Dallas Truck Accident Lawyers

Our Truck Accident Attorneys Discuss Your Legal Options After You’ve Been in an Accident with an 18 Wheeler or Commercial Truck.

Truck accidents are way more dangerous than just plain car crashes! With the size of a commercial truck, roughly around 80.000 pounds, you can imagine that if the truck driver loses control and hits your car or SUV you got the short end of the stick.

The wide-open spaces of the Lone Star State are crisscrossed with major and minor transportation routes for both Texans and the businesses that keep Texas humming. We’re shipping goods all over the state and to all points throughout the rest of America.

Dallas is a hub for shipping heavy cargo overland. That means there seem to be as many large trucks on the roads around Dallas / Fort Worth as there are cars. More trucks equal more truck accidents….

With thousands of trucks driving across the country in a short amount of time, drivers logging long miles staring at the road as it passes by, accidents, injuries, and even deaths are a statistical inevitability. 2019 in Texas more than 39.000 commercial vehicles were involved in an accident, with Dallas holding a lion’s share of 53% of the serious truck accidents happening in the metroplex area.

Here are some numbers about Fatal Commercial Truck Accidents and Bus Accidents, 1975-2018

Large Truck and Bus Injury Crash Statistics, 1998-2018

Of the approximately 499,000 police-reported crashes nationwide involving commercial trucks in 2018, there were 4,415 (1 percent) fatal crashes and 107,000 (21 percent) injury crashes.

US Large Truck and Bus statistics:

If you have been injured in a truck accident, or if a loved one was hurt or killed in a Dallas 18-wheeler wreck, our Dallas truck accident attorney and our team are here to help victims of big rig accidents. Over the past 25 years, our lawyer has litigated a great number of these types of cases, and we empathize with the pain you have suffered. We can help. You are facing many challenges and hurdles as you seek compensation from a truck accident. We want you to know about the legal venues available so that you can take the right action to achieve just restitution for your 18-wheeler accident injury.

The Dallas truck accident lawyers at our firm would like to take some time to explain some of the basics of a truck accident case, such as whether you have a valid claim, and the purpose of semi-trailer 18-wheeler accident litigation. Naming the defendants in your case, the two ways to win a claim, investigating the facts, obstacles to your claim, and why you should hire our Dallas truck accident attorneys to spearhead your litigation.

Who Is At Fault for a Dallas Semi Truck – 18 Wheeler Accident?

Truck drivers, trucking companies, manufacturers, companies that load trucks, and companies that plan routes are only a few of the many individuals or entities which may be responsible for a wreck. In order to hold the responsible party accountable and collect fully for your losses, it’s important to identify all of the parties who were at fault for causing the truck accident.

The Truck Drivers

First, there is the 18-wheeler- truck drivers themselves. A commercial truck driver is most often responsible for causing a crash. Their actions often directly cause truck accidents. Sometimes, truckers are merely careless, reckless, or incompetent. They may speed, roll through stop signs with their vehicle, ignore traffic warnings, ignore traffic conditions, or make illegal turns.

When their own driving errors lead to the truck accident and your injuries, the truckers themselves may be held responsible for their carelessness in a Dallas personal injury civil suit. Sometimes, an 18-wheeler accident in the Metroplex does not result from ordinary carelessness or recklessness. Many times truck accidents happen because the truck driver is sleep-deprived. Did you know that, by law, truck drivers are required to take periodic rest breaks and keep track of their stops in their driving records? Combined with the tight deadlines and demands a truck driver often face, can be a recipe for disaster. Some truckers are faced with impossible deadlines or with compensation systems that value speed over proper safety precautions.

Frequently, there is so much pressure that these drivers may skip their rest breaks and falsify their logbooks. This happens way too often as many lawsuits and undercover press operations have discovered. There was one study that showed that around one of every five long-haul truckers admitted to having fallen asleep at the wheel at least once in the month preceding the study. Truckers who skip their breaks and spend more than eight hours at a time behind the wheel double their likelihood of being involved in wrecks, according to studies conducted by such organizations as the National Transportation Safety Administration and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Whether the 18-wheeler driver in your case was careless or fatigued, you may be able to name him or her as a defendant in your lawsuit if their actions can be proven to have led to your wreck.

When multiple parties contribute can be held accountable for an accident, all of them may be named as defendants in your lawsuit. Finding the right defendant or defendant is not always a simple proposition or a straightforward challenge in Texas truck accident litigation. This is because so many entities may play a role in preparing a truck to make deliveries, and there are so many people on the road.

Trucking Companies, an $800 Billion Industry

The Trucking company may be held responsible for the negligence that caused an accident through either direct or indirect liability. A trucking company is directly liable for causing an accident if the trucking company did something negligent that ultimately led to a wreck. They are supposed to have kept their fleet in good working order but failed to repair the brakes on one of its trucks, then that would give cause, enough to be held directly liable for any resulting damages and injuries. This industry carries large insurance policies for its best interests, any insurance company will do their level best to pay as little as possible for the damages or death the insured caused.

In other instances, trucking companies do nothing wrong themselves, but may still be held indirectly liable for an accident. Employers are responsible for the on-the-job actions of their employees. This is the case even if the employer didn’t endorse the employees’ conduct. It’s the case if the employer didn’t know about the employees’ conduct, or otherwise did nothing wrong itself. In trucking accident cases, the legal doctrine of “respondent superior” usually allows a plaintiff to hold a trucking company liable for an accident caused by a trucker.

Route-Planning Companies

Logistics companies that plan routes may also be to blame for wrecks if an 18-wheeler collides with an environmental obstacle that it didn’t have sufficient room to clear, such as a low overpass for a tall truck, or a narrow road for a wide load. The fact is that these heavy trucks can’t go on all of the roads that your car can. Weight, cargo, and height restrictions limit trucks from traveling certain bridges, tunnels, and roads. Individual truckers almost never make up their routes as they go along. If the roads that 18-wheelers travel are unsafe for semi-trailer truck traffic and accident results, the company that planned the route may be named as a party to a lawsuit.

Cargo Loading Companies

Truck-loading companies are usually different companies than the companies that own trucks, and these companies may be held responsible for accidents that result from improperly loaded, incompetently loaded, or overloaded cargo. Sometimes it’s the case that the individual responsible for loading an 18-wheeler will do a careless job, and the cargo won’t be properly secured to the trailer. Cargo can come loose during the truck’s travels and fall onto the roadways. This is a major hazard.

Truck cargo of any size that ends up lying in the middle of the road can create a serious danger for other drivers. Sometimes, companies responsible for loading trucks overload trailers and that creates its own hazard. By law, most trucks may only be loaded to 80,000 pounds but many companies, however, can and do cram more than 80,000 pounds onto a trailer in order to deliver more goods without the added cost of making additional trips. They are putting money over safety because overloaded trailers have a tendency to tip over. If overloaded or improperly secured cargo resulted in your accident, the company that loaded the truck may be held responsible.

Parts Manufacturers

Sometimes, manufacturers may be liable for causing wrecks if their defective products lead to accidents. Occasionally, truck parts leave the factory with manufacturing defects or design flaws which make the parts unsafe for use. In order for a truck to operate safely, its critical components must be working properly.

For example, if a tire is defective, an 18-wheeler runs the risk of rolling over or losing control. Or, if a brake fails, it can cause a wreck. If a strap designed to hold cargo in place is flawed, cargo could fall from the trailer onto the roadway and cause the wreck or the driver to lose control. If a manufacturer’s error caused your accident, you may be able to sue the manufacturer for damages.

Act Now!

Our law firm offers competent representation in truck accident cases. We will make sure that we reach a fair verdict or settlement for you and or your family after a tractor-trailer crash that wrecked your life. Passenger vehicles that experience a collision with tractor-trailers are always getting the short end of the stick. Carabin Shaw’s truck accident lawyer is prepared to start the investigation to preserve the evidence needed to have the information to take your family’s case forward.  Some truck accident victims

If you or a family member have been seriously injured in a Dallas / Fort Worth Truck accident it is time to get in touch with our Dallas truck accident attorneys. We will protect and fight for your rights, being fully prepared to take on the large trucking companies and their endless resources. In Texas the statute of limitation for personal injury cases is 2 Years, act now.
Call us now for a free consultation! 1-800-862-1260 or 1-972-278-9202

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