Injury and Death Claims Involving Commercial Truck Crashes in Texas

 Posted on May 22, 2023 in Truck Accident

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) reported that 38,149 commercial motor vehicle crashes were reported in our state in 2021, with 630 of those accidents resulting in the deaths of 705 people. Another 1,334 crashes involved 1,708 serious injuries.

When a person is involved in a collision involving a commercial motor vehicle, there will be immediate concerns about insurance companies because most commercial vehicles are heavily insured and well-defended. They want to pay as little as possible to resolve claims. Insurance companies aggressively try to settle these cases before crash victims have even had an opportunity to consult with a lawyer (these are called swoop and settle schemes). Therefore, it is important for injured victims to understand their rights after being hit by an 18-wheeler, dump truck, bus or other commercial vehicle.

Seeking Financial Compensation After a Large Truck Accident

When a person suffers injuries in any kind of accident involving a commercial motor vehicle, it is important to secure qualified personal injury legal representation as soon as possible. Risk managers and lawyers for the trucking company or commercial vehicle operator normally deploy “boots on the ground” by way of experts at the crash scene within hours of a truck wreck. Once you hire your legal team to represent you or your injured family member, a good personal injury commercial vehicle lawyer will conduct an independent investigation into your accident with crash reconstruction, biomechanic and kinematics experts. This is an important step to put you on an equal playing field to the trucking company.

Your legal team should also takes steps to preserve important scene evidence, all vehicles involved in the crash, as well as documents belonging to the commercial vehicle company such as log books, driver qualification files, personnel files and other safety related documents. Many times, there are two sets of log books, which can be exposed to show the driver was fatigued and should not have been behind the wheel. Other documents often show the 18-wheeler truck or trailer should have been out of service instead of on the road due to mechanical issues. Forcing the trucking company to preserve these important items will ultimately allow your legal team to maximize the value of your claim.

You should avoid speaking with the trucking company or insurance company lawyers, adjusters and representatives. These representatives are highly trained and skilled in talking to truck wreck victims and using speeds, distances and other measurements to create doubt about who is responsible for the wreck. They are equally adept at creating ambiguity around your injuries and bringing to light prior injuries, medical conditions and prior accidents, all of which can hurt your claim. Because they contact you early, you will be at an even greater disadvantage because of your injuries and medication you are using to cope with your injuries. These conversations will also be recorded and used against you to impeach your testimony later on in the claim. DO NOT give any recorded interviews or talk to any insurance or trucking company representative about how the crash happened, o your injuries or medical treatment.

A good injury lawyer and legal team will typically help you obtain a far greater result than a lay person can obtain on his or her own. Some of the damage elements that a qualified injury law team can help maximize include pain, physical impairment, loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement, mental anguish, medical expenses, lost wages and loss of consortium.

Consult a Collin County Truck Crash Injury Attorney

If you suffered serious injuries or your loved one was injured or killed in a large truck accident in Texas, you need to contact a skilled, experienced injury and wrongful death law firm. The McKinney truck accident lawyers at Burress Injury Law will fight to protect your interests and obtain justice for you and your family.

Our firm has recovered hundreds of millions on behalf of our injured and wrongful death clients. Most of our lawyers represented trucking companies and insurance companies for at least a decade prior to dedicating our practices to helping serious injury and wrongful death victims. This experience gives us a significant advantage in that we understand how insurance companies value claims and what makes them nervous, ultimate leading them through a risk-based analysis causing them to pay far more money on your claim. Call us at 214-726-0016 or online for a free consultation.

Source:

https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot-info/trf/crash_statistics/2021/30.pdf