Cochran Firm Wisconsin Legal Blog

When you lose a loved one due to another person’s negligence, you have a right to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Wrongful death applies to any fatal accident that was caused by the negligence or recklessness of a third party. The spouse, children, and other immediately family members of the deceased may be entitled to monetary compensation for both their financial and personal losses.

Damages in a Wrongful Death Lawsuit

In the state of Wisconsin, surviving family members can file a wrongful death lawsuit to receive compensation for several types of damages, including:

• Medical expenses prior to death
• Funeral expenses
• Projected future income
• Projected future financial contributions, including tuition and mortgages
• Financial support for dependent children
• Loss of companionship

When you lose a loved one in an accident, the accompanying emotional turmoil can be overwhelming. The attorneys at the Cochran Firm Wisconsin have years of experience helping families who have lost a loved one receive the full compensation they are due. Nothing can bring your loved one back, but the attorneys at the Cochran Firm can help ensure that practical considerations and emotional suffering are properly addressed.

If you have lost a loved one in an accident caused by a third party in Milwaukee or surrounding areas of Wisconsin, please contact the experienced wrongful death attorneys at the Cochran Firm Wisconsin today to schedule a free consultation.

Federal regulations have been established to protect truck drivers against fatigue and make the road a safer place for everyone. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) requires that truckers get adequate rest every day to avoid driving while fatigued, which is a leading cause of truck accidents in Wisconsin.

Like any business, trucking companies are interested in maximizing their profit. In order to do this, they often burden their drivers with unrealistic schedules, requiring them to drive for much longer stretches of time than federal law allows – all in the name of making a quick delivery.

The Effects of Driving While Fatigued

According to the Department of Transportation, being awake for more than 16 hours at a time has the same effect on your body as two alcoholic beverages. Even when fatigue is battled with caffeine, the effects of driving without enough sleep include:

· Delayed reaction time

· Falling asleep at the wheel

· Decreased attention to your surrounding environment

These effects are dangerous on any driver, but trucks are much more likely to cause serious injury to people in passenger vehicles. When you or a loved one sustains an injury caused by a fatigued truck driver, you have a right to seek compensation.

If you live in Milwaukee or surrounding areas of Wisconsin and have been injured by a fatigued truck driver, please contact the experienced truck accident attorneys at the Cochran Firm Wisconsin to schedule an initial consultation.

No truck is perfectly balanced. Fuel tanks, batteries, and other factory-supplied offsets can significantly impact the symmetry of a cab. If cargo is not properly loaded to balance a truck’s weight, the truck itself can become very dangerous.

If you have ever been on the highway when a truck lost its load, you know how frightening it can be. Cargo falling from a truck is dangerous both as it falls and once it hits the roadway. Worse still, an unbalanced load places additional stress on the cab of the truck, potentially leading to brake failure and axel breaks. Unbalanced truck loads greatly increase the chances of a truck accident occurring.

Dangerous Truck Loads

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA), shifting cargo is one of the leading causes of truck accidents. If a load is not properly tied down, it increases a trailer’s risk of rolling over, as well as the risk of jackknifes. Cargo safety standards developed by the FMCSA require loads be properly balanced and secured, but in their rush to make a quick delivery, many companies fail to comply with these regulations, putting everyone on the road at risk.

If you or a loved one has been injured by an unbalanced truck in Milwaukee or surrounding areas of Wisconsin, please contact the experienced truck accident attorneys at the Cochran Firm Wisconsin today schedule a free consultation.

Trucking companies in Wisconsin are regulated by both state and federal safety regulations. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) requires that all trucking companies submit to an audit within eighteen months of entering into business. In these audits, the FMCSA checks to make sure that:

Additionally, these audits check to ensure that trucking companies are keeping accurate driving logs and proper service records for all of their trucks. Failure to comply with these regulations automatically results in a company being shut down.

Accidents Caused by Failure to Comply with Safety Regulations

When a truck accident is caused by a company’s failure to comply with safety regulations, there are severe legal and financial repercussions. If you or a loved one is injured in an accident with a truck driver whose company neglected to comply with FMCSA regulations, you can hold the company itself liable for all of your injuries.

The Wisconsin truck accident attorneys at the Cochran Firm have years of experience investigating truck accidents and proving fault in these often complex cases. You may have a right to seek full compensation from trucking companies for medical expenses, property damage, lost wages, and pain and suffering. We will fight to ensure you receive all of the damages you are entitled to.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a truck accident in Milwaukee or surrounding areas of Wisconsin, please contact the experienced truck accident attorneys at the Cochran Firm Wisconsin today to schedule an initial consultation.

When “intra” precedes a word, it means “within”. When “inter” precedes a word, it means “between.” While similar in sound, the two words hold very different meanings and, when it comes to truck accidents, very different legal implications.

Interstate Trucking

Interstate transportation is heavily regulated by the federal government. Specific laws must be followed in each state. For example, in some states it is illegal for a truck to enter the left-hand lane. Even if this is not the law in the state the truck originated from, the driver must adhere to the regulations of each state he drives through. Additionally, each state a truck passes through will have rules regarding registration and fees. The company the trucker works for is responsible for making sure these technicalities are taken care of in every state their driver will pass through.

Intrastate Trucking

Intrastate transportation has fewer federal regulations. While the trucker must still hold a commercial driver’s license and pay regulatory fees, they only need to be aware of a single set of state laws, since they will not be leaving the state they originated from. Truckers who travel within their state may still be driving for a long distance, but accidents caused by intrastate truckers are often considered less complex.

Both interstate and intrastate truck accidents can result in severe penalties for trucking companies. In the state of Wisconsin, people who have been injured by either type of trucker can turn to the Cochran Firm to aggressively pursue negligent truck drivers and the companies that employ them.

If you have been injured by a commercial truck in Milwaukee or surrounding areas of Wisconsin, please contact the experienced truck accident attorneys at the Cochran Firm Wisconsin today to schedule a free initial consultation.

Determining fault in a car accident can be simple. For example, accidents caused by drivers who are intoxicated do not require much proof of fault. In other instances, however, determining who is responsible for an accident may not be so black and white, which is why you need the experienced Wisconsin car accident attorneys at the Cochran Firm on your side.

In the event of a car accident, several factors are considered in order to determine fault. A person can be found at fault for an accident if they fail to abide by traffic laws, or if they failed to drive responsibly. Immediately following an accident, police officers and insurance adjustors will rush to the scene in an attempt to determine who caused the accident.

It is a good idea to photograph the scene on your own to document the damage and any dangerous road conditions that may have contributed to the accident. It is important that you do not admit fault to anyone on the scene of an accident. When giving your statement to the police, stick to the facts about the accident; do not speculate about who or what might have caused it.

In Wisconsin, even if you are considered 40% responsible for an accident, you still have a right to file a personal injury lawsuit. If you admit fault, or if you try to represent yourself without an attorney’s help, your chances of receiving compensation for your injuries greatly decreases.

Our experienced attorneys will carefully investigate the cause of your accident and help you establish a case. Only by working with a qualified attorney can you be sure that you are rewarded fairly for all of your injuries.

If you have been injured in a car accident in Milwaukee or surrounding areas of Wisconsin, please contact the experienced car accident attorneys at the Cochran Firm Wisconsin today to schedule a free initial consultation.