Indiana Bulldozer Accident Lawyers
There are a wide variety of construction vehicles that can be found on practically any job site, but the one that looms largest in the popular imagination is the bulldozer, a tractor with a metal blade in the front that can push aside massive amounts of soil, stones, rubble, debris, and other materials. Yet though modern construction work might soon grind to a halt without bulldozers to clear landscapes and leave smooth gradings in their wake, they can do more harm than good if they are used improperly. Construction workers and bystanders who get struck or pinned by bulldozers may be forced to cope with punishing injuries necessitating months or even years of treatment at a cost that could stretch their finances to the breaking point, and that’s if they survive at all.
Fortunately, you may be able to initiate a personal injury case if you have been seriously injured by a bulldozer at an Indiana construction site, and you could increase your chances of success by teaming up with the construction accident lawyers at Hensley Legal Group, PC, a dedicated Indiana personal injury law firm whose experienced attorneys have been fighting on behalf of the wrongfully injured since 1998.
For a free case review with a knowledgeable Indiana bulldozer accident lawyer, please call us at (317) 472-3333, chat with us online, or fill out our contact form today.
Common Bulldozer Accidents in Indiana
While a bulldozer can inflict injury in any number of ways, some of the most common bulldozer accidents in Indiana are:
- Crashes – Much like passenger cars and trucks, bulldozers must keep their distance from other construction vehicles and workers in order to avoid crashing into them.
- Rollovers – Because bulldozers tend to move across rocky ground and up and down sharp inclines, they could be at greater risk of rolling over and ejecting their operators or falling onto nearby workers.
- Collisions inside the cab – Assuming that a bulldozer manages to remain upright when traversing rough terrain, the agitation inside the cab can still be so intense that the operator could be thrown around violently and collide with the ceiling, walls, or interior fixtures.
- Entanglements – Every bulldozer contains an array of intricate mechanisms in constant motion that could entangle the fingers, hands, arms, and other appendages of an unsuspecting worker and crush or amputate them.
Reasons Why a Bulldozer Accident Can Take Place
In addition to taking many different forms, a bulldozer accident can take place for many different reasons, but you usually won’t get compensated for your own accident unless another party is at fault for it, and most often that will be whoever is at the bulldozer’s controls.
Despite their unique features, the truth is that bulldozers are like virtually everything else on wheels in that they are driven by people, who sometimes make mistakes. As such, it may not be surprising to learn that bulldozer accidents are primarily the result of human error, which is also the chief contributor to 87 percent of truck accidents and 94 percent of total motor vehicle accidents throughout the United States.
Examples of misbehavior that could lead to an Indiana bulldozing accident may include:
- Neglecting to check blind spots – Every vehicle has areas beyond the driver’s normal field of vision called blind spots, but they can be much more substantial in bulldozers, and operators who neglect to check these blind spots frequently enough could clip smaller vehicles or workers hidden within them.
- Traveling too fast – Since bumpy roads are the rule and not the exception on construction sites, it is critical that bulldozers travel at an appropriate speed across them or they might be jarred dangerously off course.
- Inattention – Bulldozer operators are similarly obligated to pay close attention when they are proceeding forward or applying their blades so as not to hit anything or anyone in the immediate vicinity.
- Intoxication – The use of alcohol or drugs could dull the reflexes and cloud the judgment of a bulldozer operator to a disastrous degree.
- Drowsiness – Almost as detrimental to the operation of bulldozers as intoxication is drowsiness. Indeed, one study concluded that drivers who go more than 20 hours without sleep can be as impaired as drivers with blood alcohol concentrations of 0.08 percent.
- Inadequate training – Bulldozer accidents could be inevitable if their operators are not adequately trained to handle these highly specialized machines.
- Irregular maintenance – Their inherent complexity demands that bulldozers be regularly maintained by qualified mechanics so that they do not malfunction at the worst possible times, such as when they are ascending or descending steep hills.
On top of the careless actions of bulldozer operators and their employers, a host of external factors might bring about an Indiana bulldozer accident as well, like:
- Inclement weather
- Sinkholes and other hazardous surface conditions
- Flaws in the design and production of bulldozers and bulldozer parts
But regardless of why the accident that injured you ultimately occurred, our tenacious Indiana bulldozer accident attorneys will do everything in their power to hold everyone who may be liable for it to account.
Determining Liability in a Bulldozer Accident
However, it should be noted that determining liability in a bulldozer accident can be challenging. Depending upon the circumstances, potential defendants for an Indiana bulldozer accident case might include the:
- Bulldozer operator
- Company deploying the bulldozer
- Property owner
- Project developer
- General contractor, contractors, and subcontractors
- Manufacturer, distributor, or retailer of a defective bulldozer or component
- Government agency with authority over a public space under construction
In some instances, multiple individuals and entities could share varying levels of blame for a single bulldozer accident, and they must each be pursued within the time allotted by law, known as the Statute of Limitations. The Statute is two years for most bulldozer accidents in Indiana, though it can be considerably shorter in claims involving the government, with further requirements that may have to be satisfied.
Failing to file a lawsuit or reach an amicable resolution before the Statute expires could forever bar you from obtaining full and fair compensation for your bulldozer accident, but you can rely on Hensley’s Indiana bulldozer accident lawyers to blast through every obstacle that threatens to impede your quest for justice.
What Our Indiana Bulldozer Accident Attorneys Will Do for You
A major bulldozer accident can change your life in a heartbeat, quickly burying you beneath a mountain of medical bills while making it so much harder to earn the funds to dig yourself out, but this is where the Indiana bulldozer accident attorneys at Hensley Legal Group can help.
If you hire Hensley, we will launch a comprehensive investigation to unearth the origins of your bulldozer accident and the defendants who played a role in it, establish valid claims and/or file suit against them, and amass compelling evidence of their misconduct.
After putting together an irrefutable case that exhaustively conveys the extent of the defendants’ wrongdoing, our Indiana bulldozer accident lawyers will negotiate fiercely with their insurance carriers for a settlement that reflects the entirety of your losses, including your:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Pain and suffering
- Mental and emotional trauma
- Mobility restrictions
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Diminished quality of living
- Loss of consortium (if relevant)
And if we do not receive an offer that is worthy of your claim, we are more than willing to go to trial for a verdict that is, in contrast to many of our competitors, who seldom, if ever, venture into a courtroom.
Though no two Indiana bulldozer accident cases are exactly alike, Hensley will always strive to maximize the value of yours.
You Won’t Owe Us Anything Until We Win
We realize that you might be reluctant to shell out more money after spending so much already, but you should know that our firm works on a contingency basis. This means that you won’t owe us anything until our Indiana bulldozer accident attorneys win your case.
You have enough to worry about at the moment simply recovering from your injuries. Let Hensley worry about recovering the resources you need to do it.
Get in Touch with Our Indiana Bulldozer Accident Lawyers
Hensley Legal Group has been advocating on behalf of the innocent victims of negligence for more than 25 years. If you have no idea what to do after being badly hurt in a bulldozer accident in the Hoosier State, get in touch with our Indiana bulldozer accident lawyers to explore the remedies that may be available to you.
You can schedule a complimentary consultation with an accomplished Indiana bulldozer accident attorney by calling us at (317) 472-3333, chatting with us online, or filling out our contact form now.
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