Drivers of smaller vehicles can find it intimidating when a semi-truck looms in the adjacent lane on one of Texas’s highways. A single small error can result in a calamitous truck accident.

Compared with a typical auto accident involving only passenger cars, the damage to a car can be much more severe in a collision with a large semi-truck, due to the discrepancy in weight.

Records kept by the NHTSA indicate that, in one year, 287,000 large trucks were involved in an accident on America’s roads.

Anyone who has suffered a loss in a large truck accident ought to receive the best care for injuries and adequate repayment for lost wages. If a family member has died, an award for wrongful death should rightfully be ordered for survivors. It will take a strong advocate to navigate the route to receive damages after a truck accident.

Fatigue Is A Significant Reason For Truck Crashes

NHTSA research into all kinds of traffic accidents in the United States has included extensive analysis of large truck accidents. Some large truck accidents are attributable to driver error.

Truck drivers run into trouble on unfamiliar routes, when distracted, and when tired due to long hours on the road. These factors were frequently found in the analysis of truck accidents.

Drivers may try to push themselves to deliver a load on time, forgoing necessary rest. Federal regulations that govern commercial trucking set limits on how long a driver can work without taking a rest break.

New hours-of-service rules instituted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration require semi-truck drivers to take a rest break at least every eight hours. Rest breaks must last at least 30 minutes.

Additional rules limit how many hours a driver can put in during a one-week period, and specify that drivers must rest at some time between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.

A Dangerous Sleep Disorder

Many truck drivers have a dangerous sleep disorder known as sleep apnea. According to the FMCSA, as much as 28 percent of all commercial drivers may have this condition.

People with sleep apnea have up to 400 brief episodes of breath-holding during a typical eight hours of sleep. They may stop breathing for 10 seconds or longer in each episode.

A danger of sleep apnea is that a driver who has this condition can be excessively sleepy during the day, even falling asleep while driving. In one study, drivers who had untreated sleep apnea performed more poorly on performance tasks than other study participants who were alert but had an elevated blood alcohol level.

It is not comforting to know that more than a quarter of the semi-trucks a Texas driver sees on the road could be operated by a driver who has sleep apnea. Untreated sleep apnea puts a truck driver at heightened risk for a crash.

When truck crashes happen, owners can be held liable for failing to screen their drivers for health issues like sleep apnea and for allowing their drivers to forgo federally mandated rest periods.

Winning on Liability is NOT Exactly Winning

In every personal injury claim – car accidents included – the injured plaintiff must show that the defendant owed him or her a legal duty (generally this is simply the duty not to inflict harm upon others while behind the wheel). Plaintiffs must then show that the defendant breached this legal duty and that the plaintiff suffered some loss and incurred damages (which is the legal term that covers all expenses arising from this negligent vehicle wreck; not just the medical bills).

Most people inaccurately think that being involved in an accident that is clearly “the other guy’s fault” somehow translates to a clear victory. It doesn’t work that way. And the road between the accident scene and the courthouse can take some unusually curious twists and turns.

Even if you have a police report or witness statements that clearly show the other driver was at fault for the wreck, that only gets you partway to the finish line. When an insurance company accepts liability, what they are really saying is, “We admit our driver was to blame for the accident. But now it’s your responsibility to prove to us that we should pay you some amount of money.” Only, they never come out and actually say that second part. But they sure act that way. Many accident victims inaccurately believe that the insurance company accepting liability means that they’ve won. But that only ends up being a Pyrrhic victory that accomplishes nothing. Again, the plaintiff accident victim must still prove that the insurance company owes them some quantity of money. And all the insurance carrier has to do is sit back and say “prove it.”

This is where most people unintentionally damage their case.

Our car accident attorneys shield you from the tricks and tactics employed by the insurance adjusters, their bosses, and attorneys. And they simultaneously carry you through the claims and – if-necessary – the clear laws involved in the process of successful injury compensation. We handle all the details that make up a successful claim (or civil case) in such a way that makes it impervious to the defendants. And that is the key to success: your opponents see the futility of continually denying you and finally offer that reasonable settlement: because they don’t want to fight your strong case in court.

Over the past 30 years, our attorneys have determined the most effective strategies for adequately establishing a causal link between the accident and your injuries as well as the most effective means of proving up your damages. By hiring our experienced attorneys, you ensure that the full story of your injury claim is properly presented to the insurance adjuster and all of his or her fellow defendants in such that they can’t simply find a technicality by which they can refuse to reasonably pay.

Put our years of experience to work for you. If you want to know what your rights are, how to proceed with your claim, and how much compensation you can secure from your auto injury case. Call the auto accident attorneys with our Law Firm now for a free consultation and find out how we can help you recover the full fair value of the damages you have suffered through the negligence of another driver.

This Blog was posted by No.1 Lawyer – Carabin Shaw Attorneys At Law in El Paso

What Should You Do Now? And What Should you NOT Do?

Before you speak with an insurance company, or accept even a single dollar of payment or compensation, or sign anything, or attempt to file a lawsuit on your own, you must contact a competent lawyer.

Here’s a perfect example of why.

We were once hired by the families of two men who were involved in a terrible accident with a big rig. After the initial accident, the truck’s trailer was stretched across the unlit road on a moonless night. Only the taillights of the trailer near the highway’s shoulder were (barely) visible to oncoming drivers. Our clients rounded a curve and smashed into the trailer unawares. One man died at the scene. The other was left fighting for his life.

The force of the collision ripped off the roof of the vehicle. The next day we were hired, flew to the scene of the accident, and quickly begin our investigation. Our client’s car was already in the salvage yard once we arrived. We examined the vehicle and found it odd that the headlights were gone. This immediately raised a red flag, especially when we spotted a security camera trained on the yard. We asked the owner to view the video and were appalled to see someone with the trucking company illegally removing the headlights! Then the company tried to claim our client had been driving a car without them. There was egg on their face when we produced the video that caught them red-handed. You can guess who won this case.

But here’s the thing. If the love ones of these two men who were doing nothing more than driving down the road (sober we might add), minding their own business when they ran into the big rig had waited much longer to hire us, this crucial evidence would have been gone forever, because the salvage yard’s surveillance system recycled its videotapes after two days.

You must take steps to preserve the evidence in your case now, and to act quickly. You must hire a lawyer to begin investigating the accident scene immediately. Every second you wait, evidence disappears, sometimes without explanation. Witnesses’ memories fade. Or their stories can “mysteriously” change. The accident scene changes either by the passing of just a few days or because your opponents alter it themselves to strengthen their case. Lies and missing evidence will cripple your legal right to fair compensation for a big rig accident from the moment it happens: but only if you allow it by doing nothing during the critical hours following your wreck.

As soon as we are hired, our Law Firm begins a thorough investigation of the accident scene. We uncover every bit of evidence that proves the liability of the truck driver, the trucking company and any other third-parties. We inspect all the vehicles and clearly survey the accident scene, measure distances, hunt for photographic and video evidence and assemble it all to prove your strong case and prove your damage claim above reproach.

Put Your Life Back Together After an 18-Wheeler Accident

Insurance companies begin their fight against injury claims before the accidents even occur. They have experienced attorneys on staff or permanent retainers. They’re just waiting to take on personal injury claims. They specialize in cases like these and know how to tilt the case in their favor. Insurance defense lawyers and investigators race to the scene of an accident as soon as it happens and begins investigating to build a case against you while you are still deciding whether or not you should even hire a lawyer or worse, unable to do anything because you’re still in ICU. The best way for a victim in a big rig accident to ensure full compensation is to find assistance from an experienced 18 wheeler accident law firm who knows how to clearly prove clear defendant liability and win just and fair damages. You only get one bite at the compensation apple. And once it’s lost, there are no do-overs.

Our Law Firm has decades of successful skill in handling personal injury litigation in 18-wheeler accident claims and cases. If you’ve been seriously injured, or a family member has been killed by one of these trucks, our expertise assures that you receive the fairest compensation possible for the injuries and pain you have suffered, or the wrongful death of your loved one. We’ve helped deliver millions of dollars to hundreds of accident victims in Texas. Our experienced accident lawyers can help you win the best compensation possible for you.

Call us today at 1(800) 862-1260 (toll-free) for a free consultation to continue your road to total recovery and resume your life. You’re already been victimized once. Don’t let it happen a second time because you waited too long to do the right thing about it.