A collision with a truck that can weigh up to 80,000 pounds is a different kind of catastrophe. The injuries are worse. The company on the other side fights harder than any car insurer you’ve dealt with, and it often starts fighting within hours of the wreck. If a big rig on I-45 or the Sam Houston Tollway hit you, stop taking calls from their adjuster and call a Houston truck accident lawyer at (713) 664-4000.
I’m Jay Blass Cohen of Blass Law. I’ve represented injured Houstonians since 2009, and truck cases are their own beast. You can’t work one like a fender-bender on Westheimer.
Why truck accident cases are different
When you’re rear-ended by another car, you’re usually dealing with one driver and one insurance policy. A commercial truck wreck is rarely that simple.
For starters, more people may be on the hook than just the driver: the trucking company, the company that owned the trailer, the outfit that loaded the cargo, a maintenance contractor, even the manufacturer of a failed part. Each of those can be a separate defendant with a separate insurance policy, which matters when your medical bills have five zeros in them.
For a legal consultation, call (713) 664-4000
Commercial carriers also carry much larger insurance policies than the average driver. That’s good news if you’re badly hurt. It’s also why their insurers fight so hard: with that much money on the line, the company sends its heavy hitters early, and they aren’t there to be fair to you.
The trucking company’s people get there first
Big trucking companies often have a rapid-response team headed to the scene within hours. Their adjusters and investigators are building the company’s defense before you’ve even left the hospital.
Meanwhile, the evidence that proves your case has a clock on it. Modern trucks carry an electronic control module, the “black box,” that can record speed and braking in the seconds before the crash. Most long-haul drivers have to track their hours on an electronic logging device, and those logs show whether he was driving past the legal limit. There are inspection records, maintenance histories, driver qualification files, and cargo manifests.
Click to contact our Houston lawyer today
All of it can be overwritten or “routinely destroyed” if nobody moves quickly to demand it be preserved. One of the first things we do in a truck case is send a spoliation letter, a formal demand that the company hold onto every scrap of that evidence. If that letter goes out late, some of it may already be gone.
What the evidence can prove
Complete a Case Evaluation form now
Truck wrecks are often caused by things the record can expose if you know where to look: a driver pushing past the federal hours-of-service limits, a company that skipped maintenance, brakes out of adjustment, a load that wasn’t secured, a driver who never should have been hired, or plain distraction and speed.
We dig into all of it (the black box data, the logs, the maintenance and hiring files, the driver’s record) to show why the wreck happened and who’s responsible.
If the trucker was impaired
Some of the worst truck wrecks involve a driver who was impaired, and proving it is where my background gives you something most injury lawyers can’t.
I’m an ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist and a certified Drug Recognition Expert, I’m trained in forensic chromatography (the lab science behind blood alcohol testing), and I’m a certified practitioner and instructor of Standardized Field Sobriety Testing. The State relies on intoxication science to prove DWIs. I use that same science to prove a driver was impaired, then push the recovery as high as it can go for the person he hurt. Reading breath and blood evidence is my day job.
It can matter to your bottom line, too. Texas caps punitive damages, but the cap doesn’t protect a driver whose conduct amounts to intoxication assault (a serious bodily injury) or intoxication manslaughter (a death) (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 41.008(c)). You still have to prove gross negligence by clear and convincing evidence, and the intoxication evidence is how we do it. The trucking company answers for its own choices, like who it hired and whether it looked the other way on his hours, and we go after those too.
Don’t talk to their insurer alone
The trucking company’s insurer will call, and they’ll sound perfectly reasonable. They may float a quick settlement that looks like real money until you put it next to what a lifetime of care costs.
You don’t have to give a recorded statement, and you should not sign a release or accept an offer before you understand the full extent of your injuries. Once you sign, you can’t come back for more. Send their calls to us and put your energy into getting better. Our guide on what to do after a wreck in Texas covers the first few days.
Texas gives you two years, but the evidence won’t wait that long
In Texas you generally have two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003). But black-box data and video can be overwritten in weeks, and the company only has to keep driving logs for six months. If a city truck, a METRO bus or another government vehicle hit you, the deadline to give notice can be as short as a few months. The company’s team is already working, and every week you wait is a week of data that might not be there when we ask for it.
We’ve been here before
At Blass Law, we’ve recovered millions for injured Texans, including a $2.95 million result in a semi-truck case. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome, and every case turns on its own facts. But trucking companies and their insurers don’t intimidate us.
If a truck hit you or someone you love in Houston, call Blass Law at (713) 664-4000 or reach out through our site while the black-box data can still be saved. The consultation is free, and there’s no fee unless we recover for you. If we don’t recover, you don’t owe us for case expenses either.
The trucking company has probably called its lawyers already. Call yours.
Blass Law PLLC
917 Franklin St, Suite 400, Houston, TX 77002
(713) 664-4000
Keeping Innocent People Innocent®
Blass Law PLLC
917 Franklin St, Suite 400, Houston, TX 77002
(713) 664-4000
Keeping Innocent People Innocent®
This article is general information, not legal advice, and doesn’t create an attorney-client relationship. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Call or text (713) 664-4000 or complete a Case Evaluation form