Harlingen Truck Accident Lawyer

Accidents in Harlingen that involve a heavy commercial truck often prove extremely serious, especially when tractor-trailers collide with passenger cars at highway speeds. Fully loaded trucks can weigh as much as 80,000 pounds, which compares to just 5,000 pounds for the typical passenger vehicle.

That means a catastrophic amount of force being transferred at the point of impact, leading to many tragic deaths as well as life-changing injuries, like spine trauma or brain damage. In a recent year, motor vehicle accidents that included a large commercial truck led to almost 500 fatalities in the state of Texas, and more than 4,000 nationwide.

Given the size and weight of tractor-trailers and other large commercial vehicles, truckers and trucking companies must comply with all trucking safety standards. Unfortunately, many truck drivers and trucking companies out there will regularly neglect this duty, leading to devastating consequences for the other drivers and passengers sharing the road. Most truck accidents in Texas result from either major driver errors or improperly maintained trucks.

Mechanical defects caused by poor truck maintenance can either directly cause a crash or create conditions that will make the crash much more destructive. Tractor-trailers have to endure long distances, heavy loads, and high speeds, which causes a lot of wear and tear on the many different components involved in driving these massive vehicles safely.

For these reasons, the federal government closely regulates the inspection and maintenance of commercial vehicles. Trucking companies and their drivers must keep their trucks in good working condition and address any potential issues as quickly as possible. Drivers also have to inspect their trucks from top to bottom at the beginning of each day.

After an accident, the maintenance logs and inspection records for that vehicle can reveal any elements of poor upkeep that caused the accident or contributed to it. Missing or inadequate records can also lead to insights regarding the accident. The biggest culprits usually consist of overloaded trucks, worn-out tires, steering suspension problems, and malfunctioning headlights or taillights.

It takes a lot of skill to handle large commercial trucks safely, especially in challenging situations, like poor weather, narrow turns, and busy traffic. Most 18-wheelers have blind spots, which means the truck driver’s training and attentiveness are critical even just while changing lanes.

Inexperienced and poorly trained truck drivers face a higher risk of violating safety regulations, making careless mistakes, failing to recognize maintenance issues, and generally putting everyone’s safety at risk.

Large truck drivers have to stay aware of their surroundings at all times, with the ability to control their vehicles and react quickly to a whole host of situations. Anything that takes away from the driver’s ability to concentrate can potentially cause a heartbreaking accident, including egregious behavior, like using a smartphone while driving or being under the influence of alcohol.

Truck driver fatigue constitutes a lesser-known issue that can also cause extremely dangerous situations. Being overtired or sleep-deprived has a significant effect on how well drivers can perform, especially on their reaction times.

For those that manage to survive, being involved in a truck accident leaves severe injuries, expensive medical bills, and a complicated legal process for getting compensation. Working with an experienced truck accident lawyer provides injured individuals with the best way to protect their interests, which begins with analyzing the facts of the case to identify everyone that should bear liability. Texas law allows for proportional responsibility, which means you can get compensation from multiple parties that caused or contributed to the accident, such as:

Speeding, driving under the influence, and failing to maintain the vehicle according to federal regulations all constitute potential violations that can make truck drivers liable for causing an accident. Under the law, the driver’s liability will often extend to the trucking company that owns the vehicle and hired the driver.

An investigation may find specific issues that directly created the conditions for the accident to happen, such as negligent hiring practices, poor training, inadequate practices for maintaining the truck, or an unreasonable schedule that leads to driver fatigue. The trucking industry also faces a series of federal safety laws, and your trucking accident attorney will work to demonstrate that the trucker and/or trucking company failed to meet one or more of these standards.

All commercial trucks have a federally set maximum weight limit for the loads they can legally carry. This restriction aims to prevent dangerous issues like cargo shifting, which the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has identified as the cause of 4 percent of truck accidents.

Unethical trucking companies and cargo loading companies will sometimes try to maximize profits by overloading trucks, which allows them to deliver more cargo while needing fewer trips.

Overloaded trucks make it more difficult to steer, more likely to cause brake failure, and generally more unstable, which increases the risk of truck accidents and also makes them more destructive. If an overloaded truck causes an accident, the cargo loading company will potentially share liability for knowingly breaking the law.

Sometimes, the cause of a truck accident will stem from a problem with the truck itself, or in a specific component. If you can demonstrate that this malfunction did not result from any kind of maintenance issue and that the product was defective from the start, you can pursue compensation from either the vehicle’s manufacturer or the manufacturer of that part. Some common examples would include malfunctioning brakes, tire blowouts, or a defective trailer hitch.