While our firm has handled many hundreds of truck accident cases, a recent case that we won really personifies our firm's commitment to finding the truth after an accident, even when the odds are stacked against us. Here is the story of that case.
An elderly man and his wife were driving through Midland, Texas, on their way to California. As they were driving along the highway, a big rig from one of the local oil fields came onto the interstate, crashed into their vehicle, forcing it into the median. The driver of the vehicle lost control, crossed the road's centerline and crashed head-on into an oncoming vehicle. The driver died and his wife was badly injured.
The victims' family contacted us knowing that there had been an accident, but they didn't know exactly what had happened. All they knew was that the authorities hadn't been able to give them any answers.
We began to investigate. After speaking with witnesses at the scene we discovered early on that it was the big rig that was at fault for the crash. We also spoke to a state trooper (who we'll refer to as Trooper H) tasked with investigating the accident and discovered that he was incredibly negligent in the carrying out of his duties.
Trooper H hadn't yet completed his report at the time of our meeting, but his mind was already made up: our client was the one at fault. This struck us as odd for two reasons. First, Trooper H didn't seem to really understand what happened in the accident, and it was clear that he was fumbling through the details as we spoke. Second. Trooper H investigated the accident along with another police department and had completely ignored their findings. Why he chose to do this, we couldn't begin to tell you.
As it turned out, the other officers who investigated arrived at an entirely different conclusion than Trooper H did. The findings of these other officers included several witnesses who had come forward and reported a very clear version of events: the trucker ran the car off the road. Again, though, Trooper H chose to ignore that version of events.
Fortunately, a witness to the crash had written down the truck's license number so that we were able to track down the trucking company. Unfortunately, the trooper elected to ignore these findings as well.
After many months of litigation and, ultimately, a confession by the truck driver, we found that the driver of the big rig had fled the accident because he was on drugs, which we have reason to suspect he had purchased mere minutes before getting into the accident. To no one's surprise, the trucking company argued that none of this was true, and that the police report was correct.
However, through our investigation and the eyewitness accounts of multiple people at the scene, we were able to bring home a favorable outcome for our client and get them the compensation they deserved. Not only that, but we were able to help bring a truck driver who had no business being out on the road to justice.
Folks, this case is a perfect example of how our firm goes the distance for our clients. Within the first few hours of our investigation we knew that the truck driver had caused the accident. It was obvious. But had we been the type of firm who just relied solely upon the police report, we would have read Trooper H's findings and concluded that there was no case. But, true to form, we handled this case the way we handle all others. Diligently. Aggressively. Compassionately. We're happy to say, and I think our clients would agree, that our hard work paid off.