If you or a family member is involved in an injury accident with a commercial vehicle, filing a personal injury claim may involve more than one liable party. Determining who may bear responsibility for your injuries starts by seeking the answers to a number of questions.

Is the commercial vehicle driver an employee of a shipping or other private company,  or is he or she an independent contractor? If the driver is employed with a larger company, a claim will likely include the parent company and their insurer. If the driver is an independent contractor, compensation may instead fall to the driver’s individual insurer. It is important to determine the driver’s employment status in an accident to seek compensation from all responsible parties.

Did a mechanical problem or maintenance issue contribute to the accident?  A percentage of truck accidents are caused by mechanical issues, problems with brakes, wheels and tires. Not only can the trucking company be held responsible for not properly maintaining vehicles, but also service and repair companies entrusted to make trucks safe for the road.

Was your injury caused as the result of an improperly loaded truck? Perhaps the loading company bears some responsibility to pay compensation for your injuries. Improperly loaded semis and tractor trailers are a dangerous problem. Loads may shift during transit, causing the driver to lose control or even dump their load in the path of other motorists resulting in an accident.

Where did the accident occur? Sometimes accidents happen near construction zones along the highways that lack proper signage to alert motorists to hazards. In this case, the construction company may also be partially at fault for causing the accident that lead to your injuries.

If you are involved in an accident with a commercial vehicle, there may be many responsible parties involved in liability. All possible defendants should receive attention in order for you to get the maximum compensation for recovery and financial losses. It is important to secure the help of an experienced commercial vehicle truck accident attorney to help you determine who may be responsible for your injuries so you can recover all your losses to the fullest extent possible. Contact the Des Moines Law Offices of John T. Hemminger for immediate assistance today if you have been hurt in a car accident involving a commercial vehicle.

Tree trimming and tree removal can be a dangerous occupation with hundreds of tree workers killed or injured every year. According to the Tree Care Industry Association, tree worker injury accidents data spanning several years suggests that tree worker injuries and fatalities are more of a result of complacency rather than ignorance.

In support of this claim, the association notes that the typical fall victim was unsecured, the typical struck-by victim remained in the drop zone, and the typical electrocution victim violated minimum approach distance (MAD) and made contact with an electrified power source through a tool, a boom, a vehicle or other object.

The consistently high number of incidents in tree care industry in the last few years has caught The United States Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) attention.  OSHA seeks to raise awareness of tree trimming and removal safety hazards to which tree trimmers and tree care industry workers are exposed to on a daily basis in order to reduce the number of avoidable injuries and to reduce tree worker fatal injury accidents.

Employers have been put on notice to properly assess work sites to identify potential hazards such as live power lines, clearly demarcate drop zones to prevent struck by injuries, and require employees to wear full safety protection regardless of whether the workers are on the ground only or climb or they are lifted in aerial lifts and buckets. Furthermore, tree workers should be aware of safety hazards and receive ongoing safety training to promote safe practices to reduce preventable tree worker injuries.

Tree Worker Injury Accidents Lawyers

If you were injured in tree worker injury accident and your employer’s work comp insurance company denied your claim for work comp benefits or your work comp benefits do not fully cover your recovery, then your employee rights may have been violated. It is important to seek the assistance of an experienced Iowa workers’ compensation benefits attorney to secure the income and reimbursement you need to fully recover from your work injury. Call 515-283-2116 to schedule a free initial consultation with John T. Hemminger.