Madison, Alabama

Madison is part of the Huntsville Metropolitan Area and has a population of about 50,000 residents. The city is traversed by I-565, US 72, and Madison Boulevard. People who are injured in the area may seek emergency care at the Madison Hospital on US 72. If you were injured in a car crash or another accident, you should make sure to retain an experienced trial lawyer. Often, insurance adjusters do not offer all that a case is worth, so it is important to choose a Madison personal injury lawyer who will be able to try your case if you are not offered a fair settlement. The principal of the Reeves Law Firm, Greg Reeves, has 30 years of legal experience and is a skillful trial attorney who has handled many cases related to car accidents, truck crashes, motorcycle accidents, and other accidents. Let him help you assert your rights.

The Huntsville metro area, including Madison, is bracing for what could potentially be dramatic growth in coming years as the Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA plant in west Huntsville begins production in 2021. The plant is expected to create 10,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Most motor vehicle collision and other personal injury lawsuits are brought under a theory of negligence. Proving another driver's negligence requires you to show that a driver or other defendant owed you a duty of reasonable care under the circumstances, they breached the duty of reasonable care, and this caused your accident and your damages.

Generally, it is fairly easy to show that another driver owed you a duty of reasonable care because everyone is supposed to drive safely on the road. A driver may breach the duty to use reasonable care by texting while driving, speeding, weaving, driving aggressively, tailgating, or driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, among other examples. A personal injury attorney in the Madison area would need to show that you would not have been injured if the defendant had acted reasonably. This may involve collecting a wide range of tangible evidence and witness testimony.

The damages available in personal injury cases can cover the victim’s pain and suffering, as well as the financial costs resulting from the accident. These may include not only hospital bills and the costs of future medical treatment but also lost income and earning capacity and any bills that were related to their injuries.

Truck accident lawsuits are one type of personal injury lawsuit. Sometimes truck accidents are the fault of a negligent truck driver. Sometimes the breach of the duty to use reasonable care involves violations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations, which apply to interstate truck drivers and trucking companies. Violations of these regulations may be used as evidence that the truck driver (or trucking company) breached the duty to use reasonable care.

The FMCSA includes regulations that cover a wide range of truck driver activities. Truck drivers are restricted in how many hours they can be in service before taking a rest break. They must keep logbooks in which they log their work hours. They need to inspect the truck to make sure that it is safe to operate. If they are driving only within Alabama, they will need to follow Alabama's state regulations, which often mirror the FMCSA regulations. Madison personal injury attorney Greg Reeves is familiar with both the federal and the state regulations.

Trucking companies also have various duties under the FMCSA and Alabama regulations. These include conducting regular maintenance on the truck, conducting background checks for drivers applying for jobs, conducting drug and alcohol tests to make sure that truck drivers are clean, and reviewing logbooks to make sure that truck drivers are adhering to the hours of service rules. They are supposed to make sure that a truck driver is properly trained to handle various difficult situations that can arise on the road, such as jackknifing, checking blind spots before changing lanes, and wide turns.

A trucking company can be held vicariously or indirectly liable if its employee was negligent in the course of operating the truck. However, it may also have direct responsibility under certain circumstances and may be held directly accountable under a theory of negligent hiring, negligent training, or negligent supervision. For example, if it checks logbooks but looks the other way when it appears that the truck driver is falsifying their hours, it may be liable for negligent supervision.

It can be helpful to have an accident reconstruction expert involved in figuring out the cause of a complex truck accident. In some cases, it may be appropriate to hold a manufacturer or repairman responsible for the accident, and the only way to know whether there is potential liability is to have an expert examine the damage to the vehicle, debris, and other evidence.

If you have been hurt or if a loved one has been killed in a truck or car crash in Madison, Alabama, you may be concerned about how you will pay for medical expenses and cover the loss in income associated with serious injuries. It is important to retain an experienced personal injury attorney who will fight for compensation. The Reeves Law Firm represents injured people throughout Alabama in some of the most challenging times of their lives. Call us at 256-355-3311 or use our online form to set up a free consultation.