Commercial Truck Accident Cases are Remarkably Different than Car Accidents
Each year, approximately 500,000 commercial trucks (commercial box trucks, tractor-trailer combinations/18-wheelers, buses) are involved in wrecks. Because of the sheer size of these vehicles, death or serious injury often occurs when they collide with normal-size vehicles. Approximately 5,000 big truck wrecks result in fatalities each year. The great majority of these deaths (97 percent) happen to occupants of the smaller passenger vehicles, not the drivers of the 18-wheelers.
Aside from the much greater percentage of fatalities in commercial truck accidents, there are also huge differences with respect to insurance requirements for 18-wheelers and other large commercial vehicles. Typically, they are required by law to carry much higher liability insurance limits than owners of normal vehicles.
With higher insurance limits at risk (usually well in excess of $1 million), trucking companies (and their insurers) hire more sophisticated defense counsel to handle such matters and most trucking companies have risk management departments to oversee such accidents. Shortly after an 18-wheeler or other commercial truck wreck happens, the insurance company as well as the trucking company will deploy investigators, reconstruction and accident investigation experts, their risk management team and a handful of company and insurance lawyers to the scene to begin preparing to defend forthcoming claims from the innocent victims and their families.
Experience and Results Matter in 18-Wheeler/Commercial Vehicle Crashes
It is extremely important for 18-wheeler and commercial truck accident victims to hire an experienced, highly qualified legal team to represent their interests.
Before dedicating our practice to personal injury victims, the founding partner of Burress Law PLLC were the “go-to counsel” of several of the largest insurance companies in the world. We have handled many, many catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases involving 18-wheelers, buses, commercial trucks and large company vehicles. We are especially familiar with the complicated federal regulations and statutes (such as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations) that govern transportation companies in most of these collisions. We understand the causes of these accidents and how negligent or reckless actions can lead to devastating injuries and death.
Our founding partner have represented insurance companies and personal injury victims in commercial truck cases and other types of motor vehicle accident claims. Our experience on both sides (Plaintiff and Defendant) provides us with an extremely unique perspective and strategic advantage. We know how to develop an 18-wheeler/commercial truck case and what steps to take to worry insurance companies and adjusters the most in order to force them to resolve the cases in our clients’ favor. Indeed, we have successfully tried these cases before a jury and settled many others favorably on behalf of our clients.
Some of Our Results in Truck Accident Cases
In the case we tried in Odessa, Texas, last year in which we earned the seventh-largest motor vehicle accident verdict in Texas, our client suffered a minor traumatic brain injury after her car was hit by a very large company truck. Our team (attorneys, accident investigators and reconstruction experts) was on the ground days after the wreck happened and virtually hours after being retained by the victim’s family. Our early investigation revealed that the oil company’s driver was extremely fatigued while speeding and ran a red light, despite the Defendants refusing to take any responsibility whatsoever. Our investigation also revealed the defendant oil company failed to prevent fatigued drivers from operating its large trucks and repeatedly violated its own policy against using cellphones while driving (even having supervisors routinely contact its drivers at times when it knew they were driving the large trucks). After a two-week trial 400 miles from our home, we were very pleased to earn a huge judgment against the Defendants in the amount of $3,655,130.00, which the defendants were forced to pay.
In another case involving a large out-of-state 18-wheeler fatality, we earned a $4,785,000 settlement. Once again, immediately after being hired, we mobilized our attorneys, accident investigator and experts to the remote out-of-state accident location and uncovered crucial evidence including eyewitness testimony that the official state investigators missed. In this case, we proved the defendant driver was engaged in illegal activities at the time of the accident and earned a huge settlement without even putting our victim’s family through depositions or trial. All specific information about the defendants in this case is strictly confidential at the defendants’ and insurance company’s insistence.
Waiting to Hire a Truck Wreck Attorney Will Hurt Your Case
Waiting to hire an experienced, highly qualified trucking accident lawyer/legal team to represent you and/or your family’s interests is the worst thing you can do. Oftentimes, trucking companies and companies engaging in transportation of any type hide and destroy evidence or simply fail to preserve it. Spoliation letters (letters instructing trucking companies what categories of evidence to maintain) are extremely important. Having spent our careers defending transportation companies and representing catastrophic personal injury trucking accident and wrongful death victims, we know exactly what evidence should be maintained, how to force these companies to preserve such evidence and the penalties for failing to do so. We do not say this often, but please: If you do not hire our law firm to protect your interests in a trucking case, please hire a competent legal team immediately!
Learn More About How We Can Help You
Call us at 214.726.0016 for a free consultation or contact us online. You pay nothing unless we win your case.