Damages Resulting From a Dump Truck Wreck Can be Quite High
In a dump truck or gravel hauler accident, more often than not serious injuries are the immediate result. When a 30-50 ton behemoth that’s hauling its weight hits you, even at 30 miles an hour, the damages are often cataclysmic. But the liability may not stop at the driver. Several other parties can be responsible, and thereby, held legally liable for the wreck. This includes the trucker, the company he or she works for, the construction company that the hauler works for, the job-site boss who sets the burdensome schedule for hauling the many loads a day, possibly a defective part on the truck itself, or the company that is responsible for maintaining the rig. So the first thing you must do is find out is whose fault it is for the truck accident that caused the injuries you suffered and the damage to your vehicle along with any other property. One of the things we must be aware of as we begin searching for liable defendants is the legal notion in Texas law called “respondent superior.” It basically means that employers are directly liable for the wreck their employee causes. So by-definition the employer is just as responsible for the action or inaction of its employee, which means it is their responsibility to pay for your injuries and other legal damages.
Another relatively new source of liability has emerged over the past few years. States and counties outsource a lot more of their road maintenance and highway construction duties to the private industry than they did just a few short years ago. So if a privately-owned company, in the performance of its road construction or maintenance contracts, creates hazardous road conditions that cause a dump truck or gravel hauling 18-wheeler to hit you, these companies may also be held liable for a portion, or maybe all, of the liability arising from the accident. And all private companies retained by the state of Texas or any of its counties for any outsourced engagement must, by law, a document that they are either properly insured, or provide a very large liability bond that is backed by their cash-on-hand.
To win your claim among a surplus of potential defendants, you need an experienced dump truck/gravel hauling accident lawyer who can investigate the scene of an accident to discover who is liable, and then wade through a great deal of paperwork to determine the best possible targets for your accident-related compensation. Local or state law enforcement agencies will investigate these types of accidents. But right now, in the immediate wake of such a wreck, that’s of little help to you because many times those investigations only reveal the primary responsible parties such as the drivers or the company that owns the rig.
Rarely do they drill-down to identify other contributors to such wrecks that reveal all liable parties. Experienced accident lawyers conduct these stringent investigations and know how to determine the degree of each responsible party in every big rig accident. Occasionally our investigations reveal additional criminal facts of the accident that law officials miss. When we identify those who initially escaped detection, we pass them along to law enforcement for further criminal activity.
After your dump truck accident, your attorney must determine whose negligence caused the wreck, if someone else contributed to it. A mechanical part might have failed. Or vital service was not performed, thereby rendering it unsafe to be on the road and causing the driver to lose control of a large gravel hauler. And sometimes route planners are negligent in sending the truck down a road on which it doesn’t belong.
Rare is the time when finding fault in an 18-wheeler accident is as simple as 1, 2, 3. But an experienced Texas dump truck wreck law firm gets to the bottom of the accident and identifies every liable party who is responsible for your injuries, pain, suffering, lost income, and other damages arising from such a tragic wreck; including wrongful death damages.
Our Law Firm has decades of experience handling personal injury litigation in dump truck and gravel hauler accident cases. If you or a loved one has been seriously injured by one of these road monsters, our expertise significantly increases your odds to receive the fairest compensation possible for the injuries and pain you have suffered. We’ve helped deliver millions of dollars to hundreds of accident victims in Texas. So if you or a loved one has been involved in a trucking accident anywhere in Texas, our experienced accident lawyers can win the best compensation possible for you.
Call us today at 1(800) 862-1260 (toll-free) for a free consultation to begin your road to total recovery so you and your family can resume your life.