Jackknife Truck Accident Lawyers

Trucking is central to life and commerce in Indiana, providing the public with essential supplies and facilitating business operations throughout the state. Clearly, large trucks and semi-trailers have the capacity to do enormous good, but they can also do enormous harm when a truck accident occurs.

The State of Indiana permits semi-trailers weighing as much as 80,000 pounds to travel within its borders. Even a “fender bender” with a vehicle of that magnitude can be catastrophic, so it may be no surprise that trucks accounted for 11.88 percent of the vehicles involved in deadly Indiana collisions in 2020.

A truck accident can take many forms, though some of the most destructive involve “jackknifing,” in which a big rig’s trailer moves away from its cab, such that the truck resembles a partially folded pocket knife. Vehicles in the vicinity could be swatted by the swinging trailer or get wedged underneath any part of the jackknife, putting their occupants in mortal danger. In fact, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration reports that there were 4,842 jackknife truck accidents resulting in death across the United States in 2020 alone, while another 107,000 of these incidents resulted in injury that same year.

If you have been seriously hurt in a jackknife truck accident, reach out to the jackknife truck accident attorneys at Hensley Legal Group, who have been standing up for the everyday people of Indiana since 1998.

Please call or text us at (317) 472-3333, chat with us online, or fill out our contact form to schedule a free consultation with a dedicated Indiana truck accident lawyer today.

Why Do Trucks Jackknife?

Jackknifes typically happen when one segment of a semi-trailer slows down but the other does not, such that the cab and the trailer move sharply out of alignment. A jackknifed truck can encroach into other lanes, veer off the road, or roll over, colliding with or crushing anyone or anything in its way in the process.

There are numerous reasons why trucks may jackknife, though some of the top causes include:

• Poor speed management – A driver who neglects to manage a truck’s speed can initiate a jackknife event. If a driver accelerates too quickly, either the cab or the trailer may lose traction, thereby allowing one segment to move in a different direction or at a different rate from the other segment. Alternatively, a sudden stop could precipitate a jackknife by throwing off the alignment or the weight distribution of the semi-trailer.
• Improperly loaded cargo – Loading cargo into a semi-trailer is a “Goldilocks” proposition – it must be done “just right” to avoid a major jackknife accident while the truck is in motion. When a trailer is carrying too much cargo, or if that cargo is not properly secured within the trailer, the load can shift around in traffic and make the truck unstable, potentially leading to a jackknife. On the other hand, if the trailer is not carrying enough cargo, it may be too light to maintain sufficient traction, which could throw the alignment out of whack.
• Mechanical defects – Various mechanical defects could bring about a jackknife, including brake system failure, such that every segment of the semi-trailer does not come to a stop at the same time. Moreover, a battery malfunction could force the truck to grind to an instantaneous halt, possibly setting the cab and the trailer on radically different paths.
• Inclement weather – Traction is critical to preserving the alignment of a semi-trailer, and it could be reduced significantly by inclement weather, including rain, snow, sleet, and ice.
• Bad road conditions – Rough surfaces and other bad road conditions could prompt a comparable disruption of a truck’s momentum or a decrease in traction such that a jackknife truck accident may take place.

No matter what the specific cause of a jackknife may be, our Indiana jackknife truck accident attorneys can advise you of the next steps to take if you are contemplating a case.

Who Is Liable for a Jackknife Truck Accident?

It can be difficult to say up front exactly who is liable for a jackknife truck accident because of the logistical complexity of commercial trucking. Many hands take part in the completion of a single shipment by truck, and all of them could play a role in causing a jackknife.

For example, the truck’s driver could be held accountable for mistakes that jar the truck out of alignment, along with the owner of the truck (if separate from the driver), both for the misconduct of the driver and for the owner’s own actions or omissions. If another company is making use of the truck at the time of the jackknife truck accident, it could bear responsibility along similar lines.

Other individuals and entities could be blamed as well. An outside loader may be culpable when a semi-trailer is imbalanced by excessive or unfastened cargo. A servicing agent may be at fault when lax truck maintenance causes a mechanical breakdown, as could any manufacturer, distributor, or retailer of a defective component that is linked to that breakdown. And if road hazards significantly contribute to a jackknife truck accident, the government body tasked with constructing and repairing the road and any subcontractors that it employed could be civilly pursued. In certain situations, multiple parties simultaneously might have varying levels of legal liability, for which they might have varying levels of fiscal liability.

Given how many defendants there could be, it is crucial to identify and go after all of them within the time allotted by law, known as the Statute of Limitations. The Statute is generally two years for truck accidents in Indiana, though it can be far shorter in cases against the government, with additional requirements that must be satisfied.

Failure to file suit or otherwise reach a resolution before the Statute expires could bar you from full financial recovery, but you can rest assured that Hensley’s laser-focused Indiana jackknife truck accident lawyers will dot every “i” and cross every “t” necessary to establish a valid claim.

What an Indiana Jackknife Truck Accident Attorney Can Do for You

A jackknife truck accident can overwhelm you with mounting medical bills while curbing your ability to make ends meet. Seemingly overnight, you could find yourself teetering on the brink of ruin.

You need attorneys with the compassion to support you through your struggles and the skill to overcome them. You need the Indiana jackknife truck accident attorneys at Hensley Legal Group. No challenge is too daunting or adversary too intimidating to keep us from getting justice for our injured clients.

If you hire Hensley, we will launch an exhaustive investigation into the causes of your jackknife truck accident and everyone who might be responsible for it, acting swiftly to amass indispensable evidentiary materials, such as:

• Police reports
• Traffic citations and dispositions
• Crash scene photos
• Streetlight, dash cam, and surveillance footage
• Black box data
• Witness statements
• Cellphone records
• Hours of Service (HOS) and vehicular inspection logs
• Forensic analysis and accident reconstruction

After putting together an airtight case, our Indiana jackknife truck accident lawyers will work tirelessly to reach a settlement that reflects the entirety of your losses, including:

• Medical expenses
• Lost wages
• Pain and suffering
• Psychological and emotional anguish
• Diminished quality of life
• Permanent impairment
• Loss of consortium
• Punitive and wrongful death damages (if applicable)

And unlike some of our competitors, who seldom, if ever, see the inside of a courtroom, we are more than willing to proceed to trial if we do not receive an offer that is worthy of your claim.

We realize you may be reluctant to commit to further expenditures at this moment, but you should know that our firm works on a contingency basis, so you will never have to pay us anything unless our Indiana jackknife truck accident attorneys win your case.

It may feel like your world has been turned upside down, but Hensley will do whatever it takes to set things right again.

Contact Our Indiana Jackknife Truck Accident Lawyers

Hensley Legal Group has been fighting for hardworking Hoosiers for more than 25 years. If you have been injured through no fault of your own, contact our Indiana jackknife truck accident lawyers to discover your legal options.

You can arrange a complimentary case review with a knowledgeable Indiana jackknife truck accident attorney now by calling or texting us at (317) 472-3333, chatting with us online, or filling out our contact form.