If you are struck by a mail truck or van and receive an injury, you can seek compensation for your rising medical bills and to help support your family while you can’t work. But filing a claim against the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) can mean complex paperwork and tight deadlines.
Maison Law Accident & Injury Lawyers of Bakersfield offers a free, no-obligation consultation for all USPS accident victims in Kern County. It’s a chance to find out what your injury is worth and how to make sure you receive everything needed to make a full recovery.
Do I Need a Lawyer After Getting Hit by a U.S. Mail Truck?
If you are struck by a USPS mail truck or van, and your injuries are serious, it’s a good idea to go over your options with a skilled Bakersfield Truck Accident Lawyer. When you must file a claim against the federal government, you will hit a lot of roadblocks to getting the help you need.
The U.S. government enjoys a lot of extra protection from lawsuits. They’ll resist any claim you file and try to blame you for the accident if they can. They fight even harder when you have a serious injury, like a broken bone, and the cost of care will be higher.
A skilled lawyer can help you navigate the complicated process.
These are a few of the added challenges when a government entity is involved in your case:
- Complex paperwork that must be filed correctly.
- Evidence collection. You’ll need strong evidence to win against the government. You might not be able to collect the details you require when you are dealing with an injury.
- Protections that make you seek permission from the government before you can even consider filing a claim.
- Short deadlines. The statute of limitations on government cases is usually much shorter than in normal traffic accident cases. This means that instead of having years to file a claim, you may only have months to file, or lose your chance forever.
Your lawyer would fully investigate your case and have it ready to file in time to meet all deadlines enforced by the government. The paperwork would be filed correctly as well. Then your attorney would go to work negotiating to get the maximum in support for you.
Your settlement check is often much bigger than if you filed a claim and took on the USPS yourself.
USPS Mail Truck Dangers for Bakersfield Drivers
Many of the squat, old-fashioned mail vehicles you see at your mailbox are made by a company that makes vehicles for the military. They are well-constructed, with a lot of protection built in, but that’s not helpful for you when you are struck by a heavy mail truck. The impacts can carry more force, which is then transferred into your vehicle and absorbed by those inside.
Some of the newer USPS vehicles, like the white vans, may be more modern in design, but they are much bigger and can carry extra cargo. They can cause major accidents.
The risks also come from mail carriers themselves. They can get in a hurry to finish their routes and begin to speed or drive aggressively.
The problems arise when they must stop a vehicle and all of those packages quickly. They often don’t have the time or space to correct a mistake and can ram cars, SUVs, other trucks, motorcycles, and defenseless pedestrians and bicyclists.
Driver attention can also suffer. Distracted mail carriers may be looking at a phone or be in communication with their bosses at the post office when they cause a collision.
Victims can suffer bone fractures, neck and back injuries, and head and brain trauma, and end up at Adventist Health Bakersfield. A Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) can greatly diminish a victim’s quality of life in the short term or over a lifetime. The Mayo Clinic finds that patients can suffer from convulsions and even be sent into a coma.
Support for USPS Accident Victims
A skilled lawyer would hold the federal government fully liable for every economic damage the victim faced. A settlement check should also factor in a few things that victims may not have realized could earn support.
USPS would need to be responsible for these and other injury hardships:
- All of the medical bills the victim receives and may receive in the future
- The paychecks that the victim must forfeit while they can’t work due to injury
- Additional support included in a settlement check for the pain USPS truck victims are asked to endure
- Additional support for the emotional trauma caused by a horrifying collision and the mental anguish involved in a difficult medical recovery
- Support for the loss of enjoyment of life, a victim with a traumatic injury may feel
- Support for the costs of travel for patients to see doctors and out-of-town specialists
- Support to cover the cost of car repairs until victims have a vehicle in good working order again
Contact a Truck Accident Attorney Who Backs Your Claim with Evidence and Fights to Earn You More
If you have a serious injury, and a careless USPS driver caused your accident, contact Maison Law Accident & Injury Lawyers of Bakersfield to schedule a free consultation. It’s a confidential, no-obligation review of your case with a real truck accident lawyer.
If you end up needing our help to hold the U.S. Mail accountable, you don’t have to worry about how you’ll get a lawyer paid. We don’t charge anything up front, and we only get paid if we win your case for you. Then our attorney’s fee comes out of the settlement check that the government must write for you.