or argue that the injuries you are claiming were pre-existing and not caused by the truck accident. To protect yourself, do not sign any medical release authorization forms that are sent to you by an insurer.

Tampering With Evidence

Although it is against the law to tamper with or intentionally destroy evidence, the trucking company may try to conceal evidence or “lose” important documents during the investigation of the accident. Trucking companies typically send rapid response teams to the scenes of truck accidents immediately, even before the police arrive, to collect evidence such as black box data or driver logs. An attorney can help you preserve evidence and issue subpoenas that require the trucking company to cooperate.

Delaying the Investigation

In Colorado, insurance companies must investigate, process and respond to claims within a certain amount of time. However, a crash investigation can be extended with a valid reason. A tactic an insurer may use to avoid paying your claim is to delay the investigation of the truck accident unnecessarily or without reasonable cause. An insurer may do this in the hopes that you will get tired of waiting and give up the claim or settle for an inadequate amount.

How a Truck Accident Attorney in Colorado Can Help

Truck accident claims in Colorado are not the same as typical car accident cases. Trucking companies and their insurance providers are powerful adversaries that can make it difficult to achieve the case results that you deserve. The most effective way to protect yourself is by hiring an attorney to represent you.

A Denver personal injury attorney can prevent or combat common tactics used by trucking companies and their insurance carriers to avoid responsibility for accidents. You can trust your lawyer to advocate for your rights and best interests during insurance settlement negotiations or a personal injury trial. A lawyer will not let a trucking company take advantage of you when you are at your most vulnerable.

If you or a loved one was recently involved in a Denver trucking accident, contact Fang Accident Lawyers for a free consultation about how we can help. Call (303) 710-8620 today.