18-Wheeler Accidents in Denver and What You Should Do

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Whether you realize it or not, large trucks are a vital means of transporting our ever day goods and produce throughout the continental United States in a short matter of time.  Without such services, a lot of our fresh produce would not be within reach, and certain goods would simply not be made available at such frequency and volumes as we now experience. But at times, these conveniences come at a cost…  

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, out of the 34,349 motor vehicle accidents throughout the U.S. in 2016, 4,564 of those fatalities resulted from large commercial trucks.  Large commercial trucks are defined as semi-trucks, 18-wheelers, big-rigs, tractor trailers, and hazmat trucks.

If you have been involved in an accident with a large truck, you will need experienced representation, as trucking companies and their insurance carriers are notorious for trying to settle for as little as possible to avoid large judgments – not to mention the complexity that often accompanies such cases. 

Why are large truck accidents different?

Large trucks are in a category all their own, as they require trained professionals licensed to maneuver them under certain weather, road, and stress conditions. Nevertheless, the severity of an accident with a large truck may result in catastrophic or life-altering impairments. A few of the common causes of accidents with a large truck are:

  • Distracted driving
  • Failure to perform regular maintenance and inspections on the truck
  • Excessive or unsafe weight
  • Failure to observe all traffic laws
  • Operating the truck without proper rest

Of course, truck accidents are not your typical personal injury case.  Because truckers are trained professionals required to carry specific liability coverage, and due to the serious nature of their profession, trucking accidents require showing that a certain duty was breached by the trucker that led to the accident.  This can be a showing that the driver was fatigued, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, reckless, or distracted. But more so than the fault of the truck driver, there may be multiple other parties to hold liable for a large truck accident.  This may be any one, or all of the following:

  • the trucking company assigned an inexperienced driver to perform a certain delivery; 
  • the manufacturer of the truck may have been aware of a part defect, or may have manufactured the vehicle below the standard duty of care;
  • the shipping or loading company may be responsible for not properly loading the goods onto the truck;
  • the truck may not have been properly serviced and maintained. 

Of course, knowing who to hold responsible for a large truck accident requires experienced attorneys that can spot the specific cause of an accident. 

Truck Accident Injuries are no Joke

Even with certain precautions taken by both the operator of large trucks, and the operator of a typical motor vehicle, the possibility for serious injuries or even fatal accidents still exist.  Injuries from large truck accidents often amount to large medical expenses and can put an individual out of work for a prolonged period. Aside from the large medical expenses from a wide range of injuries, the injuries are often accompanied by life long pain and emotional trauma.

It is crucial that you contact an experienced personal injury attorney immediately or as soon as possible after the accident – do not wait.  You should certainly avoid speaking to the trucking company’s attorneys or their insurance agents without an attorney, as they do not have your best interest in mind and may try to persuade you that you were at fault, or that you will need to settle to avoid not getting anything. Furthermore, an experienced attorney will help you piece together all the vital evidence that you will need to prove fault in your case.

Truck Accidents Require Specialized Attention and Skills 

If you or a loved one has been involved in an accident with a large commercial truck, you may have sustained serious injuries and property damage. For a free case evaluation, contact the experienced Denver attorneys at Alhasoon, Glidden and Glidden at (720) 487-1050.  We have represented clients in a wide variety of trucking accidents and have secured settlements and awards to make our clients whole.  We will vigorously represent your rights to help your recovery what you deserve.  

Wrongful Death

6 Major Causes of Wrongful Death

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Every day in Colorado, someone is involved in an accident that leads to serious injuries or even death due to someone else’s negligent, reckless, or bad conduct. This is where wrongful death lawsuit comes into the picture. A wrongful death lawsuit is a complex lawsuit brought by a spouse, children, or parents of a loved one for a wide variety of intentional, negligent, careless, or reckless acts that resulted in their loved ones death. Although auto accidents are a leading cause of negligent fatalities, wrongful death lawsuits result from a variety of causes.

Top six causes of wrongful death

The cause of wrongful death can be accredited to several types of conduct, all of which are due to another person or company’s negligent or willful conduct. The following six categories are the leading contributors of wrongful death.

  • Automobile Accident: These are some of the most common wrongful death cases, and tragically, also the most avoidable. Increasingly, drivers are held liable for wrongful death because of their distracted driving. Operating a vehicle and not observing all traffic laws is below the standard of care expected of a driver. However, using a cell phone, putting on makeup, eating, or any number of other activities that takes your eyes off the road can be classified as reckless, and often leads to serious life-threatening accidents.
  • Medical Malpractice: This is when a licensed medical practitioner breaches the standard of care that is required by their specific practice. If a doctor fails to abide by the standard of care for the procedure they are performing, they can be held liable for the negligence that lead to their patient’s death. Examples of a medical procedure that falls below the standard of care may be a surgery that deviates from the medically accepted procedure, when medication is prescribed for a condition that does not require the prescription, or when the physician’s medical diagnosis leads to the death of a patient for something that was avoidable, discoverable, or preventable.
  • Trucking Accident: Truck accidents are similar to automobile accidents, with a twist. Someone operating a truck can be held liable for wrongful death if they breach their duty to observe all traffic laws and operate their large truck in a safe manner. But more so, truck drivers are professionally licensed and have a duty to operate their large truck with more care than the typical automobile because of the weight and danger of large trucks. If a truck driver fails to observe certain rules of the road, it can easily result in a fatal accident.
  • Workplace Accident: Injuries and wrongful death cases are more common in high risk industries such as construction, but they can happen anywhere that heavy machinery or heights are involved. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 63.7% of worker fatalities occurred in the construction industry, while 38.7% of those injuries were due to falls. A workplace that does not take the proper precautions or provide the proper level of training may be liable for the wrongful death of their employees.
  • Product Liability: If a company that sells products for public consumption is made aware of dangerous defects of their products, and fails to make reasonable attempts to warn their consumers of the defect, or recall the product, they can be held liable for any wrongful death that results from the use of their product.
  • Criminal Activity: Any individual that kills someone in the commission of a crime can be held liable for the wrongful death of a loved one.

Our attorneys at Alhasoon, Glidden and Glidden have handled a wide variety of causes of wrongful death, throughout a wide range of industries, and know the ins and outs of handing such complex cases.

If you have lost a loved one due to someone’s negligent behavior, we extend our deepest condolences. In times like these, you need a committed partner to guide you through the complex process of recovering for the loss of your loved one and holding the responsible parties accountable. Time is of the essence! Call the attorneys at Alhasoon, Glidden and Glidden today (720) 487-1050 to set up a free consultation. We will work vigorously to make sure the responsible parties are held accountable – we don’t get paid until you get paid!

Denver Wrongful Death Lawyers

The Top Six Most Common Causes of Wrongful Death in Colorado

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A wrongful death lawsuit is a civil action brought by the member or members of a deceased person’s family for compensation. Wrongful death is a death that is caused by another person or company’s negligence, recklessness, willful disregard of the law, or the breach of a standard of care. For the basics of wrongful death lawsuits in Colorado, click here. The wrongful death of a family member is always a tragic event, and can often cost thousands of dollars in medical bills and property damage, funeral and burial expenses, not to mention the resulting emotional harm.

The experienced wrongful death attorneys at Alhasoon, Glidden and Glidden regularly deal with the following as the most common causes of wrongful death in Colorado:

Car Accidents

In Colorado, over 4,094 people died in car accidents in 2017 alone. This is the result of three factors.

  1. The first is a variation of reckless or negligent conduct by a driver. Things such as texting and driving, speeding, disobeying traffic laws, or driving under the influence of alcohol are common causes of injury or death to pedestrians.
  2. The second factor that lends to serious injury or death are defective road repairs or construction defects that cause a driver to lose control of their vehicle and become involved in a car accident.
  3. The third factor is an automotive defect to the operator’s vehicle. Certain mechanical defects may cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle and cause harm to themselves and others on the road.

Truck Accidents

Although trucking accidents are often similar to car accidents, they are placed in a different category for wrongful death lawsuits due to the specialty of care and skill required to operate and maneuver the size and weight of large vehicles, such as semi-trucks. Consequently, truck drivers are held to a different standard of care than regular vehicle drivers. Regardless of the heightened standard of care, truck drivers can be held liable for negligence, recklessness, and drunk driving. Driving under adverse weather conditions that are riskier for semi-trucks or driving with an overweight load is an example of negligence. Doing such things that are against the norm for truck drivers is referred to as breaching the standard of care, because it may put themselves, and others in harm’s way.

Motorcycle Accidents

Because motorcycle drivers are very exposed and have limited protection, motorcycle accidents often result in very serious brain, back and spinal injuries, and sometimes even death. Similar to car accidents, a few causes of serious injury may result from defective helmets and riding gear, mechanical issues in the motorcycle, or most commonly, from distracted or reckless auto drivers.

Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice results from negligence by medical professionals breaching their standard of care. Such negligence may result from a misdiagnosis, pharmaceutical errors, birth injury, improper treatment, medical device defects, or surgical errors. A breach of that standard of care can result in serious injury or death to a patient and may be grounds for medical malpractice or even a wrongful death action.

Defective Products

Defective products vary from the small to the large – from a design defect in a faulty motorcycle helmet, an air bag defect in your vehicle, a defect in your child’s toy, or the food and drinks you consume. Product defect lawsuits are a very important tool for holding manufacturers and companies accountable, as they sell and profit from goods sold to public consumers.

Workplace Accidents

In certain industries, such as manufacturing and construction, it is important for the company to observe certain laws, rules, processes, and standards of care for employees that work in hazardous or dangerous workplaces. For example, a worker on a heavy construction site should always be required to wear their hard hat to avoid the potential that objects may fall on them from above. If a company fails to enforce such safety standards, they can be held liable for not providing direction in the workplace. It is particularly important because the employer and the company have the knowledge, ability, and the duty to prevent known injuries to workers and employees.

Of course, a wrongful death lawsuit is not limited to the above listed causes. There may be more nuanced causes of serious injury or death that were preventable. Wrongful death lawsuits are important for holding individuals and companies accountable for their actions. If you are suffering from the loss of a loved one because of someone else’s negligence or recklessness, we extend our deepest condolences. Call the experienced Denver wrongful death attorneys of Alhasoon, Glidden and Glidden for a free consultation on your options for pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit to hold the responsible parties accountable. We will work hard to get you the compensation you deserve for the loss of your loved one.

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Suing for the Wrongful Death of a Loved One

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A wrongful death occurs when someone is killed because of the wrongful, careless, or negligent conduct of another party.  Although in some instances, a criminal suit can be brought against the responsible party for the decedent’s death, family members may file a lawsuit in civil court to establish the liability of a company or individual for the death of a loved one.

Examples of when family members of the decedent can file a wrongful death lawsuit include, but are not limited to the following:

– when a criminal action has failed or is not attempted,

– a death is caused by a drunk driver,

– reckless or careless driver,

– deaths cause by dangerous or defective products,

– medical malpractice,

– negligent, careless, or wrongful conduct

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

In Colorado, the Wrongful Death lawsuit is controlled by Colorado statute (CRS 13-21-201), which dictates specifically who can bring a wrongful death lawsuit.  In the first year of the decedent’s death, the surviving spouse has exclusive rights to bring the lawsuit.  After the first year, the surviving spouse or the children of the decedent have standing to bring a wrongful death lawsuit.  If there is no spouse or surviving children, then any of the surviving parents of the decedent may bring a claim. In addition to surviving family members, the individual representative of the decedent’s estate may file a claim for a “survival action” to recover damages for certain losses to the estate.

How Long Do I Have to File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

From the date of death of the decedent, any of the above individuals have two years to file a claim for a wrongful death. You should not wait – consult the experienced wrongful death attorneys at Alhasoon, Glidden and Glidden immediately to discuss your claim, ensuring you provide adequate time to prepare your case.

What Can You Recover?

In Colorado, the law provides that survivors of the decedent can recover economic and noneconomic damages. Monetary damages are assessed by a jury, and if there is no jury, by a judge. The specific damages awarded in a wrongful death suit will depend on the particular facts of the case. The types of damages that survivors can recover for a Wrongful Death lawsuit include, but are not limited to:

– Monetary damages,

– Loss of salary or wages of what the decedent would have earned had he or she been alive,

– The loss of love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, protection, affection or care suffered by the survivor of the decedent,

– Pain and suffering,

– Lost benefits, such as life and health insurance,

– Funeral and medical bills

Additionally, if the conduct of the responsible party was willful, reckless or wanton, the survivors may also recover punitive damages.

If you have lost a loved one unexpectedly due to negligent or reckless conduct, Alhasoon, Glidden and Glidden extends its deepest condolences. Wrongful death cases are almost always emotionally difficult for family members and is not a matter our attorneys take lightly.  If your loved one died unnecessarily due to someone’s carelessness conduct, call the best wrongful death attorneys in Denver – Alhasoon, Glidden & Glidden – for a free consultation to ensure that you receive fair compensation for your loss.