Hit by a Semi-Truck While Working?

Scottsdale, AZ Truck Accident Attorney Explains Options

Video Transcript:

Ryan Skiver: 

There's an interplay between workers' compensation claims and claims against a third party. So you have to take that into consideration when deciding what approach you're gonna be taking.

Tom Mustin: 

If you're hit by a commercial vehicle while driving your company car, is that any different than any other crash? We're gonna talk to attorney, Ryan Skiver about that on today's episode of Ask The lawyer. Ryan, thanks for joining us.

Ryan Skiver: 

Sure, thanks for having me.

Tom Mustin: 

Great to have you. Well, recently, there was a traffic accident in Salt River where a commercial truck that was hauling gravel, struck an emergency vehicle that was on a 911 call. One EMT worker was killed. Another was seriously injured. Talk about your take on that situation after seeing this on the news and also some legal complications that can arise here.

Ryan Skiver: 

Sure. It's a tragic situation whenever those types of things happen, especially when you have those emergency responders who are out there trying to help people. One of the aspects of someone being injured while they're working is there's an interplay between workers' compensation claims and claims against a third party. So you have to take that into consideration when deciding what approach you're gonna be taking. So there is the possibility of recovering from workers' compensation for the injuries that you suffer on the job. But you also have the ability to sue that third party, to go after the truck driver, as well as the trucking company for any negligence that they have that caused the crash. So there are quite a few avenues actually that you can pursue in that situation. And it's important that you understand that, so that something doesn't get missed.

Tom Mustin: 

Good answer there. So let's talk about that a bit. What about if the person was injured or that person's family is trying to get compensation, what's the first steps that they need to take to get that going?

Ryan Skiver: 

Yeah, absolutely. The first thing you need to do is contact an attorney as soon as possible. You wanna get all of the evidence from the scene as quickly as you can. In that situation, usually the insurance defense team will get out there and try to help that trucking company and that truck driver, to make sure that the story is told in the best way possible for them. It's important that the person who's injured and or their family does the same thing. You wanna have somebody who knows what they're doing, a truck crash injury lawyer who can get out there as quickly as possible also to make sure that evidence is preserved, that you send letters to the defense, to make sure that everything related to that truck and any dash cams, telematics, anything like that, is preserved as well. And obviously, the family is going through a lot. And there's a lot for them to deal with, just from the loss and the injury and that type of thing. So it's always nice to have someone on your side fighting for you, making sure that the legal aspects of it are being taken care of as well.

Tom Mustin: 

Is the person who's injured here or the family entitled to simply to workers' comp, or are there other insurance claims they can make as well?

Ryan Skiver: 

In this type of situation where there's a third party whose negligence likely caused the crash, they do have the ability to go after that third party in addition to workers' compensation. So they have what's called the first party claim, essentially, where they can put in for workers' compensation. But then they also have the ability to go after the truck driver and the company for any negligence that they have. So it's nice to have both of those avenues available to you and know different ways that you can go and recover. And not only does the injured person have the ability to recover their lost wages and have their medical treatment taken care of, there's pain and suffering that goes along with that. And you mentioned the families associated with those injured people as well. There's claims that are called loss of consortium, where they can actually recover for the loss of the relationship that they have with the injured person. So there's lots of different avenues. And obviously, that's why it's important to get an attorney who understands that type of case involved as quickly as possible.

Tom Mustin: 

And Ryan, you just mentioned a lot of good examples there. A lot of these families probably don't wanna pay for an attorney. They don't wanna pay the fees. Tell us again why it's so important that they do go through an attorney. Because you just mentioned several cases I didn't even know about, several options they had.

Ryan Skiver: 

Sure, absolutely. And it's important also in this type of area of law, usually you don't have to pay anything, up front at least. It comes out of any recovery that you make. So there's no retainer or anything like that, where you have to put up money. Lawyers like us and workers' compensation lawyers work on what's called a contingency fee, which means if we don't recover for you, then you don't have to pay anything. So we cover the cost going forward on the case. And it doesn't really cost you anything to get us involved as quickly as possible. You're not gonna have to put down a down payment or anything like that. We handle paying for the experts and making sure that we recover all of the necessary evidence in your case. And then if and when we're able to recover money for you, then we would take our fee at that point.

Tom Mustin: 

So really it's a win-win there. Well, Ryan, we really appreciate your expertise. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Ryan Skiver: 

Thank you very much for having me.

Tom Mustin: 

And that's gonna do it for this episode of Ask The lawyer. My guest has been Ryan Skiver. If you wanna ask Ryan a question about your situation, call the number you see on the screen. Thanks for watching. I'm Tom Mustin for Ask The Lawyers.

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