Have You Been Injured in a Truck Accident in Fort Worth?
Getting advice from an experienced lawyer is crucial. You should never have to pay the price for a crash someone else caused, and strong legal representation is vital to pursue the compensation you need to rebuild your life.
Put Kraft & Associates, Attorneys at Law, P.C., to work for you. Our legal team is dedicated to recovering maximum compensation for injured Texans. Fill out our online form or call (214) 999-9999 for a free consultation.
Why Choose Kraft & Associates, Attorneys at Law, P.C. for Your Fort Worth Truck Accident Claim?
There’s no question that the Dallas-Fort Worth area is full of personal injury lawyers. Still, our law firm offers comprehensive legal services and a commitment to the communities we serve. When you work with us, you get:
- Experience – We have 45 years of experience handling truck accident cases and other personal injury matters. With in-depth knowledge of Texas laws and federal trucking regulations, our attorneys are well-positioned to build a robust injury claim for you.
- Friendliness – We pride ourselves on being approachable and easy to talk to. We want you to feel comfortable contacting us about any problems or concerns.
- Quality service – Our firm and lawyers consistently receive positive Google reviews from our satisfied clients.
- Personal attention – We treat every case with the care and attention it deserves. You’re not just a number to us. You’re a real person who needs our help.
- Affordability – We work on a contingency fee basis, meaning we only charge a fee if and when we win your case.
Furthermore, our lawyers are proud to belong to such legal organizations such as:
- State Bar of Texas
- American Bar Association
- American Association for Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America)
- Texas Trial Lawyers Association
- Dallas Trial Lawyers Association
- Dallas Bar Association
- National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives
- North Dallas Bar Association
- College of the State Bar of Texas
- Texas Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism
The Legal Process for Truck Accident Claims in Fort Worth, TX
- Initial consultation – The first consultation offers a starting point for your truck accident claim, allowing you to discuss your case with our legal team at no cost. We’ll listen to your story, evaluate the strength of your case, explain your legal rights, and outline potential strategies and possible outcomes.
- Investigation – Evidence is the backbone of a truck accident claim. Police reports, medical records, photos, and witness statements help establish a cause of action, which is the basis for your case. We’ll draw a clear link between the liable party’s negligence and your truck accident injuries to demand compensation for your financial, physical, and emotional losses.
- Filing a claim – Your truck accident attorney will file a detailed claim with the insurance company of the responsible party(s). Our careful attention to legal and procedural requirements can help avoid delays so the insurer takes your claim seriously from Day One.
- Negotiation – Our attorneys are skilled negotiators who will work aggressively to get you a fair settlement. We will argue for a compensation package that covers all your losses, including medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more.
- Trial – If the insurance company refuses to make a fair offer, we won’t hesitate to file a truck accident lawsuit and take your case to court. While trials can be more time-consuming, we’re committed to achieving justice and the best possible outcome for your truck accident case.
What is the Deadline for Filing a Truck Accident Lawsuit in Fort Worth, TX?
In Texas, you have a limited time to file a lawsuit after a truck wreck. The statute of limitations to pursue compensation is two (2) years from the date of the accident. If you miss the deadline, you might lose your chance to recover compensation.
Recoverable Damages in Truck Accident Cases in Fort Worth, TX
A skilled attorney can help you seek compensation from those to blame for your injuries. Here’s a list of damages you might be eligible for:
- Medical bills – Covers past, current, and future medical treatment
- Lost wages – Compensation for the money you lost if you couldn’t work due to your injuries
- Pain and suffering – For the physical pain and emotional distress the accident caused you
- Property damage – Money to repair or replace your vehicle and any other personal property damaged in the accident
The Challenges of Truck Claims in Fort Worth, TX
Personal injury claims involving a semi-trailer truck, delivery van, and other types of commercial vehicles can be more complicated than most traffic accident cases for several reasons:
- More extensive injuries – Trucking accidents often result in more severe injuries compared to passenger vehicle collisions. The sheer size and weight of commercial trucks mean the force they impart upon impact is more violent. Accident victims may suffer from a range of serious injuries leading to long-term disabilities, ongoing medical treatment, rehabilitation, and nursing care.
- Greater damages – The value of a personal injury case is driven up by the severity of the victim’s injuries. The more damage a truck crash causes, the more compensation victims may need to be made whole again.
- Multiple liable parties – Unlike accidents involving personal vehicles, commercial truck accidents frequently involve several at-fault parties, including the truck driver, the trucking company, cargo loaders, auto parts manufacturers, and other motorists. Each party could share a portion of the liability for the accident, depending on factors like driver training, hours-of-service violations, cargo mishandling, and overall safety practices.
- State and federal truck laws – The trucking industry is subject to state and federal regulations. Many Fort Worth truck accidents result from operators ignoring weight limits, driver rest periods, and safety standards. Understanding these laws is critical to building a solid legal claim against truckers, trucking companies, and other negligent parties.
What Are the Top Causes of Truck Accidents in Fort Worth?
Texas saw more than 38,600 crashes involving commercial vehicles in a single recent year. Some of the top causes of large truck crashes include:
- Speeding – Driving too fast for weather, road, or traffic conditions
- Unfamiliarity with the route – Not knowing the roadway well because of infrequent travel on it
- Intoxication – Driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- Medication effects – Prescription or over-the-counter drugs that might impair driving
- Inadequate surveillance – Failing to observe the surroundings properly
- Driver fatigue – Being overly tired behind the wheel from not taking legally mandated rest breaks
- Work stress – Feeling pressured to deliver cargo despite fatigue and other impediments
- Illegal maneuvers – Breaking traffic laws
- Distracted driving – Inattention due to cell phone use, texting, or in-cab distractions
- Slow reaction time – Not taking quick enough action to avoid an accident
- Aggressive driving – Tailgating, weaving through traffic, and other similar behaviors
- Following too closely – Not leaving enough space to stop a heavy vehicle safely
- Misjudging other drivers – Incorrect assumptions about what another road user is going to do
- Mechanical issues – Faulty brakes, indicators, and other defective or worn-out systems
- Overloaded cargo – Excessive or unbalanced cargo that affects handling or spillage onto the road
- Blind spots – Failing to check for motorists on the truck’s large blind spot areas, known as the “No-Zones”
What Injuries Often Happen in Fort Worth Truck Accidents?
Commercial vehicle accidents cause severe trauma and injuries like:
- Broken bones – Victims often sustain complex fractures due to the intense force of impact, requiring long-term medical treatment, surgery, and rehabilitation.
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI) – Head injuries can range from concussions to more severe brain damage, affecting cognitive function, physical abilities, and emotional well-being.
- Spinal cord injury – Damage to the spinal cord can lead to partial or complete paralysis, significantly altering a victim’s life and requiring comprehensive medical care and long-term assistance.
- Internal bleeding – The force of a truck collision can damage internal organs and lead to internal bleeding, which may not be immediately apparent but can be life-threatening.
- Whiplash and soft tissue injuries – Although invisible, injuries to muscles, ligaments, and tendons can cause prolonged pain and disability and can cause chronic pain or nerve damage.
Need to Discuss Your Truck Accident? Contact Our Fort Worth, TX, Law Firm Today
Don’t wait to get the help you need during this difficult time. Contact our law firm for a free consultation. We’re here to listen, answer your questions, and guide you through your legal options. Call (214) 999-9999 for your free case review with an experienced truck accident lawyer.
FAQs for Fort Worth Truck Accident Lawyer
How Do Insurance Companies Try to Blame Passenger Vehicle Drivers for Truck Crashes?
Insurance companies and in-house insurance departments often try to shift blame for a truck crash onto a passenger vehicle driver to avoid paying the claim. Some of the most common tactics insurers use to fight claims include:
- Asking for recorded statements about the crash – Their goal is to ask leading questions that might lead you to “admit” to being at fault or to lock you into statements that conflict with other testimony.
- Focusing on your minor mistakes rather than the truck driver’s glaring errors – For example, if the truck driver hit you while merging, the insurance company might argue that you were at fault for lingering in the truck’s blind spot.
Regardless of the specific tactic, the goal is the same: to discredit and discourage the injured driver to undermine their claim.
Can I Still Get Compensation If I Was Partially At Fault for the Crash?
You could still be entitled to compensation if you were partially at fault for the truck accident.
Texas follows a modified comparative negligence system in personal injury claims. Under this system, you will be assigned a percentage of fault based on the extent to which your actions contributed to the collision.
You may still seek compensation as long as you are not more than 50 percent to blame for the accident. However, your financial recovery will be reduced by your percentage of fault. For example, an injury victim who would have won $500,000 at trial but is found to be 20 percent at fault will receive $400,000.
While this system technically applies to lawsuits heard in civil court, insurance companies also utilize the rule when negotiating out-of-court insurance settlements. Insurers often try to take advantage by convincing an accident victim that they were partially to blame and then offering a settlement that reflects that assessment – regardless of the facts of the case. Our experienced personal injury lawyers can help develop a truck accident claim that shows how the events actually unfolded.
Who Can Be Held Liable for an 18-Wheeler Accident in Texas?
Many different parties can be partially or solely liable for a truck accident in Texas, including:
- The truck driver, as the person most directly responsible for the safe operation of the vehicle
- The trucking company, either for its employees’ errors or because of its own negligent hiring, supervising, or operating practices
- A third-party loading company that overloaded the truck or failed to secure cargo properly
- The trucking broker that unsafely arranged the shipment
- A third-party maintenance provider that did not identify and correct safety issues
- A manufacturer of a defective component whose failure contributed to the accident
Our experienced Texas truck accident lawyers can investigate the collision to identify everyone who may have played a role in it and include them in your personal injury claim.
Can the Trucking Company Be Held Responsible for the Driver’s Actions?
A trucking company can be held responsible for its drivers’ on-the-job actions under the theory of vicarious liability. This legal doctrine holds an employer liable for negligence committed by its employee or agent while acting for the employer. In other words, the trucking company assumes legal responsibility because the truck driver is performing job duties for the employer’s benefit.
These claims help truck accident victims pursue a greater amount of compensation than they would if fault rested solely with the truck driver, as trucking companies have considerably more assets than individual truck drivers do.
What If the Truck Driver Was an Independent Contractor?
Vicarious liability claims generally only apply to employees, not independent contractors. Trucking companies often hide behind this distinction in an attempt to limit their liability for accidents. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimated that there were nearly 165,000 self-employed heavy truck drivers and tractor-trailer operators in one recent year.
However, this distinction matters only if the contractor is truly independent, meaning they have sole and complete control over how they perform the task they’ve been hired to complete. If the truck company controls the route, schedule, or other details that the truck driver must adhere to, the supposedly “independent” contractor may meet the definition of an employee – opening their employer up to a personal injury claim.
Our truck accident lawyers can review company policies and internal documentation to determine whether you have a claim against the trucking company in these circumstances.
What Is a Truck’s “Black Box” and Why Is It Important?
Most trucks must be equipped with an electronic data recorder (EDR), popularly known as the truck’s black box. The EDR is a memory device that records vehicle data, which can be reviewed after a crash to determine its cause. EDRs generally record a truck’s speed and engine RPM, acceleration and braking, and throttle position.
The term “black box” can also refer to the truck’s electronic logging device (ELD). This device tracks a truck’s location, engine hours, and vehicle miles for the purpose of ensuring that the driver is following state- or federally-mandated hours of service regulations.
Together, the data from these two devices can help identify any driver errors or rule violations that played a role in a commercial truck crash.
Will the Truck Driver Be Drug Tested After the Crash?
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) oversees the interstate trucking industry in the United States. The agency sets rules that drivers and trucking companies must follow, including when commercial truck drivers must be tested for drugs and alcohol.
Employers must receive a negative drug test at the time of employment, as well as test a driver for drugs or alcohol in the event of a crash involving:
- Damage to a vehicle that prevents it from being driven from the scene, if the truck driver was cited by police
- A bodily injury that requires immediate transportation from the scene, if the truck driver received a citation from police
- A human death, regardless of whether police cited the truck driver
However, the employer is not required to test the driver after an injury- or property damage-only crash without a police citation. Under these circumstances, your personal injury attorney may need to look for other evidence of the driver’s intoxication, such as eyewitness testimony or credit/debit card transaction logs.
How Much Is a Typical Commercial Truck Accident Settlement?
If you’ve recently been injured in a truck wreck, it’s understandable that you might wonder how much the average truck accident settlement is worth. However, the reality is that there’s no such thing as a “typical” settlement in these cases. So many factors go into an individual settlement’s value that an average would be meaningless even if we could provide one.
With that in mind, the value of a truck accident settlement is determined by factors such as:
- The severity of the injuries and harm the victim sustained
- How clearly the truck driver or carrier is at fault
- The extent of the truck’s insurance coverage
- How many other people were hurt
- Whether the accident victim played a role in the crash
Our experienced truck accident attorneys can give you a better idea of how much compensation you could be entitled to during a free, no-pressure consultation.
Are Punitive Damages Available in Texas Truck Accident Cases?
Punitive damages can be awarded in certain truck accident lawsuits in Texas. However, they are rarely awarded, as the injured party must prove fraud, malice, or gross negligence on the part of the defendant.
In this context, gross negligence means behavior that involves an extreme degree of risk-taking by the defendant, their awareness of that risk, and their conscious indifference to the well-being of others. In other words, the truck driver (or another at-fault party) typically must have consciously done something especially dangerous for a victim to win punitive damages at trial.
This award is intended to punish the at-fault party for extremely reckless behavior, not compensate for the victim’s losses. Texas caps punitive damages at $200,000 or twice the amount of economic damages plus up to $750,000 in non-economic damages, whichever is greater.
What Damages Can Surviving Family Members Claim After a Fatal 18-Wheeler Accident?
In the tragic event that a truck accident victim’s injuries prove fatal, certain surviving family members can pursue a wrongful death claim against the parties responsible for the crash. A successful wrongful death claim in Texas can recover compensation for:
- Funeral and burial expenses, such as ceremonies, cremation, and related end-of-life expenses
- Loss of financial support, including income, benefits, and financial contributions the victim would have provided to surviving family members
- Loss of household services the victim would have performed, such as childcare, maintenance, and caregiving
- Loss of companionship and society to account for the non-financial loss of the victim’s love, comfort, companionship, and emotional support
- Mental anguish, including the emotional pain, grief, and suffering experienced by surviving family members
- Loss of inheritance to cover the value of assets and wealth that the victim likely would have accumulated and passed on to beneficiaries