Grand Prairie 18-Wheeler Accident Attorney

Our DFW Law Firm can Help You Recover Damages Following a Commercial Vehicle Accident in Arlington

Plenty of firms wouldn’t hesitate to take your 18-wheeler accident case, but there are very few out there that can truly say they’ve got a length background in working 18-wheeler and other commercial vehicle accident cases.

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The qualified group of Grand Prairie lawyers at Grossman Law Offices has been part of numerous 18-wheeler accident cases over the last two decades and walked away successful in hundreds of these cases.

You will find there are numerous kinds of commercial vehicles. We’ve prevailed in countless personal injury and/or wrongful death claims that have involved rock haulers, dump trucks, a multitude of construction vehicles, moving vans, buses, tankers, and countless other sorts of commercial vehicles. Despite the quantity and variety of commercial vehicles, you’ll find they share a few similarities:

• They usually are bigger and can cause infinitely more damage than regular vehicles.
• They are under different laws than those covering passenger cars.
• The third, and perhaps most critical, fact is they are usually owned by large, valuable businesses that will develop an aggressive defense that is dead-set on making sure plaintiffs aren’t fairly compensated.

We will counter their attacks with our own aggressive approach. If you want your Grand Prairie 18-wheeler accident case to have the best odds of success, you must hire a firm that has the track record, resources, ability and history of defeating opposition in court or pressuring them into choosing a fair settlement that they normally would have done anything to have avoided.

When you decide on Grossman Law Offices to take charge of your 18-wheeler accident case in Grand Prairie you are securing an edge that includes 20 years of experience from attorneys who have prevailed in hundreds of big rig accident victories (as well as thousands of great verdicts in personal injury cases overall).

Below you’ll discover a collection of information that thoroughly explains how a Grand Prairie 18-wheeler accident case happens, and points out some of the potential challenges in obtaining a successful recovery.

How Grand Prairie 18-Wheeler Accident Cases Work

Emerging from any accident can be extremely overwhelming and burdensome, but there’s little that matches that incredible effects of 18-wheeler accidents. Big rig trucks can weigh over 80,000 pounds, so there are often-times incredibly awful damages left when they’re involved in wrecks. Many truckers are paid hourly, so they’ll stay on long shifts without breaks, but that only causes lapses in concentration and consciousness, along with additional accidents, injuries, property damage, and sometimes death.

In the course of two decades, the Grand Prairie 18-wheeler accident attorneys at Grossman Law Offices have worked cases centered around 18-wheelers and we realize victims will carry a ton of medical and legal questions around, looking for answers after they’ve been hurt or had a loved one die in an accident such as this. What’s extremely essential is to make sure you receiver proper medical attention following the tragic accident. Besides getting proper medical care, you need to make sure your injuries are physically documented. If you don’t carry medical insurance or are under-insured, we have ways to contact doctors who can consider your financial situation and establish a reasonable payment plan for you.

Once a doctor has tended to your injuries, it’s important to begin thinking about how to obtain compensation for the injuries you’ve sustained. Those responsible for your accident aren’t required by law to immediately assist you, but victims (also called the plaintiffs) face the burden of proving they deserve to be helped. The best way to assure you have a chance at getting compensation is by hiring a Grand Prairie 18-wheeler accident lawyer. The goal of our attorneys is to help you be aware of your choices that are available in hopes of you making the best decisions for your family. Our main priority right now, though, is to help you understand the different parts of 18-wheeler accident law:

• Why a suit should be filed.
• Groups and people that normally are at fault with 18-wheeler accidents.
• Why it’s essential to conduct a quick, detailed investigation.
• Challenges and problems that come when people elect to self-represent.
• How a Grand Prairie 18-wheeler accident attorney can help you.

This article is meant to provide you just with information, and shouldn’t become a cheap replacement for the advice and insight you’d get from a qualified, veteran attorney. To discover more and understand how the law influences the particular details of your case, you can reach us today toll free at 1-855-326-0000 and have someone answer any questions you may have.

The Reasons to File an 18-Wheeler Accident Injury Lawsuit

Our attorneys are quite familiar with the devastating emotional and physical trauma that occurs in an 18-wheeler accident. All the cases we’ve worked on has helped us see that several 18-wheeler accident victims tend to avoid pursuing legal recourse since they don’t like the idea of having to determine a price for their injuries and damages, and the notion of doing that causes them to have to think back to the accident. While it may seem like an awful, horrific idea, we’ll explain later in this piece that it’s critical for your claim to succeed, so you need to act quickly after your accident takes place.

Two things can be accomplished when you take advantage of lawsuits to help you with the harm that’s been inflicted on your life: One goal is to allow the injured victim to get assistance for the financial and emotional trauma caused by the accident and then force those who caused the accident to face some form of punishment. No amount of money, of course, will help erase the pain and memory of this horrific incident, but serious financial burdens still remain that you have to tackle somehow. The only solution to helping your family return to normal after such a tragedy is to make sure and get some assistance from those responsible for your accident. Chances are you haven’t been able to work because of your injuries, so being able to cover the costs for medical bills and repairs to your car will be impossible unless you sue those who caused your injuries.

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Along with that, an 18-wheeler accident lawsuit also decreases the chances of something like this happening again. When someone’s lost a ton of money in an 18-wheeler accident lawsuit, they usually don’t repeat the same mistake again. If you want to hit home with someone, go for their pocketbook.

Common Negligent Causes of 18-Wheeler Accidents

For you to figure out who to sue, the first step is to determine how the accident happened and who caused it. Many people can be involved in goods being transported via an 18-wheeler, so a lot of times in these scenarios, more than one person or group may have played a part in acting negligently and contributing to an 18-wheeler accident. A veteran Grand Prairie 18-wheeler accident attorney can lean on the countless years of working cases like these to figure out how your accident occurred and learn who all was involved in causing it. The list of people responsible tends to be extensive: the truck driver, the company he/she works for, whoever made the truck or trailer, the company that mapped out the 18-wheeler’s route, the business that loaded the truck, or various other third parties. Let’s discuss this more:

Truck drivers
Truckers devote countless hours going up and down our highways and interstates and the majority of the time in 18-wheeler accidents, they are responsible for all or part of the injuries. Truckers cause accidents when they act negligently through driving under the influence, speeding, ignoring stop signs, or excessive swerving. Other times, 18-wheeler accidents in Grand Prairie occur when the truckers are simply exhausted. Federal law demands that truckers take required rest breaks, but many of these drivers don’t follow these guidelines due to pressure from companies to meet required timelines and deadlines. There are reports that the odds of a trucker getting into an accident multiply when they’ve been driving for eight straight hours. The study also says that 20 percent of truckers have admitted to previous instances of falling asleep while driving. It may be accidentally or intentionally, but if a trucker’s negligence creates an accident or injury, then you have the option to sue him or her.

Trucking Companies
Texas adheres to what is known in the judicial system as respondeat superior, an action where employers are held liable for the behavior and inaction of their workers. If a trucker’s negligence created an accident that caused your injury, then that company they were driving for will also be found liable. So if you’re dealing with a truck driver that’s had previous DUI convictions, then is intoxicated again and causes a catastrophic wreck, that trucking company will be additionally liable for any injuries related to the incident.

What also must be noted here is that trucking companies don’t have to act in a negligent manner to be ruled responsible for the actions of its negligent workers. That means that whenever a truck driver behaves negligently, a lawsuit can be filed for damages from his/her company. Many times the trucking company is the defendant that a plaintiff goes after since they’ll probably have considerably more resources than the truckers.

Manufacturers
Open up any 18-wheeler or trailer and you’ll discover they are held together by thousands of parts, both big and small, that all work together to make sure the vehicle works safely. If any part doesn’t work like it was intended to, then there’s a strong chance of an accident happening. If this faulty part was caused from a design defect or manufacturing error and an accident takes place, then whoever was hurt in the wreck has the option to get compensated by the manufacturer.

The Company that Planned the Route
You’ve probably noticed how a lot of roads and neighborhoods aren’t made to handle 18-wheelers. There are also bridges with weight and height restrictions. To make sure these 18-wheelers travel safely, companies will turn to other businesses that specialize in mapping out safe routes. If this particular business uses a route that turns out to be dangerous for big rigs, then a lawsuit against that company is another available option.

The Company that Loaded the Cargo
Sometimes, the business that owns the materials will also be responsible for loading it into the trailer, and there are times when they’ll turn to other companies for that job. If that other business put the cargo on in a poor, unsafe manner, this can lead to an accident and numerous injuries that they would be liable for. There’s an 80,000-pound weight limit for cargo in 18-wheelers, but lots of businesses will disregard this rule and try to add on additional cargo and keep costs down. Weight limits are in place for a purpose, though, since an 18-wheeler could get overloaded and have a chance to overturn and create even more damage with an accident.

When the company doesn’t safely load and secure the cargo, it can loosen during transportation. Loads will shift and accidents will occur with other cars. If you’re dealing with flatbed trucks, cargo that isn’t properly loaded can spill over the road and create serious problems for cars that are traveling behind the 18-wheeler.

Other Drivers
Don’t assume that just because an 18-wheeler was part of an accident that the big rig or its driver was at fault. Sometimes, other drivers neglect their responsibility to ensure the safety of others on the road, and are involved with an accident involving an 18-wheeler, leading to additional damages and injuries to more drivers. In those cases, victims can seek damages from this third party.

Any of these groups or a combination of lots of them could have played part or all of a role in an 18-wheeler accident that injured you. You need the assistance of a veteran Grand Prairie 18-wheeler accident attorney who can find the cause and all of the potential defendants, so you can obtain compensation you need from those people whose negligence harmed you.

Prompt Investigation is Essential

A quick, detailed investigation must take place to be able to obtain all the key evidence that determines who the key people are and allows you to prove your case. With so many involved in the 18-wheeler accident that injured you, a thorough investigation has to be done to figure out the level of negligence in relation to each party. You’ll also need essential, factual evidence to serve as proof and help persuade the jury to rule for you, but evidence often vanishes quickly following an accident. You need to obtain an attorney so they can aggressively go and locate evidence as quickly as possible. For every day of procrastination that happens in not getting a lawyer you trust, you are doing serious damage to your case since the required proof is disappearing. Sometimes witnesses disappear or their memories fade, videos get deleted or recorded over, and the accident scene physically transforms.

Over 20 years, our Grand Prairie 18-wheeler accident attorneys at Grossman Law Offices have acquired a masterful ability in being able to investigate accidents like these. Once you hire us, we’ll go quickly to the accident scene at no charge to you, so we can find any evidence that supports our client’s case. We spare no expense to reach the truth, doing everything from locating and looking at all the key vehicles, taking countless photos, find key video footage, looking through police reports, taking measurements of the distance between skid marks and points of impact, doing forensic tests, conducting witness interviews and gathering evidence that can later be used in trial.

We want to be forthright and let you know you’re probably already lagging behind the defense team’s efforts. A lot of times whenever a trucker calls in an accident, the trucking company or insurance provider will immediately dispatch investigators to the accident scene. The investigators aren’t concerned with figuring out how an accident unfolded; they are simply trying to gather evidence to show your injuries were a result of your own poor choices. If you don’t have Grand Prairie attorneys already there as well doing their own investigation, you won’t be able to know if the defense has altered any evidence or done its investigation in a credible manner. If the defense can gather evidence that proves your negligence, then your insurance claim can get tossed if they can show you were totally at fault, or your damages will decrease significantly if they can prove your negligence was a contributing factor.

One of our recent cases perfectly illustrates the importance of conducting a fast, detailed investigation. This case came to us after a man was involved in an accident at night with an 18-wheeler. The trucking company said our client wasn’t driving with any headlights when the actual accident happened. Once we joined the case, our client’s vehicle was already transported from the accident scene and taken to a salvage yard that was close by. After finding the car at the junkyard, our attorneys noticed it was without headlights. Immediately we worried that our client wouldn’t get their compensation, but our investigators noticed a surveillance camera in the salvage yard and managed to acquire a copy of the footage. This specific system was programmed to tape over its memory every 48 hours, and got it right before it was erased. What we saw: There was someone from the trucking company taking out the headlights and leaving the premises with them in tow. Later on in trial, the trucking company’s defense attorneys tried to say our client’s car was missing its headlights. However, we had tangible evidence that showed their deceitful practices and we also were able to get out client compensated properly. If our client had waited much longer, the video would have been erased, getting restitution would have been impossible and the trucking company would have been able to tamper with evidence and not be held accountable.

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It’s common for our Grand Prairie attorneys to deal with lies and cheating in 18-wheeler accident cases, so you need to hire an attorney in a timely manner who can quickly turn around and begin a diligent, in-depth investigation. There are instances when our investigators can still locate evidence months after an accident occurred, but it’s better for everyone that we begin our investigation quicker so we can have a better chance at getting the proof that will help you get proper compensation. Don’t wait any longer to talk with a Grand Prairie 18-wheeler accident attorney.

Burden of Proof

Defendants don’t have any legal obligation to pay you a dime after you’ve been hurt in a Grand Prairie 18-wheeler accident unless you, the plaintiff, can show they should compensate you. If you want to get the assistance you deserve, you’ll need to have the facts to prove your case. While you have other means of reaching a settlement in your claim, credible evidence is still required so the defense and insurance will work with you in good faith. Each of these four factors must be established if you want to succeed in your 18-wheeler accident case:

Duty
The first part is to is that you need to show that the defendant owed you a duty to ensure your safety by acting in a right manner. The law clearly shows what kind of legal duty of care is required for a certain issue and for each individual in line with their kind of relationship. In Grand Prairie 18-wheeler accident cases, meeting this factor isn’t too tough, as motorists must driver in a way to make sure other drivers, pedestrians and passengers are safe and protected.

Breach
The next part in proving your case is to show the defendant or defendants breached the responsibility of care you deserved. This usually is evidence when the defendant creates a safety hazard for others through their choices that normally people don’t make, or fail to act when regular people normally do something. It’s necessary here for you to find some proof that shows the defendant neglected their legal duty of care through action or inaction if you want to prove this breach of duty was violated. Along with that, it’s critical to have a Grand Prairie 18-wheeler accident attorney who knows how to take evidence and help a jury understand that the defendant or defendants acted in an improper manner.

Causation
You also have to show your injuries directly happened because this duty was breached. If numerous people were involved in causing your 18-wheeler accident, it takes strong, credible evidence to persuade a jury that there was a link between the defendant breaching his or her responsibility and the harm inflicted on you. If this isn’t firmly established, the defendant can defeat your case by shifting blame to someone else for your injuries. One strategy that’s used regularly is for the defendant to shift the blame to the victim causing his or her own injuries.

Damages
After the other three elements are established, you then have to show your damages that the defendant owes you for the injuries you’ve suffered. When it comes to the judicial system, damages aren’t referring to your injuries or property, but are talking about the compensation the defendant should give you for the harm that’s been caused. The plaintiff will seek damages for medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, inability to earn income, property damage and other losses that came with your injury.

Unfortunately, you can’t just try and sue someone and expect to get compensated. You’ve got to provide credible evidence for your evidence that not only proves your losses, but also how you totaled the financial sum for your damages. A lot of time that monetary amount is debated, and the defendant may counter with their own estimate. If you want to squash any chance at the defendant trying to low-ball your estimate, you’ve got to present rock-solid evidence to show you properly arrived at your calculations.

What is the total cost for your case? Damages like pain and suffering and inability to earn income can be highly subjective and open to debate, making these calculations very complicated for someone who has no experience with this process. It’s very difficult to determine a price tag for pain and suffering or reach a total for lost earning capacity by adding the value of hypothetical raises and inflation. In a trial, you have one opportunity to total the amount of compensation you deserve. In two decades, our Grand Prairie 18-wheeler accident lawyers have been totaling damages, and we have become familiar with similar cases to know how to account for your losses to figure out an estimate for a fair compensation you deserve.

Inability to show any of these four factors guarantees you will wind up on the losing end and not get the compensation you deserve. You also need the assistance of a Grand Prairie 18-wheeler accident attorney - especially if you head to court. Our track record of trying 18-wheeler accident cases has helped our attorneys figure out how to form a solid strategy that meets the burden of proof and gets the jury to lean in your favor.

Enormous Insurance Policies

Federal regulations require trucking companies to get huge insurance policies that will be in place for accidents, injuries and fatalities that could potentially happen with 18-wheelers. As a result, many assume that they can get compensated quickly and not encounter any problems. Most of the time, that’s just not going to happen. Insurance policies for 18-wheelers are usually 50 times as high as a normal passenger car, so the insurance companies will usually invest 50 times the resources to defend their policy.

With everything that’s on the line, insurance companies will turn to their sharpest and most experienced insurance adjusters to deal with these settlements. This is probably a new experience for you, but these adjusters are the very best in their industry and handle these kinds of claims daily. They know how to spot the accident victim’s shock, their basic trust in their local insurance agent and then manipulate that to deny their claim. They provide a false sense of friendship and persuade the victim that they’re wanting to help him or her get properly compensated - but first, the victim needs to answer some simple questions. Here’s the truth: They don’t want to help. Their only objective is to protect the company’s bottom-line and deny your claim. They hit you with tons of questions that are basically the same questions, just re-worded, and the goal is to get you to mess up and admit the accident was your fault. If they can get you to admit this, then your claim can be denied. It’s best if you try and limit your contact with insurance adjusters, so you need to obtain a qualified Grand Prairie 18-wheeler accident lawyer who can take any calls and questions these adjusters may have. It’s wise to not talk with any workers from the insurance company unless you have an attorney there to act as a middleman. If you get the services from our firm, our Grand Prairie 18-wheeler accident attorneys will deal with all these conversations and shield you from any potential chance at unfortunately admitting your liability.

A lot of times, tricky insurance adjusters will attempt to get accident victims to void their chances at filing a lawsuit by offering a low-ball settlement. You want to try and avoid the stress and unknown factors that come with a jury trial, but you don’t want to take an offer that doesn’t properly assist you with the injuries you’ve had. Only an attorney who’s had years of success can pressure the insurance company into providing a good settlement, since they’re usually fearful of having to dish out additional money in trial.

The insurance company will try and evade any liability by investing in a skilled defense team that can discover legal loopholes and potential challenges that could confound inexperienced plaintiffs to not receive adequate compensation. You need to hire a qualified Grand Prairie 18-wheeler accident attorney who can counter the defense team’s specialists. Our lawyers have won millions from every big-time insurance company, and we know how to anticipate everything that could pop up.

Self-Insured Companies can be More Treacherous

Instead of electing to get a regular insurance policy like most companies carry, some trucking companies will take a set amount of their assets and save it to use for insurance for eventual accidents. The insurance industry is overseen by the federal government, which demands that every company be insured, adjusters be license and certain ethical standards are followed, but none of this applies for self-insured companies. That’s why these same businesses are known for their unethical practices and difficulty when it comes to negotiations. Most of the time if you’re trying to negotiate with an official from a self-insured business, you have to work with an officer from that company. Since this worker usually gets a portion of their salary through profit sharing, they have plenty of motivation to deny your claim. This worker would be giving you their paycheck if they let you get the fair compensation you deserve. With their money at stake, self-insured businesses will look after their own interests and will turn to such tactics like bullying witnesses, evidence tampering and threatening accident victims.

If you’ve dealt with self-insured companies who are trying to bully you, then you can halt this by hiring a Grand Prairie 18-wheeler accident attorney. Once we’re retained, our lawyers will force self-insured companies to work in good faith with threats of legal action.

Truck Drivers Can’t be Trusted

Everyone wants to think people are honest and truthful, but the truckers who caused your injury will have to lie, since there’s so much at stake. If the trucker is ruled to have hurt someone due to their negligence, then they’re likely going to get a pink slip soon, if they haven’t already. Along with that, it’s going to be hard for that trucker to get another job driving an 18 wheeler with that kind of accident on their record. When you add in today’s economy and the job market, most truckers who are usually upstanding people will be pressured into lying to protect their jobs and chances at providing income for their family. If you want to get the compensation you deserve, you need to show the trucker was lying.

Our Grand Prairie 18-wheeler accident attorneys have learned how to conduct investigations that will get the proper evidence to show the trucker was being dishonest. We will shatter the trucker’s credibility through all our evidence we’ve compiled that will take apart any of his or her lies.

Much like insurance adjusters who attempt to hit victims with a barrage of questions, our lawyers will develop a list of questions like that will trick the trucker into confessing their own lies. The 18-wheeler accident attorneys at Grossman Law Offices have interviewed countless witnesses over two decades and we know how to develop proper questions that expose the truckers’ lies.

How We Can Help

If you’ve been hurt or a loved one has died in an 18-wheeler accident in the Grand Prairie area, you need to retain an 18-wheeler accident attorney who can protect your legal rights and help you obtain a fair amount of compensation. From filing to resolution, our attorneys take on every detail involved in your case and are diligent in communicating with you about any changes as they arise. We will offer such services as:

• An investigation that will reveal the cause of the accident.
• Determining all those who are liable and issuing lawsuits against those individuals.
• Gathering evidence to help you establish the burden of proof.
• Using our reputation to influence the defendants.
• Protecting victims from non-stop, harassing phone calls from insurance adjusters.
  
• Using solid investigative methods to expose a trucker’s lies.
• Developing a strategy for your case that will get the jury to lean your way.
• Forcing self-insured companies to act in a proper manner and negotiate in good faith.
• Ensuring our clients get proper medical attention.

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Odds are that the defendant has already concluded their investigation against you. If you delay getting a lawyer any longer, you are causing even more harm in getting the compensation you truly deserve. Call us today toll free at 1-855-326-0000 for a free consultation and see how we can assist you just like we have thousands of other Texans.

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