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Unfortunately, accidents involving trucks happen somewhat frequently, and people sometimes get hurt. Accidents involving eighteen-wheelers are especially dangerous, and survivors often live with debilitating injuries. If you were hurt in such an accident, our legal team can help you hold the trucker and their employer responsible.
Victims of truck accidents may need significant financial compensation to help them make ends meet while they recover. To build your case, we can look to federal trucking regulations. If a violation occurred, we may be able to determine how the crash happened and who is responsible. Accidents with eighteen-wheelers might be especially tricky to figure out, but we can compare your case against examples of somewhat common accidents with large trucks. Damages may include the cost of medical care, lost income from being unable to work, serious psychological trauma, and an overall decline in your quality or enjoyment of life. To prove your claims, we need evidence. Evidence might come from the accident scene, the truck, or other places you might not expect.
Call (817) 476-1797 and ask our truck accident attorneys at The Queenan Law Firm for a free, private case review to begin.
Possible Injuries and Damages in Sherman, TX Truck Accident Cases
Injuries are not just possible in a truck crash; they are highly likely. It is unusual for someone to emerge from a collision with a large truck or eighteen-wheeler unscathed. If you are lucky, you might walk away with some relatively minor injuries that are common in most vehicle accidents. Broken bones, soft-tissue injuries, bruising, cuts, whiplash, and concussions are very common injuries in truck crash cases. Remember, even seemingly minor injuries need medical care to heal properly, and you should get to a hospital as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, truck crashes tend to involve many severe injuries. If you or someone you love experienced a severe injury like the ones listed here, get emergency medical attention immediately and call a lawyer. Severe injuries may include traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, severed limbs, and severe burns. These injuries often come with debilitating complications, lifelong disabilities, disfigurements, and other painful experiences.
It is important to understand just how extensive your injuries or the injuries of a loved one might be after a truck accident. Eighteen-wheelers and semi-trailers are absolutely enormous. A standard car cannot stand up to vehicles like these. Serious injuries are highly likely, and you should call a lawyer for help as soon as possible. Our truck accident lawyer will review the accident, evaluate your injuries, and determine just what kind of fair financial compensation you rightfully deserve.
Federal Regulations for Trucks and Truck Drivers in Sherman, TX
Large commercial vehicles, like trucks, are subject to strict federal regulations. These regulations are meant to improve and maintain road safety for the benefit of truckers and other drivers. If a violation of these regulations occurs, it might clue us into how the accident happened and lead us to evidence.
Hours of Service
Truckers cannot drive all day every day. Federal regulations restrict how long a trucker may be on duty and how many consecutive hours they may drive in a given period. These regulations are designed to prevent truckers from driving while overly tired or fatigued. If the trucker in your case was driving in violation of these regulations, they might have been on the road for way too long and become too tired to drive safely. As such, we should check things like driving logs to determine how long they were on the road and whether they took any breaks to rest.
According to 49 C.F.R. § 395.3(a), a truck driver cannot begin a shift until they have had at least 10 consecutive hours off duty. Once a trucker’s shift has begun, they must stop driving after 14 consecutive hours. On the road, truckers cannot drive for more than 11 hours during their 14-hour shift. Also, truck drivers are required to take 30-minute breaks after eight consecutive hours of driving.
Additionally, subsection (b) of this regulation describes how often truckers may drive during 7- and 8-day periods. A trucker may not drive more than 60 hours during any 7-day consecutive period if the truck company does not operate every day of the week. Additionally, truckers cannot drive for more than 70 hours during any 8-day consecutive period if the truck company operates each day of the week.
Alcohol and Intoxication
Alcohol and driving never mix, and this is especially true for truckers who drive enormous vehicles with heavy cargo. If a trucker is even slightly inebriated, they are more likely to cause a serious accident. According to § 382.201, no truck driver may report for duty or remain on duty if they have a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of at least .04%. If the truck driver’s employer knows that a trucker is intoxicated, they must not permit them to drive.
Additionally, after any truck accident, truckers are often required to be chemically tested, even if alcohol is not an obvious factor. Truckers are not permitted to refuse testing, which means there should be BAC measurements we can use as evidence.
Licensing Requirements
Not just anyone can drive an eighteen-wheeler. Truckers must have commercial driver’s licenses that allow them to drive these big rigs. Under ֻ§ 383.23(a) of the federal regulations, all drivers of commercial motor vehicles must have a commercial driver’s license (CDL) or a commercial learner’s permit (CLP). Your CDL or CLP must meet the federal standards in addition to the standards of the issuing state.
More specifically, truckers must obtain a CD after being tested on knowledge and skills pertaining to specific kinds of commercial motor vehicles. If a trucker drives an eighteen-wheeler, their CDL must have been issued based on testing of their knowledge and skills of eighteen-wheelers.
As with any driver’s license, a CDL must be periodically renewed. Truckers may need to be retested to make sure their driving skills are still sharp. If a trucker allows their license to lapse, they and their employer might be in big trouble if an accident happens.
How Accidents with Eighteen-Wheelers Can Happen in Sherman, TX
Trucks can be big or small, but accidents with eighteen-wheelers or semi-trailers are especially dangerous. Determining how your accident occurred is crucial to understanding who is responsible and what kind of evidence is necessary to prove your claims in court. Some common accidents with large trucks include jackknife accidents, unbalanced cargo, and turning accidents.
Jackknife Accidents
A jackknife accident happens when a truck and trailer begin moving out of sync on the road. In many cases, the trailer is moving too fast for the truck, so when the truck slows down, the speeding trailer whips around and swerves out to the side. The truck might spin out on the highway or even topple over. In many jackknife accidents, truckers were speeding and hit the brakes too quickly, causing the trailer to swerve out to the side.
Improperly Loaded Cargo
Trucks often haul long trailers full of heavy cargo. The cargo cannot just be haphazardly thrown in the back of the trailer. It must be properly loaded and balanced so that the trailer remains safe and upright while speeding down the highway. Unfortunately, this does not always happen. Truckers and truck company employees might not follow proper loading procedures, leading to an unbalanced trailer. One wrong turn on the road and the trailer could topple.
Turning and Squeezing Accidents
Eighteen-wheelers are often so long that they cannot make turns the way ordinary vehicles do. If a trucker makes a right turn, they often must swing out to the left first before turning right to make sure they have enough room to turn. If they do not, drivers in smaller cars on the right side of the truck might be squeezed between the truck and trailer. These turning or squeezing accidents are dangerous, and truckers must be careful.
Damages You May Recover in a Truck Accident Case in Sherman, TX
Your damages should accurately represent all the ways the accident and your injuries have taken a toll on you. Many damages are assessed based on how much they cost or on how much pain they have caused you. In rare circumstances, plaintiffs may claim exemplary damages, which are meant to serve as a punishment for defendants. Your lawyer can help you figure out what your case is worth and what kind of damages are on the table.
Compensatory Damages
Compensatory damages are awarded to make up for losses suffered by the plaintiff. These losses may be measured in terms of money (i.e., economic damages) or on subjective personal experience (i.e., non-economic damages).
Economic damages tend to revolve around the ways in which the accident cost your money. As such, economic damages may typically be proven with things like receipts, bills, invoices, and other records of expenses. Medical bills, the cost of damaged property, and even the income that you lose from being unable to work after an accident may be factored into your economic damages.
Non-economic damages are rooted in personal experiences. They tend to be more subjective and are unique to each plaintiff. Many non-economic injuries are unrelated to money, so they often cannot be proven with records of costs. For example, you may claim damages for bodily pain, emotional turmoil, psychological injuries, trauma, humiliation, and the loss of enjoyment of your life. Some plaintiffs are unclear about the extent of their non-economic injuries, and you should speak to an attorney about what yours could be.
Exemplary Damages
Exemplary damages are not often awarded, but when they are, they may be quite substantial. Exemplary damages are meant to punish defendants if their actions are found to be especially abhorrent. These damages also serve to deter future bad actions. The standards for the recovery of exemplary are found under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 41.003(a). Our truck accident attorneys must prove that when the defendant caused the truck accident, they did so through malice, fraud, or gross negligence. According to subsection (b), we must prove these damages by “clear and convincing evidence.” This is an even higher burden than that for the overall civil case, and exemplary damages may be difficult to establish.
According to § 41.008(b), exemplary damages may be limited in two ways. Whichever way allows you to recover more damages is the one that applies. First, your exemplary damages may be limited to twice the value of your economic damages in addition to a sum that is equal to your non-economic damages or $750,000, whichever is more. Second, your exemplary damages may be limited to $200,000.
Who Should Be Held Responsible for in a Civil Truck Accident Case in Sherman, TX?
Deciding whom to hold responsible for a truck accident is not the easiest decision in the world. While we might have a good idea of who is behind the accident, we might be wrong, or there could be others we are overlooking. Your lawyer can work with law enforcement while the crash is being investigated to determine exactly who should be included in your civil lawsuit.
Truck Drivers
Truckers are typically at the center of truck accidents since they are the ones behind the wheel. While other factors outside of the trucker’s control might play a role in the accident, they might still have behaved negligently. For example, if the trucker had been driving for too long in violation of federal regulations, they might have dozed off behind the wheel and caused the crash. Alternatively, they might have been driving recklessly. Speeding, sharp turns, and generally careless behavior behind the wheel is a recipe for a roadside disaster. After a crash, truckers are usually thoroughly investigated, and we will probably learn the truth of the matter very soon.
Truck Companies
If a trucker is believed to be the primary cause of a collision, their employer might also be held liable. If an accident occurs because an employee (i.e., the trucker) is negligent, and that negligence occurs as part of the employee’s normal job duties, their employer (i.e., the truck company) may be held vicariously liable. This is actually a rather common experience for many truck accident plaintiffs. Trucking companies sometimes overlook or even encourage their employees to drive unsafe if it means they drive faster.
Get Help Now From Our Sherman, TX Truck Accident Attorneys
Call (817) 476-1797 and ask our truck accident attorneys at The Queenan Law Firm for a free, private case review to begin.