Our firm has the experience and tenacity that you need when you are fighting for what you deserve. We know that when you are dealing with an injury, compassion is crucial, and you can’t afford to spare extra time. For this reason, we aim to make the legal process as easy as possible for you, including minimizing the paperwork you need to handle.

Attorney Sampson is an active member of numerous legal organizations, including the Kentucky Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the Kentucky Justice Association. He also lectures on legal matters, including medical malpractice and workers’ compensation, ensuring that his clients know their legal rights, including the right to seek non-economic damages. Attorney Sampson is also continually identified as one of Kentucky’s Most Prolific Trial Lawyers by the Kentucky Trial Court Review. This recognition is a reflection of the lengths that our lawyers are repeatedly willing to go to to make sure that our clients are taken care of. When a settlement isn’t good enough, we fight for you at trial.

As a former account manager in the insurance industry and a police officer, attorney Poynter has a uniquely advantageous skill set for the work that we do. His perspective of insurance companies and hands-on understanding of the justice system benefit our clients in countless ways. He is also certified in Traffic Crash Reconstruction and Advanced Crash Investigation. These certifications allow him to better asses crash sites and advocate for what you have been through.After a serious auto accident injury, it is important to seek medical attention immediately. You may have many questions. How can I pay my medical bills? Who is responsible for the damages? How long will I be out of work? Do I need to hire an auto accident attorney?

As an injured victim of an automobile accident, hiring an experienced and skilled personal injury lawyer is the best way to ensure you receive maximum compensation covering some or all of the accident costs. You cannot get this fair compensation without a lawyer providing legal advice and representing you. On average, people with a personal injury lawyer get three times the amount others who attempt to settle on their get. Let our Louisville personal injury lawyers handle all your paperwork, phone calls with the insurance company, and negotiation so that you can fully recover from your injuries.

Truck accidents can, unfortunately, be caused by various factors and the actions of others. Some of the most common ways in which other people are at fault for an accident include:

• Drunk Driving Accidents
• Truck Driver Error or Negligence
• Truck Defect or Malfunction
• Trucking Company Negligence
• Blind Spot Truck Accidents

When you have been injured in one of these types of truck accidents, you might be owed compensation and should explore your legal options for getting both the money and the closure that you need.

The Louisville truck accident lawyers at Sampson Law Firm have a vast amount of experience handling commercial truck accidents. Collisions with commercial trucks differ from accidents with passenger vehicles because commercial trucks maneuver, stop and accelerate with more force than a passenger vehicle. Some of the more common truck accidents that we handle include the following:

Rear-End Collisions – Commercial trucks require more space to make a complete stop than a passenger vehicle. A commercial truck weighing 80,000 pounds and traveling at 65 mph requires the distance of two football fields to make a complete stop. On the other hand, a passenger vehicle weighing 4,000 pounds and traveling at the same speed requires less than the distance of one football field to make a complete stop. Because of the distance that it takes for a truck to make a complete stop, rear-end accidents are fairly common occurrences. Plus, the size and weight difference between a commercial truck and passenger vehicle can have especially devastating outcomes in a rear-end accident.

Rollover Crashes – Rollover crashes are more common accidents with commercial trucks than passenger vehicles because trucks are larger and heavier vehicles, making them more prone to lose balance. If a commercial truck driver loses control of the vehicle and it skids across the highway and topples over, the truck can hit other vehicles on the way, spill cargo that might strike other vehicles, or even catch fire.

Underride Accidents – An underride accident occurs when a commercial truck suddenly stops and the vehicle traveling behind it crashes into the backside of the truck and becomes lodged underneath it. Often, underride accidents are the extension of a rear-end collision. These types of accidents can lead to severe injuries because the top of the passenger vehicle may be completely sheared off.

Jackknife Collisions – A jackknife collision occurs when the truck’s trailer swings out to the side to form a 90-degree angle with the cab. This type of accident usually occurs when the truck’s brakes lock up, which causes the truck’s trailer to skid to one side or the other.

Wide-Turn Crashes – Because of the truck’s wide turning radius, a commercial truck needs a lot of room to make a turn. When trucks get trapped in small intersections, the driver must use multiple lanes to make a turn. Depending on the direction the driver is turning, the truck may collide with oncoming traffic or crush a smaller vehicle.

Blind-Spot Collisions – This type of accident happens when a truck driver does not check their blind spot before changing lanes. A truck’s blind spots are in the rear of the truck and along the sides of the truck.

Head-on Collision – Head-on collisions are extremely dangerous accidents that occur when two vehicles traveling in opposite directions collide with the front ends of their vehicles. If a truck swerves out of its lane and into a lane with oncoming traffic, a head-on collision can occur. As you can imagine, the truck’s size and weight can devastate a smaller passenger vehicle if an accident occurs.

Cargo-related Accidents – If a truck is overloaded or its cargo is improperly secured, it might lose its cargo in transport or in the event of an accident. If the cargo becomes loose, it can hit other vehicles on the road and cause accidents.

According to the 2017 Kentucky Traffic Collison Facts prepared by the Kentucky Transportation Center, Kentucky has seen a modest decrease in fatal traffic incidents from 2016 to 2017. In 2016, 834 people were killed on public roads in Kentucky, whereas in 2017, 782 people lost their lives on public roads. While this 6.2% decrease in fatalities is a positive development, compared to the fatalities from 2009 – 2015, the number of roadway fatalities in 2017 is still a marked increase.

As of 2017, there are 164,556 registered commercial trucks in Kentucky, including tractor trailers. This number pales in comparison to the 2,340,732 registered passenger vehicles but nonetheless makes up nearly 4% of all accidents. In 2017, 9,819 trucks were reportedly involved in collisions, 82 of which resulted in fatalities. 1,461 of the total 9,819 truck collisions left those involved with injuries.

According to collected data, males between the ages of 25 and 34 are at the highest risk for being involved in collisions both fatal and non-fatal. Among all of the factors that contribute to collisions, driver inattention is the most threatening human factor causing accidents whereas defective breaks are responsible for the majority of collisions caused by vehicular factors.