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Fewer accidents are as devastating in Euless as ones involving trucks. Victims often face significant damages and confusion about who to sue.
Fortunately, our attorneys can help explore your options to recover compensation and get your case started right away. Our team will immediately start collecting evidence so we can justify your claims when we file your claim. With enough evidence, we can file your lawsuit well before the deadline passes in your case. Most importantly, we will use our experience of these accidents to determine all the parties potentially responsible for your injuries. Our lawyers have the skills and resources to take on large trucking companies and their attorneys.
For your free case review with our truck accident attorneys, contact The Queenan Law Firm today at (817) 476-1797.
When You Should File a Truck Accident Lawsuit in Euless, TX
You can never start a lawsuit for a truck accident too soon. These tend to be complex cases, often involving multiple defendants, complex evidence, and other issues not present in ordinal vehicle accident claims. In many cases, you will start a claim by filing an insurance claim against the other driver. At-fault insurance rules are used in Euless and throughout Texas, so you must recover compensation from the other driver’s insurance.
However, when you work with our firm, our truck accident attorneys will typically file your lawsuit at the same time as your insurance claim. Fortunately, at-fault insurance rules do not prevent you from suing while recovering compensation in an insurance claim. In fact, both filings are often done together as a way of negotiating by showing the insurance company that you are serious enough to go to court if necessary.
We also want to get your lawsuit filed quickly so you do not have to worry about the “statute of limitations” in your case. The statute of limitations places a time limit on how long you have to file a personal injury case in the state. In Euless, Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem Code § 16.003(a) gives truck accident victims two years from the day the accident happens to file a lawsuit. However, this time limit only applies when filing your case. Once your lawsuit is filed, the statute of limitations will no longer be a concern, as the rule has no impact on how fast a case should conclude.
Two years goes by fast. If your claim is not filed before the statute of limitations runs, you will be barred from recovering compensation from the court. If the victim was younger than 18 or “of unsound mind” when the accident occurred, § 16.001 will give them additional time to file. Outside of this, there are few exceptions to the statute of limitations, so get your case started as soon as possible.
Who Can Be Sued for Truck Accident Injuries in Euless, TX
What makes truck accidents complex cases is that the evidence must be sorted through to determine each party who might have played a part in causing the crash. In many cases, multiple defendants will be named in a lawsuit, like the driver and their employer. While this adds more complexity to a case, it also gives you a better chance of recovering the compensation you deserve. The following are those we are most likely to hold responsible in a legal claim:
Truck Drivers
The truck driver is almost always the first party sued for a truck accident in Euless. Truckers are directly responsible for the vehicle and should be following traffic laws while in operation. If the trucker was speeding, running traffic lights, or under the influence of a drug like a stimulant that caused them to lose concentration, they could be held liable.
Truckers must also follow the strict guidelines set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). These rules include driving limits placed on drivers carrying either property or passengers and when they should take breaks. If the trucker violated any of these regulations, we can use company and driver records to show how the driver violated their duties.
Trucking Companies
In most cases, we will also sue the trucking company when we file a claim against the driver. We can do this even if the trucking company was not actually negligent since most trucking companies are “vicariously liable” for their employees. This rule is also known as respondeat superior and essentially treats the trucker and the trucking company as a single entity. As long as the driver caused the accident while on the job and completing their duties, the trucking company can be held liable for the driver’s negligence as if it were its own.
That does not mean that the trucking company did not act negligently in some way. In some cases, trucking companies do not bother to train drivers before allowing them on the road. In other instances, the trucking company fails to do a background check on a trucker who turns out to have a dangerous driving history. If the trucking company cuts corners to gain an advantage, you should not have to pay for it if it results in an accident.
Independent Contractors and Shipping Partners
Unfortunately, the rule of vicarious liability described above will not apply if the trucker is an independent contractor. Some truckers work for themselves and only contract with other companies to complete their deliveries. For example, Amazon delivery truck drivers do not usually work for Amazon but are independent drivers. As such, the contracting company, like Amazon, usually cannot be held liable for the driver’s negligence. Unlike ordinary employment relationships, the law does not consider contracting companies to have enough control over an independent contractor to hold them responsible for their actions.
However, our team can determine if the independent trucker works for another company that we can sue. Most large retailers like Amazon use regional shipping partners to complete their orders. These shipping partners are usually smaller, local companies that can be held liable for the drivers they employ. If the driver is not employed by a shipping partner but is truly independent, we can explore what insurance options are available from their private policy and the policy of the company they contract with.
Truck Designers and Manufacturers
It is also possible that your accident was caused by a design or manufacturing defect in the truck. Trucks have many critical systems that can cause devastating crashes if they fail. If a malfunction occurs, we can help determine if the defect happened in the design or manufacturing phase and sue the appropriate parties.
Proof Needed for a Truck Accident Lawsuit in Euless, TX
When bringing a truck accident lawsuit, there are a few things that our truck accident attorneys need to prove before the case can even get into court. From there, there are certain kinds of evidence the judge and jury will expect to see, as well as the burden of proof that must be met in all civil injury claims.
Threshold Evidence
In the law, we call the initial case presented to the court a “prima facie” case – meaning “at first sight” or “on its face.” This is the initial showing that we have to make to the court for them to accept the case and progress it further in the court system.
In general, this means showing four elements: 1) there was a duty the defendant owed you, 2) they breached that duty, 3) the breach of duty caused your injuries, and 4) you suffered damages the court can order compensated. Most cases meet this low standard, but it is important to understand what proof is needed for these elements of a basic “negligence” case.
Generally, duties in a truck accident case involve traffic laws or general “reasonableness” standards behind the wheel. A breach, then, typically involves a traffic violation like running a red light to cause a crash or causing a crash while you are driving with unreasonable distractions. If that mistake caused the crash and you faced injuries, that meets all of the elements. If another driver intervened, your case might be better filed against them instead of the truck driver.
When suing trucking companies, the duty is often built upon federal trucking regulations, such as rules for how long they can allow their drivers to drive and what health conditions a driver is allowed to have. Violations of these regulations can often be tenuous to link to the actual cause of the crash, but our lawyers have experience proving this kind of connection in truck accident cases.
In your initial complaint, the court should assume what we claim is true and see if those facts would make out a prima facie case. The strength of your evidence is not in question until the case moves to trial.
Evidence Needed
Most truck accident cases are based on the driver’s testimony about what happened, as well as testimony from witnesses. From there, any video or photos can help back up this claim, and cases are often won quite handily if there is dash cam or security camera footage of the accident happening before the jury’s eyes.
Aside from that, any evidence at the scene of the accident that corroborates your story will help strengthen your case. For example, if you say you were at a red light when the trucker rear-ended you and you have damage only to the rear of your car, that will back up your claim. Sometimes, evidence provided by accident reconstruction experts can help shore up confusing or convoluted cases where cars were going every which way or where a long line of cars were involved in a pileup, with the truck causing the initial crash.
Some evidence is not “direct evidence” that proves what happens, but it rather proves the circumstances surrounding the accident. This “circumstantial evidence” is not automatically bad or weak, and it can be invaluable in proving your case.
Some evidence might not be admissible in court – such as out-of-court statements or police reports – but it can still help us build the case. Every bit of evidence you can provide will be helpful in the end, and our lawyers can help look for more evidence to supplement what you already have, such as medical records and nearby security camera footage. We can also subpoena records and testimony from the trucking company.
We will also need proof of how much your damages are, as the jury needs something to base the damage award on.
Burden of Proof
Evidence must help you prove each element of the case discussed above “by a preponderance of the evidence.” This is the “burden of proof” our lawyers must meet in civil injury claims. This basically means showing your claim is more likely than not to be true. It is a lower standard than what is needed for criminal cases, for example.
Some elements are easily proven with mere records. For example, the duty element is often supplied by general traffic laws. Additionally, some damages are not particularly controversial, such as the billed value for medical care. Proving other elements will be difficult in some cases, such as proving that this driver caused the crash when other drivers might have also been involved in the accident.
In a jury trial, after we present your case, the defense will often ask the judge to find that we did not meet the burden of proof. The judge can only dismiss the case at that point if there is no reasonable jury that could find you did meet the burden of proof based on the evidence presented. Ultimately, the jury’s job is to decide what facts are true, giving them the final call as to both who was at fault and how much the damages are worth in your case.
Our Euless, TX Truck Accident Lawyers Can Help
Call The Queenan Law Firm at (817) 476-1797 to speak with our truck accident lawyers and receive your free case evaluation.