Thousands of trucks travel through the Houston area on a daily basis. Texas highways are used to haul industrial and agricultural cargo throughout the southern and central United States. These large vehicles share the roads with smaller passenger cars, and as such, many serious accidents happen every year. Following a truck accident, it can be difficult to know what happened. Despite this confusion, you have a right to recover compensation after incurring injuries caused by a careless truck driver.
However, demonstrating truck driver negligence can be complex. The trucking company will use its resources to avoid having to pay you damages. For this reason, it’s important to retain the help of a skilled Houston truck accident lawyer helping you through every step of the legal process.
To schedule a free, initial consultation of your case, contact The Krist Law Firm, P.C. today at
(281) 283-8500.
Common Causes of Truck Driver Negligence
Recovering the damages you need after an accident requires finding out exactly what happened in your wreck. Trucking companies will be much more likely to offer an acceptable financial settlement when your lawyer has built a strong case. This involves showing exactly how the truck driver caused your accident. Some of the most common negligent truck driver actions include:
- Exhaustion – Drivers are sometimes overworked or push themselves to drive long hours with little rest. These dangerous drivers cause thousands of truck accidents every year.
- Intoxication – Many accidents are caused by drivers who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Truckers in this condition have delayed reaction times, and often cannot avoid an accident.
- Lack of training – Truck drivers must make sure that they know how to operate a large, complex vehicle. Untrained drivers are responsible for the injuries they cause when they don’t know how to safely drive their trucks.
- Distractions – A truck driver can be distracted by their phone, equipment, work logs, or maps. Their truck can travel great lengths in the two or three seconds that they take their eyes off the road.
- Speeding – Truck drivers are often in a hurry, and they sometimes speed or drive recklessly. This can cause them to lose control of their vehicles and cause a terrible accident.
Proving Negligence in Your Truck Accident Case
Following a truck accident, you likely have a lot of bills that you are concerned about paying. Your injuries can require long-term help, and you might not be able to work for an extended period. In proving truck driver negligence, your attorney must prove the following:
- The driver failed to meet their duty of care. Truckers must take reasonable steps to prevent an accident. If they don’t, then they are putting everyone else on the road at risk of serious injury or death.
- The driver’s failure to meet their duty of care directly resulted in your accident. In addition to showing trucker’s negligence to their duty of care, your Houston truck accident lawyer will have to show how their careless actions were the direct cause of your accident.
- The accident caused your injuries. Your attorney must be able to show that your accident directly caused your injuries.
Contact Our Houston Personal Injury Lawyers for Help
Being hit by a reckless or negligent truck driver can be deadly. If you survive, your injuries can last a lifetime. However, the truck driver may try and avoid responsibility. Furthermore, their employer may use their considerable resources to make sure that they are not liable to owe you any financial help. You need a lawyer who has years of experience negotiating against large companies on behalf of their clients. At The Krist Law Firm, P.C., we are ready to help you. Contact us today at (281) 283-8500 to schedule a free case consultation.