Commuters in Texas municipalities encounter difficulties—heavy traffic, roadwork, and distracted drivers—every day. For many drivers, one of these challenges is sharing the road with semi-trucks, which are more threatening than ever on congested city roads. These commercial trucks intimidate many drivers and, when operated poorly, may cause an accident that will require the help of the Laredo truck accident lawyer at Carabin Shaw.
Large Truck Accidents by the Numbers
Large trucks intimidate many drivers because of their size alone, but there are more substantive reasons for motorists to approach these oversized vehicles with caution.
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA), there were approximately 475,000 police-reported accidents involving commercial trucks in 2016 alone.
During the previous year, there were roughly 4,000 deaths linked to trucking accidents, and the majority of these casualties were drivers in standard passenger vehicles.
Regarding this disparity between trucker deaths and passenger-car deaths in trucking accidents, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that most semi-trucks are 20 to 30 times heavier than a standard car. Clearly, a semi-truck can easily crush a sedan and cause severe injuries and even loss of life.
A Laredo truck accident lawyer with Carabin Shaw is familiar with cases like these and can help you rebuild your life after a commercial truck collision by compiling the necessary evidence for suing for damages. The compensation you receive from a successful lawsuit can offset lost wages, medical expenses, and ensure you receive any mental support you might need.
Establishing Fault in a Semi-Truck Accident
While the exact cause of a trucking accident is unique, there are a few common at-fault parties in situations like these. These parties are:
- Manufacturers: Because semi-trucks have many working parts, careful engineering and assembly are essential to safety. If a trucking accident happens due to defective vehicle design, manufacture, or testing, the manufacturer may owe you redress.
- Trucking companies: The law requires companies to hire qualified drivers, maintain their trucks, and follow specific federal regulations. When they fail to do so, truck injury attorneys serving Laredo may utilize the legal precedent respondeat superior to hold the company liable for the actions of its the workers.
- Truck drivers: Driver error is the leading cause of all motor vehicle collisions, and commercial vehicle operators are not exempt. Negligent behavior from truck drivers includes impaired driving, speeding, failure to yield, and noncompliance with federal weight regulations. If a trucker does not adhere to the reasonable-person standard—which requires a person to work with care, prudence, and sound judgment to protect others—he or she may be at fault.
Because there are more parties that may be responsible in a commercial truck accident, it is important to ask an attorney support you in your claim. Even if the at-fault party is undisputed, legal counsel can help you get the settlement you deserve.
What Causes a Large Trucking Accident?
If you have been involved in a large trucking accident, you may feel like the exact cause of the crash is immaterial—knowing how it happened cannot take away the resulting hurt. However, understanding the cause of a semi-truck accident can help truck accident lawyer in Laredo develop your settlement case. The common causes of semi-truck accidents are:
- Overweight or imbalanced cargo: Because an overweight load can cause other systems, namely the brakes, on the truck to malfunction, truckers are responsible for balancing cargo weight to ensure their own safety and the safety of other drivers on the road. A load shift or loss of load can cause the truck to swing or roll.
- Driver fatigue: Though the Federal Motor Carrier Administration (FMCA) orders all truckers to log their hours and stop driving after reaching a daily maximum, some drivers falsify these logs in favor of increasing their productivity. Though most commercial truck drivers responsible, the pressure to meet delivery deadlines and manage demanding schedules, coupled with irregular sleep, can lead to truckers operating vehicles when they are too tired to be aware of their surroundings.
