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Several major highways cut through and around Arlington, including I-20, I-30, and SH-360. Every day, thousands of truck drivers carrying heavy, sometimes hazardous cargo loads travel down these and other Arlington highways at extremely high speeds.
When a truck driver is aggressive, intoxicated, fatigued, or has a moment of carelessness, a terrible accident can occur almost instantly. Sadly, due to the enormous size and speed of 18-wheelers and other commercial trucks, the victims in other vehicles are often killed or catastrophically injured. Because injuries and losses are often major, damages in truck accident cases tend to be very high, and a lot of compensation might be on the line. Evidence to support your claims might include details and objects from the accident scene, truck logs or records, witnesses, and more. Truck accidents might happen on various highways around Arlington, and you should speak to an attorney about your case as soon as possible.
Call The Queenan Law Firm, P.C. at (817) 476-1797 to arrange a review of your case at no cost to you with our truck accident lawyers.
Potential Damages You Might Claim in a Truck Accident Case in Arlington
Damages in truck crashes have a tendency to be very high. Available damages should account for economic and non-economic losses incurred by the plaintiff, and exemplary damages might be available under specific circumstances. Altogether, these damages might add up to considerable compensation. You should discuss your case with a lawyer as soon as possible to get an idea of how much your damages might be worth.
Economic Damages
Auto accidents generally are very expensive ordeals. Drivers often encounter numerous costs they cannot afford. These economic damages make up a large portion of your compensation, and many plaintiffs need them to be financially whole again.
One of the biggest contributors to economic damages is medical bills. Part of what makes truck accidents so frightening is the degree of harm suffered by accident victims. Many truck accident survivors require extensive medical treatment, including emergency treatment, surgery, physical therapy, medications, and other forms of care. For many, medical care is long-term, and they may include reasonably anticipated future medical costs in their calculations.
Plaintiffs also may claim the value of damaged or destroyed property as part of their economic damages. If you were driving your own vehicle when the collision occurred, the costs of repairing or replacing it might be staggering, even with help from insurance. You can also claim the value of personal belongings that might have been in your vehicle during the accident. For example, a student driving to school might have an expensive laptop computer in the car. You can also claim expensive jewelry, cell phones, and other items you might have lost.
After a truck accident, you likely cannot return to work for quite some time. While some people are covered by paid time off or medical leave, others are not. You can claim the value of lost ages and income as part of your economic damages.
Non-Economic Damages
You may claim more than monetary costs when filing a truck accident lawsuit. Many of your damages are not measured in how much money they cost but in how much pain they cause. Non-economic damages are defined under Tex. Civ. Prac & Rem. Code § 41.001(12). They may include physical pain, emotional suffering, physical impairments or disfigurement, loss of consortium, loss of enjoyment of life, and much more.
Many people recognize damages for pain and suffering, both physical and emotional. Truck accidents are known for being traumatizing, and many survivors wrestle with everything they have gone through for many years after the crash.
Your non-economic damages may be particularly significant if you experience long-term medical complications or disabilities because of your injuries. For example, mobility problems, significant disfigurement or scarring, and chronic pain conditions may leave you in intense physical pain and emotional turmoil.
Exemplary Damages
Economic and non-economic losses make up your compensatory damages, designed to make you “whole” again after the accident. Exemplary damages, sometimes called punitive damages, are not meant to compensate for any losses. Instead, they are meant to punish defendants for their extremely bad behavior.
According to Tex. Civ. Prac & Rem. Code § 41.003(a), exemplary damages are available only if our truck accident attorneys prove that the accident happened because of the defendant’s fraud, malice, or gross negligence. In addition, we must prove these factors by clear and convincing evidence, which is a high standard to meet. As such, exemplary damages tend to be rare.
According to Tex. Civ. Prac & Rem. Code § 41.004, exemplary damages are awarded only where plaintiffs have established other damages besides nominal ones. Nominal damages are minimal, often consisting of a single dollar award, and are more symbolic than anything. Essentially, you need to show some compensatory damages.
Exemplary damages are capped under Tex. Civ. Prac & Rem. Code § 41.008(b). Generally, there are 2 possible limits. First, the court may award exemplary damages equal to twice the value of economic damages plus the value of up to $750,000 of non-economic damages. Second, the court might grant an award of up to $200,000. The court should select whichever option is greater.
Liable Parties for a Broken Bones and Fracture Caused by a Truck Accident
A person that sustains a bone fracture injury in a truck accident should be compensated for their injuries by the party liable for the incident. However, depending on the circumstances of the case, there could be multiple parties that are responsible for the victim’s injuries. Our experienced Arlington broken bone injury lawyers could help you determine the appropriate parties to sue after a serious truck accident.
Truck Driver
The driver of the truck at the time of the accident is one party that could be held liable for the victim’s injuries. Truck drivers are expected to exercise caution when operating a large commercial truck. Unfortunately, some truck drivers may cause a serious crash because they became distracted or lost control of the vehicle or a few other reasons. When this happens, the collision between a large truck and a passenger vehicle could mean that a person may sustain one or multiple broken bones, which may open the truck driver to civil liability for the crash.
Truck Driver’s Employer
In some cases, the doctrine of respondeat superior may permit the victim of a truck crash to hold the truck driver’s employer liable for the crash. Specifically, the doctrine of respondeat superior could make an employer liable for the negligent actions of their truck driver if they were performed in furtherance of the employer’s goals. For example, if fatigue causes a truck driver to veer from their lane and collide with another motorist, this accident could be attributed to the employer by the victim.
While a victim could pursue compensation from the truck driver for their bone fractures, it would often make more sense to pursue the employer for damages. The employer of the truck driver is likely in a better position to reimburse the victim for their injuries and other related expenses.
Note, however, that some employers may hire truck drivers as independent contractors to avoid liability for an accident. When an employee is designated as an independent contractor, it means that the employer has little control over how the contractor performs their duties, and employer may not be successful in avoiding liability for a truck accident. For instance, an Amazon truck driver may be delivering packages as an independent contractor so the company could avoid lawsuits for a truck crash they may cause.
Damages Awarded for Injuries Caused by a Truck Accident
Victims of a bone fracture injury caused in a truck accident could be awarded various types of damages if they prevail in their case. However, the victim will have to show that the defendant in the case is responsible for their injuries. Specifically, the victim will need to prove that the truck driver or trucking company violated some legal duty that they owed the victim, which caused their injuries.
The compensation obtained from a successful lawsuit or a settlement agreement can provide financial stability, and with it, priceless peace of mind, as you and your family mourn and adjust to your new circumstances. At Queenan Law, our Arlington truck crash lawyers work tirelessly to thoroughly calculate the immediate and long-term impact or value of your losses to fight for maximum compensation on your behalf. Our goal is to see that you obtain both the financial resources and the sense of emotional closure you need to truly start the healing process.
Upon proving these elements, the court could award compensatory damages to the plaintiff. Compensatory damages may be awarded for both economic and noneconomic losses. For example, emotional distress would be considered a noneconomic loss as it is primarily determined by subjective factors. The following compensatory damages could be available in your bone fracture injury case:
- Loss of income and future loss of income
- Medical bills and other related expenses
- Pain and suffering
- Damage to property, like a vehicle
- Loss of consortium
Our firm is here to help you fight for the damages you need to manage your bone fracture injury and move forward with your life.
Evidence Needed to Support Your Arlington Truck Accident Lawsuit
A truck accident can be absolutely catastrophic, but your injuries alone might not be enough to support your claims for compensation. You need as much evidence as you can gather to back up your claims. Exactly where to get evidence is the million dollar question.
Physical evidence is anything you can hold or touch that relates to how your accident happened. Physical evidence might be small enough to hold in your hands or so big that it cannot fit inside the courtroom. Major pieces of physical evidence in your case will likely be vehicles. The damage on the truck, your vehicle, and other vehicles may explain how the accident occurred and who is responsible.
For example, if the truck has a lot of front-end damage while your car has extensive damage on the side, it stands to reason that the truck T-boned you. Because the vehicles are obviously too big to transport to the courtroom, we can use photos and videos from the accident scene. Smaller physical evidence might be smaller pieces of the truck, such as malfunctioning equipment.
Witnesses are the backbone of many injury cases, and your truck accident case is no different. Truck accidents often involve multiple drivers and passengers. Many more people who might not be directly impacted byte ha accident might still see it happen. The more witnesses who can testify and back up your version of events, the better.
We can also get evidence from the truck itself or the trucking company, depending on what we need to prove your case. Trucks often have a black box device that records data about the truck’s journey. Information about speed, braking, rest periods, and more might all be recorded. We can use this data to prove things like whether the truck driver hit the brakes before they crashed into you.
Business records and logs from the trucking company could also be extremely important. For example, if we suspect that the truck driver fell asleep at the wheel before the crash, we might prove it by using driving logs. The logs might show that the truck driver had not taken a break or rest in a long time, thus making them fatigued, leading to the accident.
Call Our Arlington Truck Accident Attorneys Now
Because commercial trucks weigh so much and exert such powerful force when an accident or collision occurs, it is common for disabling or fatal injuries to result. If you or a loved one was injured in a collision with a commercial truck or passenger truck in Arlington, compensation might be available to help with your medical bills, care expenses, and other costs related to your treatment and recovery. Compensation may also be available for pain and suffering.
As personal injury lawyers in Texas with many years of experience handling a diverse array of cases, the attorneys of Queenan Law are thoroughly prepared to handle truck accident claims involving a broad spectrum of serious injuries, disabilities, and complications resulting from 18-wheeler wrecks and other types of truck crashes.
To schedule a free review of your claims, call our truck accident attorneys at The Queenan Law Firm, P.C. at (817) 476-1797.