Hurt in a Commercial Vehicle Crash in Henrico County?

A commercial vehicle accident claim seeks compensation for injury or death caused by a crash with a tractor-trailer, box truck, bus or other vehicle used in a business. Injured people and families in Henrico County often ask the same questions: what the claim involves, which deadlines matter and what happens next. This page answers them in plain language.

What a Commercial Vehicle Accident Claim Involves

A commercial vehicle accident claim arises when a crash involving a commercial vehicle causes injury or death. Commercial vehicles include tractor-trailers, box trucks, delivery trucks, buses and work vehicles used in business.

People who may have a claim include drivers, passengers and pedestrians hurt in these crashes. Families of people killed in them may have a wrongful death claim, which is covered below.

Many of these crashes involve more than one party. The driver, the vehicle’s owner and the company running the vehicle may each play a role. A lawyer can review the facts to see who may be responsible.

Commercial trucks also operate under federal safety rules. Federal rules place duties on the motor carrier to make sure drivers follow safety requirements, and a review may look at how a trip was run (49 CFR § 390.11).

Each crash is different, so an initial review depends on the facts of that crash, not a template.

Commercial Vehicle Crashes in Henrico County and the Richmond Area

Correll Law Firm works as a commercial vehicle accidents attorney for people in Henrico County, Richmond and the surrounding area. The firm’s offices are in Winchester and Harrisonburg. It also serves people from across the Shenandoah Valley, including communities in its northern part.

Local details can shape how a claim is reviewed. Henrico County and Richmond crashes can happen on interstate routes, city streets and county roads, and each can involve different responding agencies. The place of the crash affects which police agency responded and where the crash report is kept. A review often starts with questions like these:

• Which road, intersection or exit was the crash on?
• Which agency wrote the report, and what is its report number?
• Were there witnesses, dash cameras or nearby business cameras?

Writing these details down while they’re fresh can help a review later.

What the Firm’s Commercial Vehicle Work Covers

Correll Law Firm handles car accidents, truck accidents, commercial vehicle accidents, catastrophic injuries, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury and wrongful death. Each area involves serious harm or loss from a crash.

• Car and truck accidents: crashes between passenger vehicles, or between a passenger vehicle and a large truck.
• Commercial vehicle accidents: crashes involving buses, delivery trucks and other vehicles used in business.
• Catastrophic injuries: harm that can change a person’s work, daily life and independence for a long time.
• Traumatic brain injury: brain injury caused by a blow or jolt to the head.
• Spinal cord injury: damage to the spinal cord, which can affect movement and feeling.
• Wrongful death: claims brought by the decedent’s personal representative after a death caused by another party’s wrongful act, neglect or default. The firm handles these matters for families facing a sudden loss.

Questions about medical recovery belong with your treating doctors. Brain and spinal cord injury claims often involve medical records and reviews by outside medical experts.

Early Steps, Reporting Duties and Legal Limits

Virginia has one rule for reporting a crash and a separate deadline for filing a lawsuit. The two are not the same.

Virginia requires a driver involved in a crash with injury or death to stop and report it to police immediately (Va. Code §§ 46.2-371, 46.2-894). The driver’s duty appears in Va. Code § 46.2-894.

Virginia generally allows two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit (Va. Code § 8.01-243(A)); the clock runs from the date of injury, not the date of discovery, with narrow exceptions. The filing period is set in Va. Code § 8.01-243.

Some claims carry notice requirements that run out sooner. A claim for negligence against a county, city or town generally requires a written statement filed within six months after the claim arises, with exceptions (Va. Code § 15.2-209). Va. Code § 15.2-209 reads: “Failure to provide such statement shall not bar a claim against any county, city, or town, provided that the attorney, chief executive, or mayor of such locality, or any insurer or entity providing coverage or indemnification of the claim, had actual knowledge of the claim, which includes the nature of the claim and the time and place at which the injury is alleged to have occurred, within six months after such cause of action accrued.” Va. Code § 15.2-209 reads: “Every claim cognizable against any county, city, or town for negligence shall be forever barred unless the claimant or his agent, attorney, or representative has filed a written statement of the nature of the claim, which includes the time and place at which the injury is alleged to have occurred, within six months after such cause of action accrued.” This can matter when a government vehicle is involved.

Wrongful death has its own filing rule. A Virginia wrongful death action is filed by the decedent’s personal representative within two years of the death (Va. Code §§ 8.01-50(C), 8.01-244(B)), on behalf of the family members the statute protects. The filing rule is in Va. Code § 8.01-244.

Virginia follows contributory negligence: if you are found even partly at fault, you may be barred from recovering, with limited exceptions. Talk to a lawyer about your facts.

Crash reports, photos and medical records are common items a lawyer reviews when looking at a claim.

How the Process Works

A claim review usually moves through the same basic steps, though the details vary with each claim. Early on, the focus is on the crash facts and the injuries. Later steps build on what the records show, so each step can take a different amount of time.

1. Share the basics. Describe the crash, your injuries or your loss, and any papers you have, such as a police report or medical bills.
2. Initial review. A lawyer looks at the facts and explains what the review covers, including who may be responsible and which deadlines may apply.
3. Records and investigation. If the firm takes a matter, it may request crash reports, photos, witness information and medical records.
4. Your decision. You decide whether to go forward. Nothing in this process requires you to take a step you have not chosen.

Federal hours-of-service rules limit how long property-carrying drivers may drive and when they must rest (49 CFR § 395.3). Driver logs can be part of a review when those rules apply.

Keep copies of everything you receive after a crash, including bills and letters from insurers.

About Correll Law Firm

Correll Law Firm is based in Winchester and has an office in Harrisonburg. The firm serves clients in Henrico County, Richmond and the Shenandoah Valley.

The firm focuses on car, truck and commercial vehicle crashes. It also handles catastrophic injury, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury and wrongful death matters. Support staff assist with the firm’s day-to-day work.

No lawyer can promise how a claim will turn out, and the firm does not make that promise. Injured drivers and families often face medical care and time away from work while a claim is pending. The firm’s focus is on helping them understand the legal steps.

Common Questions About Commercial Vehicle Accident Cases

Short answers to common questions appear below.

What is negligent entrustment?