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Auto accidents of any kind can be severely damaging for victims, but they can be particularly catastrophic when they involve larger vehicles, like Amazon delivery trucks.
Amazon delivery truck accidents happen for various reasons, like overloading cargo and driver error. When these accidents take place, documenting them with law enforcement is important, as police officers can help you collect the driver’s information as well as any other pertinent details. Before filing your claim, there are certain things you need to pin down, starting with the statute of limitations. You will likely have two years from the accident’s date to file. Regarding liability, both the delivery truck driver and their employer, an Amazon delivery service partner (DSP), might share fault for your injuries and damages. Such damages often include financial losses and non-economic damages due to emotional distress.
Call The Queenan Law Firm, P.C. for a free and confidential case review from our Amazon delivery truck accident lawyers at (817) 476-1797.
Causes of Amazon Delivery Truck Accidents in Burleson, TX
Loading too many packages onto delivery trucks and exceeding safe weight limits could increase the risk of accidents, as could driver inexperience or recklessness.
Overloading or improper loading, such as failing to secure packages, could cause issues with weight distribution and cause delivery trucks to topple over when making sharp turns. Overloading can also make other maneuvers more difficult, such as braking fast, which could increase the risk of rear-end accidents.
Driver inexperience could also be an issue. Amazon relies on third-party delivery companies, known as their delivery service partners. These DSPs hire their own drivers who use Amazon-branded trucks to deliver packages. Accidents could occur if a DSP does not properly vet a driver and ensure they are qualified to operate a large delivery truck.
More often than not, accidents involving Amazon delivery trucks happen because of driver error. This may include speeding, reckless merging, following too closely, failure to yield to the right of way, making improper turns, and other traffic rules violations. The key difference in these accidents is that the negligent driver’s vehicle, the delivery truck, might be much larger than the victim’s passenger car, capable of causing considerable damage.
Documenting Amazon Delivery Truck Accidents in Burleson, TX
Call the police to document the accident. Law enforcement can help victims process the scene, gather information, and record their injuries using accident reports.
Tex. Transp. Code § 550.026 requires law enforcement to be notified of accidents that cause death or injury or render vehicles unsafe to operate. Calling 911 can ensure you address all reporting requirements and get assistance from police officers with documenting the accident in a crash report.
For example, police officers might note the apparent severity of your injuries at the scene and the evident cause of the accident. Though any statements taken by police at the scene might be inadmissible in court, our Amazon delivery truck accident lawyers can use them to identify, contact, and interview eyewitnesses ourselves.
Police officers can also get the negligent driver’s information, as well as their employer’s information. Remember, Amazon delivery truck drivers typically do not work for Amazon directly but instead for a DSP. It will be important to confirm which DSP the driver works for in case we need to hold it vicariously liable for the accident and your damages.
What You Need to Know About Amazon Delivery Truck Accident Claims in Burleson, TX
Preparing claims in anticipation of the statute of limitations is important, as the filing deadline limits how long victims have to sue for Amazon delivery truck accidents. In addition to filing your claim on time, our lawyers can identify all potentially liable parties and all recoverable damages.
The Statute of Limitations
One of the most important things to learn in preparation for your accident lawsuit is the statute of limitations, which is two years under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003. Missing the deadline could bar you from recovering any damages, and our lawyers can ensure this does not happen by preparing your case with the statute of limitations in mind.
Potential Liable Parties
Amazon is generally not liable for accidents involving its delivery vehicles, as it does not employ the drivers who operate those vehicles. Instead, the DSPs they contract employ the drivers, making the DSPs potentially vicariously liable for accidents, not Amazon. In light of this, you could possibly include the DSP in your claim, as employers are often liable for the actions of their employees while they are working.
The individual driver might also be liable if their direct negligence caused the accident. This is true of other passenger car drivers who might act negligently, forcing an Amazon delivery driver to react and causing an accident involving multiple vehicles.
Available Damages
You can recover all damages due to an accident with an Amazon delivery truck, starting with your economic damages. These include your medical bills and missed wages. Medical bills are expensive, especially when victims need ongoing treatment for several weeks, months, or, in some cases, years. We can help you document your medical damages by tracking bills as you incur them and getting experts to testify in support of compensation for future damages.
We can use similar tactics to prove lost wages, referring to employment and wage documentation like tax returns and paychecks and relying on testimony from medical experts asserting you will not be able to return to work for some time because of your injuries.
In addition to financial damages, victims’ intangible damages are compensable in Texas. Non-economic damages attempt to compensate victims for things like emotional distress, pain and suffering, reduced quality of life, and mental anguish.
Call Our Attorneys in Burleson, TX About Your Accident Today
Call the Amazon delivery truck accident lawyers of The Queenan Law Firm, P.C. at (817) 476-1797 for a free case review.