Trucks are on every road with every driver today, and it is terrifying to consider just how frequently accidents can occur. When you are the victim, a DeSoto truck accident lawyer could be a critical lifeline for ensuring the responsible party helps cover your losses.
At The Texas Law Dog, you can expect our DeSoto personal injury lawyer to aggressively pursue those who caused your losses to force them to pay what they owe you, where we don’t just bark, we bite.
A Trusted Truck Accident Lawyer in DeSoto Gets Results
Support from a knowledgeable truck accident lawyer in DeSoto can make all the difference in the outcome of your case following a serious roadway collision with a tractor-trailer. By working with our team, you can identify your crash-related losses and contest any allegations that you bear fault for your injuries.
Commercial truck drivers haul tens of thousands of pounds of cargo at a time across hundreds of miles. That said, even a small mistake or moment of carelessness by a trucker could lead to catastrophic accidents and severe injuries. Unfortunately, holding a truck driver or trucking company financially accountable after an incident like this can be complicated.
Truck accidents occur too frequently in Texas. As noted by the National Safety Council’s large trucks data, there were 810 deaths on Texas roadways related specifically to large truck accidents. Without a doubt, every one of those individuals has suffered serious injury and loss as a result of that accident.
Recoverable Damages in a Truck Accident
When a truck driver or trucking company causes injuries to you, you have the legal right to pursue compensation from them, usually through their liability insurance, to cover the losses you have. Because of how severe tractor-trailer collisions are, it is vital to account for both short-term and long-term negative effects the accident will have on the plaintiff pursuing a claim. Examples include:
- Emergency medical bills and costs of expected future care like physical therapy and pain management medications
- Physical pain and discomfort from injuries
- Vehicle replacement or repair costs, including expenses for rental cars
- Emotional anguish and psychological trauma
- Income loss and diminished ability to work
- Lost enjoyment of life
- Costs of services related to long-term disability, like home modifications and in-home assistance
During a consultation, an experienced truck accident attorney in DeSoto could discuss recoverable damages that might be available to injured victims following a semi-crash in more detail.
The key here is allowing your attorney to work closely with you to accurately estimate the value of each of these areas, including the long-term consequences of your accidents. Let our DeSoto big rig accident lawyer provide you with the confidence you need to file a necessary and robust claim.
DeSoto Truck Accident Lawyer Near Me (817) 775-5364
Wrongful Death is a Real Concern
Truck accidents carry a high potential for fatalities. If your family member lost their life as a result of the negligence and recklessness of a truck company or driver, you need a strong advocate by your side. Let us guide you throughout that process.
Once you prove wrongful death occurred, documenting exactly how the accident led to their death, you then must determine the value of the claim. There is no monetary amount that seems fair, but there are factors to consider when estimating the losses you have as a result of a truck accident wrongful death. For example, you may be able to seek damages such as the following:
- Financial costs for medical care provided after the truck accident prior to the individual’s death, including emergency care, hospital support, surgeries, and other end-of-life support received
- Lost wages if the individual was unable to work for a period of time between the accident and their death
- End-of-life financial losses for burials and funeral costs
- Pain and suffering the individual had at the time of the accident and prior to their death
- Your own pain and suffering, loss of companionships, loss of consortium, and emotional stress due to the loss of your loved one
- For dependents, loss of income to meet their day-to-day needs if the individual contributed to the household
- Loss of inheritance and retirement benefits
Insurance Companies are not Going to Treat You Fairly
One of the mistakes so commonly made when dealing with a truck accident involving serious losses is believing the insurance company will provide fair compensation. The insurance company does not have the responsibility of estimating all of your losses and understanding all of the ways this accident will impact you. In many cases, they will pursue claims that are less than you are owed to reduce their costs.
Insurance companies are for-profit organizations, and even if the people working for them seem nice, they are not advocates for your best interests. Turn to our legal team for the real support you need to navigate your rights in these accidents. A DeSoto truck accident attorney is a resource when you’re faced with financial, physical, and emotional loss after these types of accidents.
Our team can handle every aspect of this process for you, including calculating loss, determining fault, and creating a comprehensive, maximized claim to submit to the insurance company. If the insurance company has questions, we can answer them and also provide full negotiation on your behalf for any aspect of your claim possible. Trust our DeSoto truck accident lawyers to fight for your right to full compensation.
How to Prove Negligence for a Tractor-Trailer Accident
Establishing fault for a semi-truck wreck is generally a matter of showing that someone else—a trucker, a trucking company, or a third party like a mechanic or cargo supplier—did something reckless or careless that directly caused a crash. Additionally, injured individuals must establish that the incident would not have happened if not for another party’s irresponsibility. However, it is also important for plaintiffs to prove they were not negligent in any way which contributed to causing or unnecessarily worsening their injuries.
Any percentage of fault a court assigns to a plaintiff could result in a proportional reduction of the value of that plaintiff’s damage award. Unfortunately, some claimants cannot collect any compensation. Representation from a knowledgeable DeSoto truck accident attorney can be key to effectively fighting back against allegations of this nature after a truck wreck in DeSoto.
As your legal team, a core component of the work we do is to provide you with clarity on your rights. To do that, we analyze your case, look at all of the evidence available, and carefully create a claim that is accurate and backed by authentic evidence. Let our legal team help you prove that you were not at fault and deserve compensation for your losses.
Establishing Who is at Fault
One of the steps we will take is to investigate all details of your case to fully understand each party’s specific responsibility in your accident. It is very common for more than one person to be at fault for the losses that occur in a disastrous accident like this, but again, it is up to your attorney to identify those parties. Consider the following examples of when other parties may be responsible for the injuries and losses you have:
- The truck driver: Often the most obvious at-fault party, the driver may be at fault for reckless driving, such as speeding or illegal lane changes, impairment, as well as distraction while driving, such as eating or texting.
- The trucking company: The trucking company is responsible for the driver’s actions in some situations, especially if that driver is an employee. This includes examples such as violations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration laws on hours of service, vehicle maintenance, or cargo management.
- The cargo loading company: The company loading the cargo must secure it and balance the load, and if they fail to do that and cargo shifting causes an accident, you can expect the cargo company to be at least partially at fault for the losses.
- Vehicle maintenance teams: In some situations, failures by the maintenance team could be the core cause of an accident, such as improper maintenance, lack of use of the proper tools, or simply forgetting to tighten a bolt.
- Truck manufacturers: If your attorney can demonstrate that the accident was due to a faulty part on a truck or the truck’s unsafe design, it may be possible to pursue legal action against the manufacturer of the vehicle.
It is not simplistic to gather this information, but your attorney has the tools and resources to help you do so. They also have the dedication necessary to fight for your full and fair compensation by holding each one of those involved accountable for their level of fault, which could increase your claim value. Each of these parties will have an aggressive attorney working against you, but with a skilled legal team from The Texas Law Dog, you do not have to worry about those risks.
We have the Tools to Gather Evidence
One of the most important values our truck accident lawyers in DeSoto provide to victims is a wealth of resources to help build a strong case against the trucking companies involved. We recognize the sheer dominance insurance companies often have for these organizations, and we counter that with the dedication to finding all available evidence. Some of the strategies we use to help get that valuable data include:
- Commercial truck logs: These black boxes record the actions of the truck and driver prior to the accident. They may help demonstrate swerving, speed, and distraction that could be the cause of the accident.
- Driver medical records: Drivers must be fit for the road, and any documentation that they are not, such as in their medical records, could be a factor in your accident and losses. Additionally, if there is any indication the driver was impaired, seeking medical documentation could help demonstrate this.
- Vehicle safety and upkeep records: The law requires truck owners to maintain vehicles and keep documentation of that type of work. Failure to do so could contribute to fault.
- Expert witnesses: Our legal team will bring in expert witnesses to help document the potential causes of the accident when we believe there is more to your accident, such as faulty vehicle components.
- Accident reconstruction services: Our legal team can also provide a wealth of resources to help rebuild the accident, documenting what had to happen to cause the injuries and losses you had.
Not every case warrants this type of extensive research and investigation, but knowing we can provide this legal support to you is critical. We do not stop at a good enough claim and settlement but fight for your full recovery of losses owed to you. That makes a difference in your future and your overall ability to move forward with your life.
There is No Risk in Speaking to Our DeSoto Truck Accident Attorney
Our team works on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay nothing to us for our attorney fees upfront, and you only pay for losses if we recover damages in your case.
This alleviates any risk that you have expensive legal fees without receiving a settlement, and it means no matter what your current financial state is, you can have a trusted advocate by your side.
Seek Help from a Truck Accident Attorney in DeSoto Today
Even at low speeds, truck collisions tend to have devastating outcomes for everyone involved. When you want to hold a truck driver or their employer legally liable for an accident, you will almost certainly need help from a legal representative experienced with handling similar cases successfully in the past.
Guidance from a capable DeSoto truck accident lawyer at The Texas Law Dog could dramatically boost your chances of securing a favorable result from your lawsuit or settlement demand, so call today to schedule a meeting.
