Injured in an 18-wheeler crash in Texas? Our Austin truck accident lawyers are here to help. Call (512) 800-8000 for a free consultation from our attorneys.

A tractor-trailer accident often involves serious injury or death. When 80,000 pounds of steel smashes into smaller cars, trucks, motorcycles, or even SUVs, the big rig usually comes out the winner. If you’ve been hurt in a tractor-trailer accident it is important to contact us immediately! Get an Austin, TX Truck Accident Lawyer fighting for you right now!

More and more tractor-trailers operate on the roads today than at any time in history. With our increasingly congested highways, it only makes sense there is a greater potential for accidents. This is especially true in Austin. Austin has grown rapidly and our roadways simply can’t safely handle the volume of traffic we see on a typical day.

When you add never-ending construction zones to the mix, the problems only get worse.

When big rigs drive in congested construction zones the drivers have even more complicated driving tasks to contend against. With narrower lanes, traffic re-routing, and uneven surfaces, tractor-trailer drivers have to keep a careful eye on surrounding vehicles.

When you add suddenly slowed or stopped traffic you have a recipe for disaster. But we’re here to help if you need us. For a free, no-obligation meeting, call us today.

Truck Accidents Are a Huge Problem

There are approximately 14,000,000 commercial vehicles licensed to drive on US roadways any given year. This includes commercial freight vehicles, tractor-trailers, and single-unit trucks. That is a lot of trucks hurtling down the highways at high speeds.

Within the last few years alone, there were over 196,000 large truck crashes yearly, representing over 4,400 fatalities, 137,000 non-fatal crashes, and 55,000 injury crashes. Interestingly enough, most of the fatal accidents involving large trucks took place during the week in rural areas during daylight hours when visibility was at its best. Unfortunately, these accidents involving large trucks usually also resulted in fatal multiple-vehicle crashes.

Large truck accidents happen for a variety of reasons. Some of the most common reasons tractor-trailer crashes happen include failure to yield, speeding, driving too fast for conditions, and inattention. Additionally, tractor-trailer drivers have a higher responsibility to get off the roadways during inclement weather than private car drivers. In fact, the federal safety regulations prohibit them from driving when weather or roadway conditions make it unsafe to do so.

Proving Liability in Truck Accidents

As any Austin Truck Accident Lawyer can attest, these cases can be difficult cases to prove. Insurance companies for the big trucking companies often hire an Accident Reconstructionist and/or investigator while the truck is still at the scene of the most serious accidents.

This gives them a huge advantage by the time you even think of hiring a lawyer. They have collected data, spoken to witnesses and police officers, and often begin forming their version of how the truck accident happened while you’re still lying in a hospital bed.

If you have been involved in a truck accident the first thing you should do is contact us right now and get an Austin Truck Accident Lawyer working for you! We document the scene and inspect the vehicles before crucial evidence is lost.

Even if the vehicles have been towed from the scene we can often still usually find scuff marks, skidmarks, or other evidence at the scene that can become critical as your case makes its way through the court system. But, that physical evidence begins to be brushed away by weather and traffic almost immediately. The sooner we can start collecting evidence, the more evidence we will have to prove your case.

We also need to start preserving evidence in the hands of the trucking company or their insurance company. Federal regulations limit how long trucking companies have to hold onto certain documents that can help us prove the driver drove too many hours, had a history of negligent driving, or other evidence of negligence. If we don’t start preserving this evidence immediately it could be gone by the time we try to prove our case to a jury.

Compensation for 18 Wheeler Accidents

There are two types of damages after 18 wheeler crashes – financial and non-economic damages.

Financial Damages

On top of the physical pain and injuries, you may be out of work for weeks, months, or lose your job altogether. Even if you keep your job, you may have several doctor appointments that require you to take time off work. This can lead to lost income, out-of-pocket expenses, and financial hardship.

Our accident attorneys will help you navigate the complex medical and financial damages we need to prove so the insurance company or jury understands what is fair compensation for your injuries.

Non-Economic Damages

Your pain and suffering must be acknowledged. Non-economic damages compensate you for:

Physical suffering
Emotional distress
Mental anguish

Our 18 wheeler attorneys will fight for every dollar you deserve. If you’re injured in a truck accident, we’re by your side every step of the way.

Frequently Asked Questions About 18 Wheeler Accidents

As experienced 18 wheeler truck accident attorneys, we get many questions about truck crashes. Here’s a summary of the most common questions we receive.

How long do truck accident cases take to settle?

It depends, but it can take up to 36 months. Some cases settle in as little as 90 days. We aim to move swiftly but we never rush – you deserve the maximum possible settlement.

Do I need to seek medical attention after a truck accident even if I feel fine?

This question comes up because many people who are involved in accidents disregard the importance of receiving a medical checkup right after the accident happens. Later on, it turns out that they experience medical issues that did not surface immediately after the incident took place.

However, not seeking immediate attention may cause your insurance company to become more likely to deny your injury claim. Why? Because if the injury appears weeks or months later, it becomes much more difficult for you to prove to them that the injury is a direct consequence of the accident.

Don’t be dismayed if you didn’t seek medical attention right away. Our 18 wheeler attorneys can still help.

What fatalities tend to happen more often in truck accidents and why?

The majority of deaths involving a large truck are people riding in cars. However, the death toll is not only attributable to the weight of the truck, which can sometimes be up to 30 times bigger than a car but the fact that the truck has a greater ground clearance results in the possibility of smaller vehicles under-riding trucks.

Add to that the braking capability of the truck which needs greater distances to stop than cars do, plus driver fatigue, and you have the perfect recipe for someone losing their life.

Who can be held liable if you are injured in an accident involving a truck?

There are several potential defendants in accidents involving trucks, among them:

The truck driver
The trucking companies
The owner of the truck itself
Those responsible for maintenance or repair services for the truck
The manufacturer of the truck’s parts
The freight loader
Other drivers involved in the accident

Is it a good idea for me to accept a settlement offered by the insurance company in a truck accident case?

Don’t rush to accept what the insurance company initially offers you. Why? Because of the “swoop and settle”.

The swoop and settle is a common insurance tactic. They try to settle the case quickly, before you hire a lawyer, by offering a low amount. But this doesn’t mean you don’t deserve more.

Truck accidents can result in catastrophic trauma. They can have consequences that create financial, physical, and emotional scars that can become your constant companions for a long time, if not forever.

Accepting the first amount offered might mean that any future expenses you incur will have to come out of your pocket. Let your Austin truck accident attorney do the negotiating for you. They will make sure you receive a much more suitable settlement.

Is it important to work with 18-wheeler truck accident attorneys? Why?

Finding an experienced Austin truck accident attorney is absolutely vital. By their very nature and all the possible parties involved, commercial truck accidents tend to be complicated. You will need to find an attorney that has experience in these types of cases and has handled them before.

What’s more, insurance companies move fast. They’ll start preparing their case within hours of the accident. You need this same level of commitment on your side, which is where attorneys come in.

Make an appointment to meet with 18 wheeler accident lawyers. Ask them all the pertinent questions. Don’t shy away from finding out about their experience and the results that they have obtained in prior, similar cases.

Why You Need Our 18 Wheeler Attorneys in Austin, TX

Truck accidents are complicated cases. They require careful management to get victims the full compensation they deserve.

The sooner we start working on your case, the better our chances are of proving the negligence of the truck driver. We do this by:

Hiring experts to reconstruct your accident if necessary;
Hiring experts to review your medical history and prove the accident caused your injuries;
Working closely with you and your family to help convey to the jury how the accident changed your life;
Working with you to help you understand the legal landscape throughout your case;
Investigating the driver and trucking companies and looking for patterns of negligent driving or training;
Inspecting the vehicles to ensure the police officer’s and other witnesses opinions match up with the physical evidence; and
Inspecting and documenting the scene when possible in order to preserve physical evidence.

Imagine for a moment you’ve just had an accident involving an 18-wheeler truck. After being appropriately thankful you weren’t smashed flat along with your car, you take stock of what’s happened.

The truck belongs to a shipping company based in another state 2000 miles away. The cargo belongs to a foreign manufacturer in another country. The truck is insured by a local agent, but its cargo is insured by a company in a second foreign country.

Then the truck catches fire moments before the police, fire department, and ambulance arrive. Traffic is backed up for miles. Two other cars were involved. There’s a spill on the freeway.

There’s damage to the center divider.

If you’re like most of us, you do well to get your bills paid on time and have a vague idea of where your birth certificate is. After a serious accident, you don’t need any extra stress on your mind. You need to focus on recovery, not adding more challenges to an already-full plate.

You need 18-wheeler accident attorneys on your side.

Remember, one of the litigants might very well be the government. Just filling out the police report is going to take the rest of the day.

Could you handle all this if you were injured too? Can you do it on foot? Remember your car might be totaled. At the very least you might be driving on three wheels.

One can only imagine what it would be like to face such a situation.

It might sound unbelievable, but as 18-wheeler accident attorneys, we face these kinds of cases every day. Every emergency operator has all kinds of stories about what they’ve heard from accident victims. We have even more stories because we’re the people who get the second call from the accident scene.

What to Expect from Our 18 Wheeler Accident Lawyers

Truck accidents are nothing like your average fender bender. They’re about more than just exchanging a few letters with insurance companies. When trucks are involved, the game changes. Injuries can be catastrophic.

The consequences? Life-changing.

From the moment you hire us, we’ll fight for you. We will:

Evaluate what your case is worth
Explain how we plan to proceed
Ensure you’re prepared for every contingency
Engage with the at-fault party on your behalf
Endeavor to get you the fairest possible settlement

We’re here to protect you legally and financially. We’ll save you from settling for less than you deserve. But we’ll do everything we can to bring matters to a swift conclusion.

Retain Our 18 Wheeler Accident Lawyers

For us, your health and welfare is the top priority. We’re here to shield you from the noise so you can focus on recovering rather than negotiating a legal claim. Whether it’s filing a lawsuit or fighting for settlement, we take care of the hard work for you. We have the experience, drive, and commitment to help you get the justice you deserve.

Our job is to go to bat for you. Your only job is to follow your doctor’s orders and do everything you can to recover as fully as possible. Let us protect your best interests.

Put your faith in our team of experienced 18 wheeler accident lawyers in Austin, TX. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

Don’t wait – request your free consultation today!