18-Wheeler Accident Attorneys – Our Truck Accident Attorney is on Your Side

Though it may seem entirely obvious that you were blameless in your 18-wheeler accident, winning full compensation for your losses is neither guaranteed nor an automatic process. By law, the defendant or defendants in your case owe you nothing at the start. In short, to recover compensation for your losses, you have to fight for your rights.

The fact is, unrepresented big rig accident victims, that is to say, victims who choose to represent themselves, almost never receive the entire compensation that their cases merit. Often, an experienced 18-wheeler accident attorney can be the key to ensure you recover thousands or even millions of dollars for your injuries, rather than recovering nothing at all.

Despite the fact that receiving compensation for your losses in the aftermath of an 18-wheeler accident isn’t automatic, it doesn’t have to be difficult, either. Understanding your rights and making sure you have an experienced personal injury attorney at your side, you’ll greatly increase your chance of winning your case and holding the blameworthy defendants accountable for their misdeeds. In the information that follows, we’ll go over the basics of the 18-wheeler accident lawyer to help you understand your rights.

This article is meant to explain just the fundamentals of truck accident law. To learn more about the precise legal implications of your exact situation, call us toll-free. We’ll gladly answer your questions about tractor-trailer accident law and give you a free consultation.

The Importance of Litigation

Filing a claim or bringing a lawsuit against a defendant or against multiple defendants serves two […]

Our Texas Truck Accident Injury Lawyer Discusses Common Unsafe Trucking Practices

Unsafe trucking practices lead to approximately 100,000 injuries and 5,000 deaths per year in the United States alone. These astronomical numbers are a somber reminder that this necessary part of modern living has its price. Large commercial trucks, 18-wheelers, semis, big-rigs, and other types of commercial vehicles can cause immense damage when even a small error occurs. Trucking accidents in Texas can be caused by any number of unsafe trucking practices.

Asleep at the Wheel

Truckers earn their wages by spending time on the road and by quickly delivering their goods. This can be a recipe for disaster as it causes some truck drivers to overextend themselves and drive too long under poor, personal physical conditions. Likely causes of truck accidents often involve a driver falling asleep at the wheel, then causing devastating amounts of damage to both themselves and others. While these are well-known risks, Congress recently chose to actually extend the number of possible hours a truck driver is allowed to legally drive from ten hours to eleven hours. Adding that extra hour may not seem like much, but, in reality, it has been a continual cause for unsafe trucking practices.

However, there are rules and regulations stated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, or FMCSA, that define the necessary limits of fatigue and other factors relating to commercial truck drivers:

Article 392.3 – Ill or fatigued operator
“No driver shall operate a commercial motor vehicle, and a motor carrier shall not require or permit a driver to operate a commercial motor vehicle, while the driver’s ability or alertness is so impaired, or so likely […]

Satisfying the Burden of Proof

As we stated previously, in the state of Texas, the law does not require a defendant to pay a victim anything after he or she has been injured in a truck accident. The victim, or plaintiff, has to prove the defendant owes him or her compensation. And in order to get that compensation, the victim has to produce compelling evidence to sway a judge or jury. Evidence still needs to be produced even when negotiating an out-of-court settlement; the defendant or the defendant’s insurance provider must be compelled to negotiate in good faith; that won’t happen if you don’t have evidence on your side. In order to meet the burden of proof, you need to establish duty, breach, causation, and damages. These are detailed below.

Duty – The state of Texas has established that everyone owes everyone else a duty of care. In your case, you have to prove the defendant owed you the duty of providing for your safety by behaving in a responsible manner. There are different levels of duty of care that apply in different ways. In the case of motorists, all drivers owe all other drivers a duty of care to drive in a manner that is safe for everyone else on the road. In the case of a truck accident, this is a fairly easy element to establish.

Breach – You must next prove that the defendant (or defendants) breached that duty of care that you were owed. This breach typically occurs when a defendant places others in danger, either through an action that […]

Wrongful Death Lawyers on Fatal Semi-Truck Accidents and the Aftermath

Have you suffered a loss recently in a tragically fatal semi-truck accident in Texas? It is a sad fact that no action can bring back your loved one or somehow make up for the tragic loss. However, following such an accident you do have several choices for how to proceed legally in order to achieve some compensation for your loss as well as some justice for those whose negligence caused the loss.

You might ask us, what are the legal options following such a tragedy, and whom will I need to contact to start the process to achieve just restitution and to bring those responsible to account for their actions? In any case of wrongful death involving motor vehicles and especially in cases involving semi-trucks, the practical and legal proceedings are complex and convoluted, far beyond the skill-set of an inexperienced attorney, much less someone who does not have a legal background or have extensive knowledge of the law who might try and represent themselves.

The fact that it is a wrongful death case will make it complicated such that only an experienced attorney can hope to bring you through the situation. The fatal semi-truck accident wrongful death lawsuit is a complicated process made more so by each of its components. Our Law Office offers this article by way of information so that you have the tools to make your first step in the arduous process following the tragic loss of a loved one to a fatal semi-truck accident. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call us for a free consultation. […]

Our Law Firm Can Help Following Accidents With Fallen 18-Wheeler Truck Cargo

As if the thought of an encounter or collision with a massive tractor-trailer a.k.a. “18-wheeler” coming at you on the highway isn’t enough to put fear in the hearts of the bravest of the brave, here is one other kind of catastrophic collision to add to that list of things that might ruin your day.

In addition to having to share the road with the SUVs, and other types of passenger vehicles, commercial buses, and motor homes consider those long flatbed trucks. You have seen them with the huge tarps covering their cargo but somehow a section of flap usually always works its way loose and you can almost always get a glimpse of what is being transported underneath. Sometimes there are big long sections of underground piping, other times laying on the bed of a truck is long twisted or plaited aluminum wiring almost the entire length of the trailer itself. Many times when one of those monster flatbeds pass, you cannot help but notice that all that is keeping that shipment intact on the flatbed are those big wide metal bands that are tightly bound around the entire shipment. You just hope and pray that every band tightly ratcheted down will hold—at least until you pass. Falling cargo truck accidents almost always end with a fatality. With a sudden shift of the load when the truck driver attempts to avoid a collision by jerking the wheel, it could either be the end of a beautiful day or the beginning of a bad day. Just imagine the stress on those ratcheted metal tie-downs becoming too much and resulting in all those bands breaking loose. […]

Trucking Companies And Their Insurance Policies

The worst part is that you can’t just demand compensation from the court and think you’ll get it quickly. You must provide factual evidence that points out not just your losses but also how you came up with that value for those damages. What happens then is that defendants will likely fight about the total compensation owed by the plaintiff and then submit their own amount owed, which will likely decrease the overall amount of harm the plaintiff has endured. If you’re wanting to show how the defendant took the sneaky cheap way out, you must present unflappable evidence that prove your numbers are spot on.

What is the true cost of my case? Damages like pain and suffering and loss of earning capacity are very subjective and always up for debate, and they’re also nearly impossible to total for regular citizens. It’s complicated putting a value on pain and suffering or estimate lost earning capacity by figuring the overall value of potential raises and inflation. In the trial, you’ve got one shot to compile the amount of equitable compensation you should get. For the past 20 years, our 18-wheeler accident lawyers have been totaling damages and we have gained enough familiarity with cases such as yours to learn how to take all your losses and get an estimation of the compensation that will assist your family in getting the restitution they desire.

If you can’t show any of these four elements, you’ll probably fail at getting compensation for the harm incurred to you. You need the help of an 18-wheeler accident lawyer – especially if you […]