The number of fatal truck accidents is the highest in the state of Texas. In 2020, commercial truck crashes led to nearly 600 deaths. Texas accounts for nearly 13 percent of all fatal trucking accidents in the United States. Driving a commercial truck is not the same as driving a passenger car. These trucks carry a massive amount of weight and extensive training is needed to maneuver such vehicles. It is the responsibility of trucking companies to ensure not only that their fleet is safe to drive but that the drivers are fit for the job. If this is not the case, the trucking company could potentially be held liable for any accidents and injuries they cause.

Negligent Hiring

The practice of hiring commercial truck drivers is a big responsibility. Drivers must demonstrate they have a history of safe driving and are medically able to operate these massive vehicles. Failing to exercise reasonable care to hire a qualified and experienced truck driver should be penalized. Commercial truck drivers may seem qualified on paper but more needs to be done to ensure everyone is safe on the road. Truck driver candidates may have a commercial driver’s license or CDL and they may have carried loads of cargo for several companies. However, employers who are in a rush to get more drivers on the road may be deemed guilty of the following negligent hiring practices:

• Hiring a driver with a history of unsafe driving

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We have all seen Prime delivery vans speeding through neighborhoods, maneuvering around cars, and parking right smack in the middle of a road. Although most consumers value the fast delivery service, this is a convenience that may come with a risk for other motorists and pedestrians. In 2021, a study found that one in five Amazon delivery drivers suffered job-related injuries, many of which involved an accident on the road. If you or a loved one has been injured in an Amazon delivery accident you may be entitled to financial compensation for your injuries.

The Harsh Reality for Amazon Drivers

Any type of vehicle accident can lead to painful injuries, not to mention great financial losses. In instances when you are not responsible for the accident, you should not have to bear this heavy burden alone. The responsibility should lie on the driver who caused the accident. It is no secret that Amazon pressures its delivery drivers to make a mass amount of deliveries each day. While Amazon requires contracted delivery drivers to check their vehicles at the start of their shift, it has been reported by drivers that they are allegedly pressured to ignore vehicle damage and complete the inspections as quickly as possible in order to meet quotas.  

Establishing Liability

Amazon should be responsible for the actions of its delivery drivers. The company maintains control over its entire operation and has established rules and policies for drivers to follow including schedules and routes. After all, they wear Amazon uniforms and drive vehicles with the Amazon logo. These drivers are required to follow rules set forth by Amazon, therefore, if you are injured by one of its drivers you may be able to take legal action and hold the company responsible for injuries that occurred because of its policies.

Slips, trips, and falls in the United States are among the top three causes of accidents suffered at work. Injuries such as sprains and tears often lead Texans to take time off of work and have to pay costly medical bills. Most people think that the state workers’ compensation program will take care of everything but there are limitations. In Texas, private employers are not required to carry workers’ compensation insurance. So what are your options? Here we will explore third-party liability.

Who Can Be Liable for My Injuries?

In most states, if an employer subscribes to the state insurance fund employees are legally barred from suing the employer in civil court. You may receive benefits that may not fully cover your expenses. In some cases, you may be able to take legal action against other parties at the worksite who are partially responsible for your injuries. If you can demonstrate that a third party caused your injury at work, then you can file a personal injury lawsuit against that company or person to recover damages.

This is especially significant in construction jobs where there are all sorts of hazards not to mention the complications of these types of job sites often involving subcontractors. It is an industry in which precautions and safety measures must be implemented and enforced to minimize the risk of injuries. You may be able to bring a claim against one or more parties if some of the following third parties were negligent and caused your injuries:  

Nearly 5,000 fatal crashes in the United States involve large trucks each year. It is no secret that a large truck has greater momentum especially when loaded with cargo. That alone can lead to a greater impact and drivers in smaller vehicles can suffer serious injuries. When truck accident injuries occur, the consequences can be serious. Financial costs quickly mount and you may be unsure who is responsible for your injuries. At Alford & Clark Injury Attorneys, we have represented clients in a variety of truck accident cases and understand the safety issues and forms of negligence that are often committed by truck companies. We will fight to try to ensure that you are properly compensated.

Weight Limits

There are weight limits for commercial vehicles to ensure that trucks are operated safely. Unfortunately, some companies violate these laws and overload the trucks. These practices are not only dangerous to the driver but to everyone else on the road.

An overloaded truck is more difficult for a driver to control. More time and distance will be needed to slow down. At high speeds, a top-heavy vehicle is likely to roll over. On the other hand, if cargo is not loaded properly it could lead to dangerous accidents. When cargo is not evenly spread out, the truck can be harder to control, especially when it comes to lane changes and turns.

Semi-trucks, box trucks, flatbeds, dump trucks, and 18-wheelers are much larger than typical vehicles on the road. Consequently, the damage caused in a commercial truck accident is often severe. If you or someone you care about was hurt in an accident, it is important to explore your legal options. A truck accident injury claim may provide justice as well as financial compensation for vehicle damage, medical bills, pain and suffering, and other damages.

We often assume that the driver of a commercial vehicle is the one responsible for the crash. However, sometimes, problems with the vehicle itself are to blame for an accident. Commercial trucks are complex machines with thousands of moving parts. If trucks are not maintained properly, any number of malfunctions can occur, resulting in dangerous and potentially deadly accidents.

Crashes Caused by Irregular Maintenance and Repair of Commerical Trucks

Maintenance and repair issues can lead to serious accidents. Defective brakes, worn tires, steering mechanism defects, loose suspension components, and missing lights and mirrors are just a few of the problems that can cause catastrophic truck wrecks. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that drunk driving is responsible for approximately a third of all traffic fatalities. Just recently an 8-year-old girl was killed in an accident caused by a drunk driver in San Antonio.

If your loved one passed away in a crash caused by a drunk driver, this is not simply a statistic - it is your reality. Losing someone because of another person's irresponsible behavior behind the wheel is devastating. Many families grieving the loss of a loved one must also contend with massive medical bills and other financial losses as a result of the death. In Texas, a wrongful death claim may allow for the recovery of financial compensation for these losses.

What is a Wrongful Death?

Texas law defines wrongful death as “the death of an individual caused by the wrongful act, neglect, carelessness, unskillfulness, or default of another.” If another driver's illegal actions or negligent driving caused the crash that took your loved one's life, you may be able to file a claim and recover damages.

Gray and blue Amazon delivery vehicles can be found in nearly every major city and small town, delivering packages to doorsteps across the country. While Amazon has earned a reputation for service and speed, their delivery vans also come with an unexpected danger: accidents.

If you or a loved one were injured in a crash caused by an Amazon vehicle, you may be unsure of your legal options. Most Amazon delivery vehicles are owned and operated by independent contractors, meaning the company may argue that it is not liable for any damages caused in a crash. However, there are still ways to pursue compensation after a crash involving an Amazon vehicle.

Car Accidents Caused by Amazon Delivery Vehicles

Being involved in any type of car accident can lead to expensive financial losses and painful injuries. However, Amazon accidents are often especially complicated from a legal perspective. If you were injured in an accident involving an Amazon delivery van or truck, it is a good idea to meet with a lawyer as soon as possible to discuss your legal rights and options. Your lawyer can help determine who is responsible for paying medical bills and other damages related to the accident.

Large flatbeds, semi-trucks, tractor-trailers, and other large commercial vehicles are a common sight on the highways of every state. They transport goods all over the country, making them an essential part of our economy. However, when responsible hiring practices are not followed by trucking companies, semi-trucks can become dangerous weapons on the roads.

Trucking companies must carefully vet their employees to ensure they are qualified and safe drivers. This includes conducting background checks, verifying references, checking driving records, or requiring medical exams. However, some companies cut corners when hiring semi-truck drivers by not properly verifying qualifications or overlooking signs of dangerous driver behavior.

If you or a loved one were involved in a crash with a semi-truck or other commercial truck, a personal injury attorney experienced in truck accident claims can help you determine if negligent hiring practices led to the crash. The trucking company may be required to reimburse you for your medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages.

In addition to allowing someone to enjoy the warm weather Texas offers nearly all year round, riding a bicycle instead of driving a car goes a long way toward reducing a cyclist’s carbon footprint and protecting the environment. Additionally, people who cycle to work, school, or other obligations tend to be in better physical and emotional health.

Unfortunately, riding a bike instead of driving is not without its risks. Careless drivers often do not check for cyclists in the road and cut off cyclists, open their doors into a cyclist’s path, or pull out in front of cyclists, putting the cyclist in danger of serious injury or death. If you or someone you love has been hurt or killed in a bicycle crash with a motor vehicle of any kind, it is essential to understand your legal options for seeking financial compensation to aid in your recovery.

Can a Bike Rider Sue a Car that Hit Them?

In most cases, vehicles are responsible for yielding the right-of-way to bicyclists. Cyclists are required to follow the rules of the road, just like drivers, but when a cyclist needs to slow down, stop, travel slower than motor vehicle traffic, or make a turn, cars and other vehicles are responsible for granting the right of way and keeping the cyclist safe.

Few of us can get away from the need to regularly drive, and the boredom of sitting in traffic or the frenzied rush of the morning commute can make it hard to give our full attention to the road in front of us. Despite laws against texting and driving, car accidents due to distracted driving are on the rise and over 3,000 people die in distracted driving-related car crashes every year.

While the reasons for being distracted while driving are many and varied, fundamentally there is no excuse for endangering other people on the road. The vast majority of serious car accidents could be avoided if people were simply willing to wait to address the distracting elements in their vehicles. If you have been badly injured or had someone you love killed in a car crash caused by a driver who was not paying attention to the road, you know this better than anyone and deserve the help of a skilled Texas personal injury lawyer.

What Kinds of Distractions Cause the Most Accidents?

Distractions while driving come in many forms. Teenagers are often most susceptible to being distracted, both by their phones and their friends. However, adults are often distracted as well, and fail to give their full attention to the road because they are giving it to:

Motorcycles are notorious for getting into accidents frequently, and while there are certainly motorcycle drivers who take unsafe risks, many accidents are caused by other, larger vehicles that simply fail to see motorcycles. Inexplicably, the most common explanation given by drivers who hit motorcyclists is simply just: “I didn’t see him.”

While this may seem implausible or even impossible for motorcycle drivers, especially those exercising caution, new research suggests this may very well be true, thanks to a phenomenon called “inattentional blindness.” However, regardless of whether the driver of a vehicle that struck a motorcycle saw the cycle or not, it does not absolve them of responsibility for their actions. If you have been hurt in a motorcycle accident, you deserve help from an assertive personal injury attorney who can help you pursue compensation for your injuries.

What Is Inattentional Blindness?

In many cases of motorcycle accidents, drivers of other vehicles appear to look right into the path of the oncoming motorcycle, and, in many cases, directly at the motorcycle itself - and then pull out anyway. Researchers suggest this is because drivers are receiving an enormous amount of information, not all of which the brain can process or respond to. For an unknown reason, drivers appear to simply not see motorcycles as threats on the road as often as they do other objects, such as taxis - even when the driver demonstrates theoretical awareness that the motorcycle is just as likely to be on the road as a taxi.

In a tragic accident on the Southwest Side of San Antonio, one person was killed and three teenagers were injured after the driver of the car lost control, drove off the highway, and crashed into a fence. The car flipped over and three of the victims were ejected from the car. While investigators are still gathering data on the accident, according to police, the driver of the car was speeding.

Being in a car with a speeding or reckless driver can be a terrifying experience. When bad driving leads to a car accident, passengers can end up injured or even killed through no fault of their own. When this happens, victims of the crash or their families may wonder whether they can hold the driver responsible.

Are Vehicle Drivers Responsible for Passenger Injuries?

If a car’s driver causes an accident, with or without another vehicle being involved, passengers have the right to hold the driver liable for their injuries. However, proving that the driver was responsible for causing the crash can require some investigation. Crash investigators can help determine the cause of an accident, as can having the following information:

Workplace injuries are incredibly common; nearly three in 100 workers get injured every year in the United States, making your lifetime chance of a workplace injury very high. While workers’ compensation insurance may be useful to some people after a workplace injury, private companies in Texas are not required to have workers’ compensation insurance. Furthermore, sometimes a third party, rather than an employer, is responsible for an employee’s injury in the job.

If you have been injured as the result of the actions of a third party in your workplace, you may want to know more about taking legal action against them. 

Examples of Third Parties That Can Cause Workplace Injuries

Business, offices, construction sites, and other workplaces are usually filled with people coming and going. While the third parties that will be present in your workplace will depend on your specific field of work, just a few examples of third parties that could cause workplace injuries include: 

Serious car accidents often require urgent, extensive medical intervention. Even if you do not have to be taken away from the scene of an accident in an ambulance, the cost of fixing broken bones, head injuries, and psychological trauma can be overwhelming - especially if you do not have health insurance. 

Unfortunately, while the at-fault driver and their insurance company will likely eventually be forced to compensate you for your injuries, getting the medical treatment you need right now can be difficult if you are uninsured. If you have recently been in a car, truck, or motorcycle accident that was not your fault (or even that you believe may have been partly your fault), it is a good idea to meet with a personal injury attorney who can assess your case and help you seek compensation for your injuries and losses. 

Are Hospitals Required to Treat Injured People? 

Yes - whether you arrive in an ambulance or get there yourself, a hospital is obligated to treat someone who comes in with a medical emergency. Even if you cannot pay, the hospital is required by federal law to treat and stabilize your injury. As long as your condition has acute symptoms, including pain, that could jeopardize your health or cause serious damage to your body, a hospital will treat you. 

Every day, USPS handles around 500 million pieces of mail, while UPS, Amazon, and FedEx deliver over 30 million packages, for a total of more than 13 billion package deliveries every year. Even more packages are delivered by independent contract workers, who use their private vehicles to make deliveries. 

This means package delivery drivers are on the road more than ever, contributing to an increase in crashes between delivery trucks and passenger vehicles. The size and weight of delivery trucks mean that passenger vehicles often fare very badly in accidents, with serious injuries and even fatalities being common. If you have been injured or lost someone you love in an accident with a delivery driver, it is important to speak with a Texas personal injury attorney. You may be able to recover compensation for your losses and get the financial help you need to begin the recovery process. 

Delivery Truck Crashes On the Rise

Delivery trucks can range from a typical 16-foot box truck making day deliveries all the way up to an 18-wheeler moving thousands of packages across the country. Unfortunately, rates of fatal crashes for trucks over 10,000 pounds are increasing significantly. These crashes happen for many reasons, including, but not limited to: 

Three weeks ago, a semi-truck collided with another vehicle on a U.S. 75 overpass. The truck, which was traveling at highway speeds, drove off the highway overpass, flipped in the air, and burst into flames as it crashed onto the road below. Dashcam footage from cars waiting at the intersection below the overpass captured the incident, in which the driver of the semi-truck died. 

Texas has the tragic distinction of leading the nation in fatal truck accidents. More than 30,000 commercial vehicles get in accidents every year on Texas roads, and several hundred people die in these accidents. If you or someone you love has been injured or killed in a semi-truck crash on Texas roads, it is essential to understand your legal options for recovering compensation. 

When Can I Sue a Truck Driver for Injuries or Death? 

Determining liability is the first step in exploring whether compensation can be obtained for a truck accident, but it can take some work. Sometimes the truck driver is responsible, sometimes the trucking company is responsible, and sometimes the shipping company that loads a truck is responsible for an accident. Sometimes even the person who was injured or killed in the accident with the truck is responsible for the accident. 

Getting into a serious car accident can be a terrifying experience. In addition to having to manage complex logistical issues, such as how to get your car towed and repaired, you may be suffering from serious injuries which require extensive treatment and physical therapy. You may be unable to work for an extended period of time and find yourself struggling to pay your bills. 

If you are in this situation, know that you do not have to face it alone. An experienced, compassionate Texas car accident injury lawyer can help you pursue compensation from the party responsible for causing your injuries and handle the bureaucratic aspects of a lawsuit so you can focus on resting and recovering. One important task an experienced lawyer can help with is securing the crash report.

Gathering Evidence For a Lawsuit

Even if the person who caused the accident is clearly at fault, you will still need to prove this before you can recover compensation for your injuries. The longer you wait to take action after a car crash, the harder it may be to start collecting evidence of what happened. Some of the most important pieces of evidence will include: 

While large delivery trucks, construction supply trucks, and 18-wheeler big rigs are essential for helping our economies and communities get things done, these large vehicles carry objects that can cause life-changing injuries and fatalities when they fall off the truck into the road. One of the most common causes of truck accidents in Texas is shifting loads that cause a truck to lose balance, roll over, jackknife, or spill its content into the road. Cars driving next to and behind a truck can be crushed by falling objects, may run into the objects on the road, or may swerve to avoid falling objects and run into other cars and stationary objects on the side of the road. 

Strict federal and state guidelines proscribe the way that cargo must be loaded onto a truck to prevent load shifting. Every agent in the chain of transporting cargo is responsible for ensuring cargo guidelines are met - the loading company, the truck transportation company, and the driver are all essential for preventing load-shifting accidents. Unfortunately, all it takes is just one person having a bad day to overlook a potentially dangerous load, leading to disastrous consequences. 

How Do Trucking Injuries Cause Fatalities in Texas? 

Human bodies are fragile and can easily suffer fatal injuries in trucking accidents, even with significant advancements in vehicle safety technologies. Because trucks are so much larger than cars, colliding with a truck or its heavy, fast-moving contents simply leaves passengers in smaller vehicles with very little chance of surviving the serious injuries they sustain. Common truck accident injuries are categorized as either an impact injury or penetrating injury, and these include, but are not limited to: 

It is highly inadvisable for anyone to drive any vehicle while exhausted. Being sleepy can impair a driver’s ability to safely operate a vehicle as much as being drunk can. Recognizing the dangers of drowsy driving, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration set out a series of strict rules called Hours of Service regulations that are designed to prevent commercial truck drivers from driving after long periods of being awake. People - even professional commercial truck drivers - can only drive for so long before they begin to experience “highway hypnosis” and extreme fatigue that can lead to a crash in the blink of an eye. If you have been hit by a semi-truck and need compensation, one of the first things our attorneys will look for is whether there may have been an Hours of Service violation. 

What You Need to Know About Truck Driver Fatigue

Truck drivers must be alert and aware while operating an enormous vehicle that can inflict severe harm on others in the event of a crash. Fatigued driving is negligent driving. If a truck driver’s negligent driving causes a crash in which someone else is injured or killed, the driver or the trucking company may be liable for damages.  

Some facts you should know include:

Losing a loved one can be devastating under any circumstances. It is even more upsetting when someone’s negligent or purposeful actions cause a loved one’s death. 

If you lost a family member, you may be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the party who caused the death. While no amount of money can replace your deceased loved one, filing a wrongful death suit can force the liable party to compensate you for a wide variety of losses, ranging from the decedent’s lost income to your emotional pain. One of our compassionate attorneys can help you decide whether pursuing a wrongful death claim will be possible or helpful for you. 

What is a Wrongful Death?

A wrongful death is one that could have been prevented had the responsible party been using an appropriate level of caution regarding your family member’s safety. Some wrongful deaths are also caused by intentional actions such as assault. Grounds for filing a wrongful death lawsuit may include: