Texas follows a modified comparative rule, which allows you to recover damages even if you were partly to blame for the crash. However, if your blame is determined to be 50% or more, you cannot recover anything.
Houston, TX – Texas is by far the most dangerous state for trucking accidents, and it’s not just a matter of size. It’s also about the economy. You’ll obviously have more trucks going in and out of an important city like Houston than in a sparsely populated rural area. In 2020, Texas had 32,562 crashes involving large commercial vehicles. As a result, 581 people were killed and thousands injured. All these people need to recover damages, whether through a personal injury claim or a wrongful death claim. This means a lot of money that Texas insurance companies won’t be eager to pay. Paying equals losses and these companies are for-profit businesses. They will do everything they can to pay only a fraction of what you truly deserve or deny your claim altogether. This is the main reason you should search for the best Houston truck accident lawyers as soon as possible after the accident. Here is what a good lawyer can do for you.
Investigate the true cause of the crash
Under Texas law, you must call the police if an accident that results in injury, death, or damage to a car to the point it becomes unsafe to drive. The police report will describe the accident and the causes, at least the apparent cause. For insurance purposes, you might have to go deeper than that.
For instance, if the trucker changes lanes abruptly you might have a case of reckless driving, and it’s just the trucker that should be held accountable. However, it may be that the driver was so tired he dozed off for a couple of seconds and lost control of the vehicle. If driver fatigue is a factor in the crash, you may have a case against the trucking company. Your lawyers will immediately request access to the information on the electronic logging device to see how many hours the driver had been on the road and why.
Also, your lawyers might call in experts to evaluate the state of the truck and look for a possible malfunction. In such a case, it’s the trucking company, the maintenance service, or the manufacturer of a defective part that can be held accountable.
Negotiate your percentage of blame
Texas follows a modified comparative rule, which allows you to recover damages even if you were partly to blame for the crash. However, if your blame is determined to be 50% or more, you cannot recover anything. If you were speeding or you violated a traffic rule, no matter how minor, you will need an attorney with many years of experience in this field to negotiate your percentage of the blame. If you have substantial damages to recover every percentage counts.
Determine the value of your claim
Never accept the first offer the insurance company puts on the table. They’re trying to lowball you. Let some knowledgeable Texas truck accident lawyers tell you how much your claim is worth.
On the one hand, you have the economic damages which should cover your medical expenses, lost wages, and damage to your property.
On the other hand, you can seek non-economic damages to compensate you for your pain and suffering, both mental and physical. In Texas, pain and suffering damages are calculated using the multiplier method. The total value of your economic damages is multiplied by a factor between 1 and 5. The job of your lawyer is to convince the insurance adjuster or the jury that your suffering was so great it warrants a factor of 4 or 5.
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