Indiana Tanker Truck Accident Lawyers

Trucks are central to life and commerce in Indiana, where nearly 16,000 registered trucking companies transport over 417,000 tons of freight each day. But as invaluable as trucks are to the state, the fact remains that truck accidents are some of the most devastating events on the road, responsible for 999 injuries and 118 deaths throughout Indiana in 2022.

There are many different types of commercial trucks, though some of the most dangerous are tanker trucks, which are semi-trailers connected to insulated, pressurized, or vacuum-sealed tanks used to haul liquids and gases. The corrosive, toxic, or even combustible nature of these materials could increase both the immediate and long-term harm inflicted by a tanker truck accident.

While you may be eligible to pursue a personal injury case if you get hurt by a tanker truck in Indiana, success is not guaranteed, particularly when squaring off against a stubborn insurance company that will do anything to minimize its exposure. To tip the odds in your favor, get in touch with the Indiana truck accident attorneys at Hensley Legal Group, who have been fighting for the innocent victims of negligence 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 tanker truck accident lawyer today.

Why Are Tanker Truck Accidents So Destructive?

The sheer size of tanker trucks – which can weigh upwards of 80,000 pounds and still travel within Indiana’s borders– can transform a “fender bender” into a catastrophe. But tanker truck accidents can be so much more destructive than accidents with other semi-trailers of comparable mass because of the contents of their tanks.

Very often, tanker trucks haul poisonous and flammable cargo, such as gasoline, oil, industrial chemicals, pesticides, natural gas, and radioactive waste. This freight can sometimes make a tanker truck harder to handle, which could add to the likelihood of a crash. And should the tank be punctured in that crash, its contents could spill out or escape into the atmosphere, possibly contaminating the environment and sickening bystanders and area residents. Those contents could even be ignited in the tanker truck accident, precipitating a runaway fire or an explosion that could put anyone in the vicinity in jeopardy.

Common Causes of Tanker Truck Accidents

Tanker trucks are complex machines that need to be operated with the utmost care to keep the public safe. But just like every other kind of vehicle, tanker trucks are still driven by human beings, who occasionally make mistakes. With this in mind, it may be no surprise that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has found that driver errors constitute 87 percent of the “critical reasons” for all truck-related crashes, including tanker truck accidents.

Some of the most common driver-based causes of tanker truck accidents are:

· Speeding – More than 15,000 Indiana auto accidents annually are the result of driving too fast. Speeding truckers need more time to react yet have less time to stop, which could be a disastrous combination.

· Tailgating – Motorists who speed may encroach upon the vehicles ahead of them, otherwise called “tailgating.” A tanker truck driver needs to maintain an adequate space cushion or be at risk of a rear-end collision.

· Distracted driving – Distraction is the second most frequent contributor to traffic accidents, and it has grown into an epidemic with the rise of smartphones. Even though the use of handheld devices behind the wheel has been outlawed in states like Indiana, this practice is associated with 12 percent of all collisions in the United States.

· Intoxication – Drunk driving continues to be a significant problem in Indiana, where law enforcement makes a DUI arrest every 11.98 hours. Intoxication dulls reflexes and clouds judgment, which could set the stage for a tanker truck accident.

· Fatigue – Driving while drowsy can be as debilitating as driving while drunk, with one study concluding that going more than 20 hours without sleep can induce the same degree of impairment as a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent. Truckers may be especially susceptible to fatigue since so much of their waking lives is spent driving.

· Insufficient training – Tanker truck drivers need extensive training in order to keep their vehicles under control. If this training is insufficient, a crash could be inevitable.

Aside from driver error, various external elements could bring about a tanker truck accident as well, including:

• Mechanical issues
• Excessive or unsecured loads
• Road hazards
• Inclement weather

No matter what the specific cause of your injury is, Hensley’s Indiana tanker truck accident attorneys will analyze the underlying circumstances and determine the next steps to take if you are contemplating a case.

Who Is Liable for a Tanker Truck Accident?

It may not always be obvious who is liable for a tanker truck accident because of the number of hands that may take part in a single shipment by tanker truck.

For instance, a tanker truck’s driver could be at fault for actions that directly lead to a collision, along with the owner of the truck (if separate from the driver), both for the driver’s behavior and the owner’s own misconduct, and the company making use of the truck (if separate from the owner) along similar lines.

Other individuals and entities could be held accountable too, like a loader who improperly fills a truck’s tank, a mechanic whose poor servicing hastens a truck’s breakdown, or a manufacturer, distributor, or retailer of defective components that factor into that breakdown. In some situations, multiple parties might share varying levels of legal liability simultaneously, for which they might also share varying levels of economic liability.

Given how many defendants there could be, it is critical to go after all of them within the time allotted by law, known as the Statute of Limitations, because a plaintiff who neglects to do so could be forever barred from full recovery.

However, you can rest assured that Hensley’s meticulous tanker truck accident lawyers will dot every “i” and cross every “t” so that a regulatory oversight will never block your path to justice.

How an Indiana Tanker Truck Accident Attorney Can Help

A tanker truck accident can turn your world upside down, burying you under a mountain of medical bills while robbing you of the ability to go to work. Before you realize it, you could have trouble simply making ends meet, much less meeting the new demands on your finances.

You need attorneys with the compassion to support you during this difficult period and the wisdom to guide you through it. In short, you need the Indiana tanker truck accident attorneys at Hensley Legal Group.

If you hire Hensley, we will launch a thorough investigation into your tanker truck accident and everyone who may be culpable for it, acting swiftly to amass the evidence to build your claim, such as:

• Police reports
• Tickets and dispositions
• Crash scene photos
• Dash cam, streetlight, and surveillance footage
• Black box data
• Witness statements
• Phone records
• Hours of Service (HOS) and tanker inspection logs
• Accident reconstruction and forensic analysis

After putting together a rock-solid case, our Indiana tanker truck accident lawyers will work tirelessly to negotiate a settlement that takes into consideration the totality of your losses, including:

• Past, present, and future medical expenses
• Lost income
• Diminished earning capacity
• Pain and suffering
• Psychological and emotional trauma
• Reduced quality of living
• Mobility restrictions
• Loss of consortium
• Punitive and wrongful death damages (if applicable)

And unlike many of our competitors, who seldom, if ever, see the inside of a courtroom, we are not afraid to take your case to trial if we do not receive an offer that is worthy of it.

We understand you may be reluctant to agree to more expenditures at this moment, but you should know that our firm works on a contingency basis, so you won’t have to pay us anything until our Indiana tanker truck accident attorneys win your case.

Hensley is willing to shoulder all of the burdens involved in making you whole again.

Trust Our Indiana Tanker Truck Accident Lawyers

Hensley Legal Group has been standing up for the everyday people of Indiana for more than 25 years. If you are still reeling from the impact of a major injury, you can trust our Indiana tanker truck accident lawyers to be there for you.

For a no-cost case review with an accomplished Indiana tanker truck accident attorney, please call or text us at (317) 472-3333, chat with us online, or fill out our contact form at your earliest convenience.