Truck Accident Lawyer Florence

A truck accident changes everything in seconds. One moment you are driving through Florence, the next you are staring at a wall of twisted metal, trying to understand what just happened. Your hands are shaking. Your neck hurts. The truck driver is on the phone with his dispatcher and you are wondering if you should call the police or your insurance company or just get checked out first.

Here is what you need to know right now: the decisions you make in the next few hours will determine how much money you recover and whether the trucking company fights you every step of the way. That insurance adjuster who calls you tomorrow will sound helpful. They are not on your side. They never were.

McCormick & Murphy represents people in Florence and across Fremont County who have been hit by commercial trucks. We know how trucking companies respond when one of their drivers causes a crash. We know the tactics their insurers use to minimize payouts. And we know how to hold them accountable when they try to walk away from the damage they caused.

Why Truck Accidents Are Different from Car Accidents

An 18-wheeler weighs up to 80,000 pounds. Your car weighs maybe 4,000. The physics alone explain why truck accidents produce catastrophic injuries more often than passenger vehicle collisions. But the legal difference matters just as much.

When a regular driver hits you, you are usually dealing with one insurance policy and one person. When a truck driver hits you, you might be dealing with the driver’s employer, the company that owns the trailer, the broker who arranged the load, the maintenance contractor who was supposed to inspect the brakes, and multiple insurance carriers who all have lawyers on speed dial.

Trucking companies operate under federal safety regulations. They are required to keep logs, maintenance records, inspection reports, driver qualification files, and hours-of-service documentation. That evidence proves whether they followed the law. But it disappears fast if no one demands it be preserved. By the time most people realize they need a lawyer, the trucking company has already started building its defense.

What to Do Immediately After a Truck Accident in Florence

Your first priority is medical care. Even if you feel fine. Adrenaline masks pain. Injuries that seem minor at the scene often turn out to be serious once a doctor examines you. Soft tissue damage, internal bleeding, and traumatic brain injuries do not always announce themselves immediately. Get checked out. Let the emergency room or your doctor document what happened.

If you are able, take photos at the scene. The truck, your vehicle, skid marks, road conditions, traffic signs, anything visible. Get the truck number, the company name, the driver’s information. If there are witnesses, ask for their names and phone numbers. Do not assume the police report will capture everything.

Call the police. Even if the truck driver says it is not necessary. Even if you think you might be partly at fault. A police report creates an official record. It documents whose story was told first and what the scene looked like before anyone had time to think about liability.

Do not apologize. Do not say you are fine. Do not speculate about what happened. You are not required to explain yourself at the scene. Anything you say can and will be used to reduce your settlement later.

Then call McCormick & Murphy at 888-668-1182. Before you talk to any insurance company. Before you sign anything. Before you give a recorded statement. We will tell you exactly what to do next and what to avoid.

How Fault Is Determined in a Truck Accident Case

Colorado uses a modified comparative negligence rule. That means you can recover damages as long as you are less than fifty percent at fault. If you are found to be thirty percent responsible, your settlement is reduced by thirty percent. If you are fifty-one percent responsible, you get nothing.

Insurance companies know this. So they work immediately to shift blame onto you. They will say you were speeding. That you changed lanes unsafely. That you should have anticipated the truck would drift into your lane or fail to stop at the intersection. They will use your own words against you if you gave a recorded statement before talking to a lawyer.

Fault in a truck accident case is determined by evidence. Police reports, witness statements, photographs, video footage from dashcams or nearby businesses, the truck’s electronic logging device, maintenance records, the driver’s hours-of-service logs, and expert analysis of the physical evidence. We gather all of it. We preserve it before it disappears. And we use it to show what actually happened.

Sometimes the truck driver violated federal safety regulations. They were driving too many hours without rest. The trucking company pressured them to skip mandatory break periods to meet a delivery deadline. The brakes had not been inspected or repaired despite known defects. Those violations do not just prove fault. They prove the trucking company put profit ahead of safety and your injuries were the predictable result.

What Damages You Can Recover After a Truck Accident in Colorado

You are entitled to compensation for every loss the accident caused. That includes medical expenses, but it does not stop there.

Medical bills include emergency room treatment, hospital stays, surgery, physical therapy, prescription medications, medical equipment, and future care you will need because of your injuries. If your doctor says you need six months of physical therapy or a second surgery down the road, that cost gets included in your claim now. You do not wait and hope the insurance company will pay for it later.

Lost wages cover the paychecks you missed because you were too injured to work. If you had to use vacation days or sick leave for medical appointments, that counts. If you cannot return to your old job because your injuries prevent you from performing the physical tasks it requires, you can recover the difference between what you used to earn and what you can earn now.

Pain and suffering is real. The insurance adjuster will act like it is a made-up category, something people claim when they are trying to inflate their case. It is not. Pain and suffering compensates you for the physical pain, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and permanent limitations you now live with because someone else made a careless decision. Colorado law recognizes it. Juries award it. You are entitled to it.

Property damage covers your vehicle and anything inside it that was damaged or destroyed in the crash. If your car is totaled, you recover its fair market value. If personal items were damaged, you recover their value.

In some cases, you can also recover punitive damages. These are awarded when the defendant’s conduct was willful, wanton, or so reckless that it warrants punishment beyond simple compensation. If the trucking company knowingly allowed an unqualified driver to operate a vehicle or ignored repeated safety violations, punitive damages may apply.

Why You Should Never Give a Recorded Statement to the Insurance Company

The insurance adjuster will call within hours of the accident. They will sound concerned. They will say they just need to get your side of the story so they can process your claim quickly. They will tell you it is routine, that everyone does it, that it will only take a few minutes.

Do not do it.

A recorded statement is not a casual conversation. It is a tool the insurance company uses to lock you into a version of events before you have had time to process what happened, before you have seen a doctor, and before you understand the full extent of your injuries. They will ask leading questions designed to get you to minimize your injuries or admit partial fault. They will ask if you are hurt and you will say you are a little sore, not realizing that the severe back pain and headaches have not started yet. They will ask if you saw the truck and you will say yes, not understanding that they are building a case that you could have avoided the collision.

Once you give that statement, you cannot take it back. The insurance company will use it to argue that your injuries are not as serious as you now claim. That you admitted you were distracted. That your story changed. Every inconsistency between what you said on the phone and what the medical records show will be used to reduce your settlement or deny your claim entirely.

You are not required to give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurance company. You are required to cooperate with your own insurer, but even then you should talk to a lawyer first. The adjuster will act like you are being difficult. Let them. Your job is not to make their job easier. Your job is to protect your rights.

How Long You Have to File a Truck Accident Claim in Colorado

Colorado’s statute of limitations for personal injury claims is three years from the date of the accident. That sounds like a long time. It is not.

Evidence disappears. Witnesses forget details or move away. Trucking companies purge maintenance records and driver logs after the legally required retention period expires. The longer you wait, the harder it becomes to prove your case.

Insurance companies also know that the statute of limitations creates leverage. If you wait two and a half years to hire a lawyer, they know you have six months left to file a lawsuit. They will lowball you and wait you out, betting that you will panic and accept whatever they offer rather than risk getting nothing.

There are exceptions that can shorten or extend the deadline. If the accident involved a government vehicle, you may have as little as 180 days to file a notice of claim. If you were a minor at the time of the accident, the statute of limitations may not start running until you turn eighteen. If the at-fault party left the state, the clock may pause while they are gone.

Do not gamble with deadlines. Call McCormick & Murphy now. We will make sure your claim is filed on time and that you do not forfeit your rights because of a procedural mistake.

What Happens When the Truck Driver’s Insurance Company Is Already Calling You

They want to settle. Fast. Before you talk to a lawyer. Before you understand how badly you are hurt. Before you realize that the case is worth far more than the quick check they are offering.

The adjuster will make it sound simple. They will say the truck driver was clearly at fault and they want to make this right. They will offer to pay your medical bills and maybe fix your car. They will send paperwork for you to sign. They will tell you that once you sign, you will get your money within a few days.

What they will not tell you is that the paperwork includes a release. Once you sign it, you give up your right to pursue any additional compensation, even if you discover later that your injuries are worse than you thought. Even if you need surgery. Even if you cannot return to work. The insurance company walks away and you are stuck with the bills.

Do not sign anything. Do not accept any payment. Do not negotiate with the insurance company on your own. Tell them you are represented by counsel and give them our number. Then let us handle it.

We know what truck accident cases are worth. We know what the insurance company is trying to hide. And we know how to make sure you get every dollar you are owed, not just the amount they hope you will accept out of fear or ignorance.

Do You Need a Lawyer for a Truck Accident or Can You Handle the Claim Yourself

You can handle a simple fender-bender on your own. No one was hurt, both cars have minor damage, liability is clear, and the insurance company offers a fair amount to fix your vehicle. Those cases do not require an attorney.

Truck accident cases are never that simple.

You are dealing with a commercial trucking operation that has lawyers and insurance adjusters whose job is to pay as little as possible. They have handled hundreds of these claims. You have not. They know the law, the regulations, and the tactics that work to minimize their liability. You are learning as you go.

The insurance company will use that against you. They will use language you do not understand. They will send you forms that look official but actually waive your rights. They will demand documentation you did not know you needed to keep. They will argue that your medical treatment was excessive or unrelated to the accident. They will delay and deflect and wear you down until you accept whatever they offer just to make it stop.

A lawyer levels the field. We know the federal motor carrier safety regulations that govern truck drivers and trucking companies. We know how to obtain and interpret electronic logging device data, driver qualification files, and maintenance records. We know the experts who can reconstruct the accident and testify about what the truck driver did wrong. We know the medical professionals who can document your injuries and explain why you need future treatment.

We also know what your case is worth. Not what the adjuster says it is worth. What a jury in Fremont County would award if the case went to trial. That number is what drives settlement negotiations. The insurance company knows we will take the case to court if they refuse to pay fair value. So they pay.

Most truck accident cases settle before trial. But they settle for the right amount only when the trucking company knows you have a lawyer who is prepared to fight.

How Pre-Existing Conditions Are Used Against You

You had back pain before the accident. Maybe you saw a chiropractor a few times. Maybe you took ibuprofen now and then. The truck accident made it worse. A lot worse. Now you need injections or surgery and the insurance company is arguing that your back problems are not their responsibility because you had issues before the crash.

This is one of the most common tactics insurance companies use to deny or reduce claims. They comb through your medical records looking for any mention of prior pain or treatment. Then they argue that the truck accident did not cause your injuries, it just aggravated a pre-existing condition, and they should only pay for the aggravation, not the underlying condition.

Colorado law does not work that way. Under the eggshell plaintiff rule, the defendant takes the victim as they find them. If you had a vulnerable back and the truck accident made it worse, the trucking company is responsible for the full extent of the harm they caused. They do not get a discount because you were not in perfect health before they hit you.

The insurance company will still try. They will hire a doctor to review your records and write a report saying that your current problems are unrelated to the accident. They will argue that you would have needed surgery eventually anyway. They will try to separate what they claim is old pain from what they admit is new injury, then offer to pay only for the new part.

We fight this by presenting clear medical testimony that the accident caused a significant worsening of your condition. We show that you were functional before the crash and now you are not. We document the difference between occasional discomfort and debilitating pain. And we make sure the jury understands that the trucking company does not get to injure someone and then blame their victim for not being indestructible.

What Happens When the Truck Driver Has No Insurance or Not Enough

Federal law requires commercial truck drivers to carry substantial liability insurance. The minimum is $750,000 for most interstate carriers, and many carry $1 million or more. But not every truck on the road is operating legally. And even when the truck driver has insurance, sometimes the policy limits are not enough to cover the full value of your claim.

When that happens, you look to your own insurance policy. If you have underinsured motorist coverage, it kicks in to cover the difference between what the at-fault driver’s policy pays and what your damages actually are. You paid for that coverage. You are entitled to use it.

Your insurance company will not be happy about it. Even though you are their customer, even though you have been paying premiums for years, they will fight your claim just as hard as the trucking company’s insurer. They will use the same tactics, the same arguments, the same delay strategies. Because now they are the ones writing the check.

This is where a lot of people make a critical mistake. They assume their own insurance company will treat them fairly. That assumption costs them thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid claims. Your insurer is a business. Their goal is to pay as little as possible. You need a lawyer who will hold them to the terms of the policy you purchased.

We also pursue every possible defendant. Sometimes the truck driver is an independent contractor, but the company that hired them exercised enough control that they should be held liable. Sometimes the cargo was improperly loaded and the shipper shares responsibility. Sometimes the truck had a mechanical defect and the manufacturer or maintenance company is at fault. We investigate every angle and pursue every source of recovery so you get the full compensation you deserve.

Why the First 72 Hours Matter More Than Most People Realize

The trucking company’s response team is already working. Within hours of the accident, they have sent investigators to the scene. They have interviewed the driver. They have downloaded data from the truck’s electronic logging device. They have photographed the vehicle and documented everything that supports their version of events. They have contacted witnesses and obtained statements before those witnesses have time to think about talking to anyone else.

Meanwhile, you are at the hospital or at home trying to process what happened. You have not thought about preserving evidence. You have not considered that the trucking company might destroy documents or that witnesses might disappear. You are focused on your injuries and your family and whether your car can be fixed. All of that is understandable. It is also why you need a lawyer immediately.

We act fast. We send a spoliation letter to the trucking company demanding that they preserve all evidence related to the accident. That includes the truck itself, the electronic logging device data, maintenance records, driver qualification files, hours-of-service logs, dispatch records, and any video footage. Once they receive that letter, they are legally required to preserve the evidence. If they destroy it, we can ask the court to presume that the evidence would have supported your case.

We also locate and interview witnesses while their memories are fresh. We visit the accident scene and take our own photographs and measurements. We obtain the police report and any available video from nearby businesses or traffic cameras. We consult with accident reconstruction experts who can analyze the physical evidence and determine exactly what happened.

All of this has to happen quickly. Wait too long and the evidence is gone. The truck has been repaired or sold. The electronic data has been overwritten. The surveillance footage has been deleted. The witnesses have moved or forgotten key details. The trucking company’s version of events becomes the only version, and you spend the rest of the case trying to prove it wrong without the evidence you need.

Who We Are and How We Help

McCormick & Murphy is a personal injury law firm based in Pueblo. Kirk McCormick and Jay Murphy represent people who have been injured in truck accidents, car accidents, and other serious collisions across Southern Colorado. We handle cases in Florence, Cañon City, Penrose, Walsenburg, and throughout Fremont County.

We do not handle every kind of case. We focus on serious injury claims where the defendant’s conduct caused real harm and the insurance company is not offering fair compensation. Truck accident cases fit that description. They involve catastrophic injuries, complex liability, and insurance companies that have every incentive to fight.

When you hire us, we take over all communication with the insurance companies. You do not field their calls or answer their questions or worry about saying the wrong thing. We handle it. We investigate the accident, gather the evidence, consult with experts, and build a case that shows exactly what the truck driver and the trucking company did wrong.

We also handle negotiations. We know what truck accident cases settle for in Colorado. We know the factors that drive value and the arguments that insurance companies use to lowball claimants. We negotiate from a position of strength because we are prepared to take the case to trial if the trucking company refuses to pay fair value.

Most of our cases settle. The ones that do not settle go to court. We are trial lawyers. We have argued cases in front of juries and we know how to present evidence in a way that makes the defendant’s negligence clear and undeniable. The insurance companies know this. It is why they settle.

You do not pay us unless we recover compensation for you. Our fee comes out of the settlement or verdict, not your pocket. If we do not win, you do not owe us anything. That means you can afford an experienced attorney no matter what your financial situation looks like right now.

What to Do Right Now

If you were injured in a truck accident in Florence or anywhere in Fremont County, call McCormick & Murphy at 888-668-1182. We will answer your questions, explain your rights, and tell you exactly what to do next.

Do not wait until the insurance company has already taken your recorded statement or you have signed paperwork you did not understand. Do not wait until the statute of limitations is about to expire. Do not wait until the evidence has disappeared and the trucking company’s story is the only one anyone will hear.

You have rights. The trucking company and their insurer do not want you to know what those rights are or how much your case is actually worth. We do. And we will fight to make sure you get every dollar you are owed.

Call us now. The consultation is free. The insurance company has already started building their defense. It is time to start building yours.