Hutto Truck Accident Lawyer
Commercial tractor-trailers are common sights on every major highway in America since these vehicles keep our businesses and economy moving forward. Unfortunately, not every truck driver operates their vehicle with the care and consideration required by law. Negligent truck driving, unfortunately, can lead to crashes and catastrophic injuries.
As any experienced personal injury attorney knows, civil claims built around truck accidents are often much more valuable and have much higher stakes than other types of cases just because of how severe the injuries associated with these cases are. If you were hurt due to the recklessness of a trucker or commercial vehicle corporation, representation from a Hutto truck accident lawyer can prove vital to obtaining fair financial compensation.
Who Might Be Responsible for a Truck Accident?
Just like with most personal injury cases, the legal theory of negligence can be used to hold a defendant responsible through a truck accident claim. Negligence entails someone having an implicit or explicit responsibility to keep other people safe by acting responsibly and then directly causing an injury to someone else by failing to uphold their duty of care.
In many cases, trucker negligence is as simple as a driver braking traffic laws or being careless behind the wheel. However, truckers are far from the only people who could contribute to causing an crash through careless behavior. Additionally, given how extensive the harm caused by such a wreck can be, filing suit against a single truck driver alone will rarely lead to enough compensation to fully cover a plaintiff’s losses.
Fortunately, trucking companies can often be held vicariously liable for negligent acts committed by one of their employees. In some situation, a commercial vehicle corporation could even be directly liable for something like forcing drivers to disobey federal law by staying on the road too long without breaks.
Other big rig collisions might be caused by less predictable factors, such as another driver acting irresponsibly around a commercial vehicle. or a mechanic failing to fix an issue with a truck. Regardless of the specifics, a seasoned Hutto truck accident attorney can help streamline the process of identifying potential defendants and taking appropriate action against them.
Common Causes and Types of Truck Accidents
With more than 66,000 trucking companies operating in Texas, accidents are bound to happen, and some types of accidents regularly recur. The most common of these include:
What causes these accidents? Truck driver physical and mental fatigue leads to devastating errors in judgment and inattention to surroundings if the driver nods off. Although the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) mandates how many hours a trucker can drive during set periods, and these hours must be logged, compliance is sometimes elusive when the trucking company or trucker is in a hurry to deliver cargo.
While inclement weather can be considered a ‘force majeure’ if there is an accident, truckers by law are expected to reduce speed, even below the speed limit if necessary, to avoid the accidents sheeting rain, limited visibility, and slippery conditions can bring.
Another factor in trucker negligence is drinking or taking drugs and driving. While passenger car drivers cannot register more than a 0.08 blood alcohol concentration (BAC), commercial truckers are considered drunk if they register at least a 0.04 BAC, and they are forbidden under the FMCSA to drink any alcohol within four hours of driving.
Overloading cargo and improperly securing it can be a strain on the braking system, add additional weight that makes the truck difficult to stop, and destabilize the truck as cargo shifts, even to the point of flying out the rear doors and hitting motorists.
Commercial trucks are subject to routine inspections and maintenance, according to the FMCSA, and failing to keep up with these safe practices can be considered negligent when a malfunctioning truck causes a wreck. Your Hutto truck crash lawyer will investigate these causes and build a strong case to get you compensated for your losses.
Types of Compensation in Truck Crash Claims
Compensatory damages are meant to replace the losses you suffer if you are injured in a truck accident due to negligence by the operator, trucking company, or manufacturer. These are divided into economic and non-economic. Economic damages replace money you spent or lost, such as paying for medical care and losing the wages you earn when you are unable to work. Your property damage is also an economic loss.
Non-economic losses task the jury with assigning price tags to losses that include your pain and suffering, what it is worth to be disabled or disfigured for life, your emotional trauma, and loss of enjoyment of life.
Punitive damages are meant to punish the wrongdoer, but your attorney must prove that the actions were egregious, or with extreme disregard for human life, such as driving with a very high BAC. They are capped at the greater of $200,000 or twice the amount awarded for economic damages, plus $200,000 allocated to non-economic damages.
Step-by-Step Guide to the Truck Crash Legal Process
Your attorney will gather evidence with your help, including police reports, your medical records, eyewitness statements, surveillance videos, truck maintenance records, travel logs, and anything else your attorney requests. After becoming familiar with the evidence and strategizing how to present your case, your attorney will file a complaint with the appropriate court. Pertinent information is included, such as naming the parties, describing the truck accident, explaining why the defendant should be held responsible, and stating the compensation your attorney believes you are entitled to receive.
Through process service, the defendants receive your complaint, either by a professional process server or the sheriff’s office. Defendants have a limited time to answer your complaint, typically 30 days in state court. Answers will address each charge and raise affirmative defenses, such as whether you are partly or fully to blame for the accident. Alternatively, defendants may file a motion to dismiss.
The discovery phase is a time of sharing information both sides possess, after which interrogatories are exchanged, sets of written questions answered under oath, and requests for tangible evidence such as your medical records. Depostions result, under oath, so both sides understand what all parties will say at trial. Expert witnesses can be enlightening in this phase.
At this point, the defendant may ask you to undergo an independent medical exam. At any time, even before a complaint is filed, your attorney can enter settlement negotiations with defendants’ insurers. The court may also order mediation before a trial. Although most truck crash cases are settled before trial, our Hutto lawyers will carry through to trial if a settlement offer is unacceptable.
What Filing Deadlines Could Impact Civil Recovery?
Even if someone has clear evidence proving that someone else’s misconduct directly led to them being hurt in a truck accident, they may be unable to get any compensation at all if they wait too long to file their claim. Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code §16.003 sets a two-year filing period for most personal injury claims, usually beginning when the prospective plaintiff first discovers their injuries.
Anyone truck wreck plaintiff who fails to start the litigation process before this deadline passes will almost always be permanently “time-barred” from collecting any financial compensation. With that in mind, it is generally best to contact a lawyer sooner rather than later following a truck wreck in Hutto.
Contact a Hutto Truck Accident Attorney for Help
When fully loaded, semi-trucks can weigh tens of thousands of pounds. If all that mass collides with a commuter car, the results are often severe or life-altering. Fortunately, if you were involved in a big rig crash, you may have standing to sue the truck driver who hit you, the company who hired them, and/or various other parties over any damages you sustained.
A Hutton truck accident lawyer can explain your options thoroughly during a confidential consultation. Schedule yours by calling today.
