Murfreesboro Underride Truck Accident Lawyers

Few collisions illustrate the dangerous size difference between a tractor-trailer and a passenger vehicle as starkly as an underride accident. In these crashes, a smaller vehicle travels beneath the rear or side of a commercial truck or trailer. Because the trailer may be high enough to pass over portions of the passenger vehicle designed to protect its occupants, the consequences can be catastrophic.

Weir & Kestner Injury Lawyers represents victims and families affected by these devastating collisions. Our Murfreesboro Underride Truck Accident Lawyers pursue compensation from trucking companies and other responsible parties when negligence leads to life-changing injuries or death.

Serious truck accident claims demand attorneys who understand what is at stake for both sides. Joe Weir and Tony Kestner began their legal careers in insurance defense, giving them firsthand knowledge of how insurers evaluate major injury claims and work to limit their financial exposure. At Weir & Kestner, they now use that experience to help injured people obtain the financial recovery they need to move forward.

Why Underride Accidents Are So Dangerous

Modern passenger vehicles incorporate numerous safety features designed to protect occupants during collisions. Seat belts, airbags, crumple zones, and reinforced passenger compartments can all reduce the risk of death or severe injury. An underride collision can interfere with those protections.

When the front of a car travels beneath a trailer, the point of impact may be higher than the car’s bumper and other structures designed to absorb collision forces. In severe crashes, the trailer can intrude into the passenger compartment itself.

That creates an extraordinary risk of traumatic brain injuries, severe head and facial trauma, spinal cord damage, crushing injuries, amputations, and death. Even at speeds that might result in a survivable collision between two similarly sized passenger vehicles, an underride accident can have devastating consequences because of the height difference between the vehicles.

Rear Underride Crashes in Murfreesboro

Rear underride accidents occur when a smaller vehicle travels beneath the back of a commercial truck or trailer. These crashes can happen when a tractor-trailer stops unexpectedly, moves slowly in an active traffic lane, or is positioned on or near a roadway where approaching motorists have difficulty recognizing the danger in time.

Visibility can become especially important after dark or during poor weather. A trailer that lacks adequate functioning lights or conspicuity markings may be more difficult for approaching drivers to recognize.

Many commercial trailers are required to be equipped with rear impact guards intended to help prevent passenger vehicles from traveling underneath them during certain rear-end collisions. When those guards are missing, damaged, improperly maintained, or inadequate for the circumstances of a crash, questions may arise about whether the truck or trailer provided the protection it was supposed to provide.

Rear underride accidents can involve several contributing factors. The fact that a passenger vehicle struck the back of a trailer does not necessarily mean the injured motorist bears all responsibility for the resulting harm.

Side Underride Accidents

A side underride collision occurs when a passenger vehicle travels beneath the side of a commercial trailer. These accidents can happen when a tractor-trailer crosses or turns through a roadway, blocks traffic lanes, makes a wide turn, or becomes disabled in a location where approaching motorists cannot avoid it. The open space between a trailer’s wheels can allow a smaller vehicle to travel underneath the trailer during a side impact.

A side underride crash can also occur at an intersection. If a tractor-trailer is turning or crossing traffic and another motorist cannot stop in time, the passenger vehicle may strike the side of the trailer rather than its wheels or another lower structural component. As with rear underride crashes, nighttime visibility can make these situations even more dangerous.

The injuries from side underride collisions are frequently severe because the trailer can enter the passenger compartment at the level of the vehicle’s occupants.

Visibility Can Mean the Difference Between Avoidance and Disaster

Commercial trailers can be difficult to perceive under certain conditions, particularly at night. Reflective conspicuity markings and functioning lights help other drivers recognize a trailer’s presence, dimensions, and position. Proper visibility becomes particularly important when a truck is moving slowly, stopped near traffic, crossing a roadway, or positioned in an unexpected location.

When lights are not working or required reflective material is missing, damaged, dirty, or poorly maintained, another motorist may have less time to recognize that a trailer is blocking the path ahead. The same concern can arise when a disabled truck is stopped on or near a roadway. Commercial drivers have responsibilities when their vehicles become disabled, including the use of appropriate warning devices in circumstances where they are required.

When inadequate visibility contributes to an underride crash, the injured person’s claim may involve more than the actions taken during the final seconds before impact.

Responsibility for an Underride Crash Can Be Complicated

Trucking companies and insurers may try to characterize an underride collision as nothing more than a driver running into a truck. The circumstances can be considerably more complicated.

• Why was the trailer in the path of the passenger vehicle?
• Was the truck entering, crossing, or blocking a roadway when it was unsafe to do so?
• Were its lights operating?
• Could motorists adequately see the trailer?
• Was the vehicle disabled?
• Were appropriate warnings provided?
• Did a problem with the trailer or its safety equipment contribute to the severity of the injuries?

Depending on the answers, responsibility may extend to a truck driver, motor carrier, truck or trailer owner, maintenance provider, or another business.

For the injured person, identifying the parties legally responsible can be crucial to obtaining adequate compensation. This is especially true because underride accidents frequently produce catastrophic injuries with substantial lifetime costs. Weir & Kestner works to pursue all appropriate sources of compensation rather than allowing one company to escape responsibility by pointing toward another.

Catastrophic Injuries Require a Long-Term View of Compensation

An underride accident can change nearly every aspect of someone’s life. A severe brain injury may affect memory, speech, personality, judgment, or the ability to live independently. A spinal cord injury can result in paralysis and require extensive rehabilitation, mobility equipment, home modifications, and ongoing personal assistance. Amputation or other severe physical injuries can prevent someone from returning to a previous occupation.

For these clients, the value of a claim cannot be measured solely by medical bills already received. Compensation may need to account for years or decades of future treatment and assistance. It may also need to address income the injured person will no longer be able to earn, benefits that will be lost, and the profound personal consequences of permanent disability.

Depending on the circumstances, an underride accident claim may seek compensation for:

• Medical expenses and hospitalization
• Future medical treatment
• Rehabilitation and therapy
• Lost income
• Reduced future earning capacity
• Permanent disability or disfigurement
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Long-term personal care and assistance
• Other financial and personal losses caused by the accident

Weir & Kestner focuses on pursuing a result that accounts for the client’s future, not simply resolving the claim as quickly as possible.

Fatal Underride Accidents and Tennessee Wrongful Death Claims

Unfortunately, some underride crashes do not leave an injured person with an opportunity to recover. Families facing a fatal truck accident are dealing with grief while also confronting practical questions about medical expenses, funeral costs, lost income, and a future that has suddenly changed.

Tennessee law allows appropriate parties to pursue a wrongful death claim when a death results from another person’s or company’s negligence. The damages available depend on the circumstances of the case and losses recognized under state law.

No legal recovery can replace a family member. A wrongful death claim can, however, hold responsible parties financially accountable and help protect a family’s financial future after an avoidable tragedy. Weir & Kestner approaches these cases with sensitivity to what families are going through while remaining focused on obtaining the compensation the law allows.

Insurance Companies May Try to Shift Responsibility

Underride crashes often create disputes about fault, particularly when the smaller vehicle collides with the rear or side of a trailer. An insurer may argue that the passenger vehicle’s driver should have stopped sooner, should have seen the truck, or was otherwise partly responsible. Those arguments can have significant financial consequences because Tennessee uses a modified comparative fault system. A person who is assigned a percentage of responsibility may have compensation reduced, and someone found 50% or more responsible can be prevented from recovering damages.

Joe Weir and Tony Kestner understand how insurance companies approach these disputes because they previously worked in insurance defense. That background provides valuable perspective when an insurer attempts to minimize a claim or place excessive blame on an injured person. Today, Weir & Kestner uses that knowledge to advocate for injury victims and pursue the strongest recovery available under the circumstances.

Personal Support Through a Difficult Case

A catastrophic truck accident is more than a legal dispute. For the person injured and the family providing care, it can become an entirely new way of life. Weir & Kestner believes those clients deserve personal attention from their law firm. Every case has a dedicated case manager, so clients have a consistent point of contact throughout the process. Clients can also speak with a lawyer when they need legal advice or have important questions about their case.

The firm’s roots in Rutherford County are equally important to its identity. Weir & Kestner is the only Rutherford County personal injury firm founded here rather than one that relocated to the county from somewhere else. Clients receive the attention of a local, client-centered practice combined with attorneys prepared to pursue substantial compensation in serious truck accident cases.

Frequently Asked Questions About Underride Truck Accidents

What is the difference between a rear underride and side underride accident?

A rear underride accident occurs when a smaller vehicle travels beneath the back of a truck or trailer. A side underride accident occurs when a vehicle travels underneath the side of a trailer, often in the open area between its wheels. Both types of collisions can allow the trailer to intrude into the passenger compartment and cause catastrophic injuries.

Are tractor-trailers required to have rear underride guards?

Federal safety standards require many commercial trailers and semitrailers to have rear impact protection, subject to the specific requirements and exceptions that apply to the vehicle. Whether a particular trailer complied with applicable requirements and whether the condition or performance of its guard affected a crash will depend on the circumstances.

Can poor trailer lighting contribute to an underride accident?

Yes. Commercial trailers use lights and reflective markings to help other motorists recognize their presence and dimensions. When visibility equipment is missing, defective, or inadequately maintained, another driver may have less opportunity to recognize a trailer in time to avoid a collision, particularly at night.

Can I recover compensation if I rear-ended a tractor-trailer?

Possibly. Striking the back of another vehicle does not automatically resolve every question of legal responsibility. The truck’s position, visibility, movement, lighting, warnings, and other circumstances may all be relevant. Tennessee’s comparative fault rules can also affect the amount an injured person is entitled to recover.

Who is liable when a defective underride guard contributes to serious injuries?

Potential responsibility will depend on why the guard failed to provide adequate protection and the circumstances of the collision. A motor carrier, trailer owner, maintenance provider, or another party may potentially bear responsibility. In some cases, additional legal theories may also apply depending on the equipment involved and the nature of the alleged defect.

Contact Our Murfreesboro Underride Truck Accident Lawyers

Underride accidents are among the most devastating collisions involving commercial trucks. Survivors may require a lifetime of care, while families who lose someone face emotional and financial consequences that cannot be undone.

Weir & Kestner Injury Lawyers helps victims and families pursue the compensation they need after serious truck crashes. With deep Rutherford County roots, prior insurance defense experience, dedicated case managers, and direct access to attorneys, our firm provides personal service while staying focused on winning the best possible result for our clients.

Contact Weir & Kestner today for a free consultation with a Murfreesboro truck accident lawyer. There is no attorney’s fee unless we obtain compensation for you.