In a study conducted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), 77% of the more than 1,000 recorded accidents involved 18-wheelers and another vehicle. In your case, your accident may have a serious and long-term impact on your life, especially your finances. Fortunately, you may be able to take legal action to stop the accident from continuing to hurt you long into the future.
Every year, tractor-trailer accident lawyers serving Cypress, TX handle cases involving tractor-trailers to help with their financial recovery. If you are the victim of a tractor-trailer accident, you too may be able to take legal action to protect your finances and help get your life back on track. Call D. Miller & Associates, PLLC at (713) 850-8600 to discuss your legal options with our team.
Determining Liability
Determining liability is a critical part of preparing a case. Your lawyer must determine whom to file the case against the parties that are reliable for the damages that the truck caused. Proving liability can be difficult in specific circumstances.
The truck driver or another liable party may argue that you made a mistake that made the accident inevitable. Driving in a truck’s blind spot is a common defense in such cases. According to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), trucks have four major blind spots that contribute to accidents. Your lawyer is prepared for this and can use the police report to defend you.
Truck drivers want to avoid liability because it becomes a major problem for them. Many truck drivers are covered by liability insurance provided by the companies that they work for. Therefore, your lawyer can file the case against the company instead. This makes the process a bit more complicated, but it is standard practice to do so. The benefit for you is that liability insurance means that the company should be able to cover the full cost of whatever you are awarded in a trial.
The Costs of Tractor-Trailer Accidents
Tractor-trailer accidents result in several types of expenses. Emergency medical care can be expensive, and you may have had to go to the emergency room in an ambulance after your accident. Depending on your injuries, you may also need ongoing care to make a full recovery. Even if you have great health insurance, it may not cover all of these costs.
Property damage is involved in nearly every tractor-trailer accident case. Property damage covers the damage to anything that you own that was damaged or destroyed in the accident. Your car, cell phone, laptop, purse, and anything else damaged in the accident can be claimed in the lawsuit.
You may also be able to claim lost wages. Between injuries and car repairs, you may miss work for a period of time. Missing work needs not getting paid for the time that you are out, which will impact your finances. Because this causes problems with your ability to earn a living or a for your lifestyle, you can file a claim in the lawsuit.
Statute of Limitations
Texas law sets limitations on how long you have to file a lawsuit under different circumstances. This is called the statute of limitations, and every state has similar limits on lawsuits.
In Texas, you have two years from the date of the accident to file property damage and personal injury claims. It is important to start this process as soon as possible because the more time you can give your lawyer to build a case, the better your chances are of successfully suing the other party. If you fail to file by the deadline, your case will be automatically rejected by the court.
Settlement vs. Trial
Waiting for a case to go to trial can be stressful. Court systems across the country are backed up with cases, making the waitlist for a court date excessively long. It may not seem like it at first, but this way may work out better in your favor.
The people being sued and companies do not like to let cases go to trial. A trial could hurt their chances of employment or running a business in the future; therefore, they tend to offer settlement agreements as a means of ending a lawsuit quickly.
In a settlement agreement, the party being sued offers to pay a lump sum that you ask for. In exchange, you agree to formally end the lawsuit out of court. You can have your lawyer review the agreement when it is made available to see if it meets your needs. As long as the agreement offers satisfactory terms, there is not a problem with agreeing to the deal.
Lawyers can review contracts to ensure that the terms are acceptable. If they are not, your lawyer can renegotiate the settlement agreement until it reaches an acceptable level.
Contact D. Miller & Associates, PLLC at (713) 850-8600 to recruit a lawyer for your team and ensure that the settlement agreement that you are thinking about will not leave you in a bad position.
Call to Discuss Your Case
Being injured in a tractor-trailer accident leads to problems that may take years to fully resolve. You do not have to be a long-term victim of an accident. You can take action to help protect yourself from the fallout and fast-track your financial recovery to help get your life back on track.
To do this, you may need the help of a tractor-trailer accident lawyer serving Cypress, TX. Your lawyer to fight to ensure that your needs are met through a trial or settlement agreement. Call D. Miller & Associates, PLLC at (713) 850-8600. Our team can help you understand the specifics of your case.
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