San Antonio Truck Accident Firm

Michael Grossman, Semi Trailer Accident Attorney in San Antonio TX, Explains the Complexity of 18-Wheeler Accident Cases & Claims

Victims of truck accidents are often left with a number of questions about how their accident occurred, what legal options they have available for seeking compensation, and who they can turn to for help.

The complexity of truck accident cases can be completely overwhelming for someone who is not familiar with truck accident law, but an experienced San Antonio truck accident law firm can help you understand the specifics of your accident and advise you on the best course of action when it comes to seeking justice. An aggressive Texas attorney from Grossman Law Offices is here for you, whether you need help seeking medical care, filing insurance paperwork, or taking a trucking accident case to court.

What Makes 18-Wheeler Accident Cases Unique?

The most important thing to remember is that semi-truck accident cases are not like car accidents. Passenger vehicle only accidents often only involve one liable party; 18-wheeler accidents can involve multiple liable parties, many of whom may not have even been present at the accident site. In Texas, the truck driver’s employer is often the first additional defendant in a trucking accident due to the legal notion of “respondeat superior” which states that an employer is responsible for their employees’ negligent behaviors causing injury or death. Other third-party companies or entities can also be defendants based on the specific circumstances of the trucking accident. For example, if an 18-wheeler driver was drunk at the time of the accident, Texas dram shop law allows for the alcohol-serving establishment that over-served or allowed that patron to drive off their premises to be held liable for any wrecks occurring thereafter. If a tractor-trailer’s cargo shifted as a result of a cargo-loading company’s negligence, that company could be held liable for a resulting accident. If a piece of safety equipment failed, or a mechanical part of the truck was found to have been defective, the manufacturer of that product can be held liable for any ensuing wreck. If another vehicle contributed to the wreck in some way, that driver could also be held responsible.

As you can tell from this list, which is not comprehensive, there can be many more liable parties at fault in an 18-wheeler accident than just the truck driver who was at the scene of the accident. As such, contacting an experienced San Antonio truck accident law firm like Grossman Law Offices is an important first step towards seeing compensation. Our offices will investigate the scene of the accident in order to properly identify all liable parties so that they can be held accountable for their negligent actions. This is a vital step in the legal process since each liable defendant will be responsible for awarding an injured or bereaved victim a certain percentage of compensation based on their portion of liability in the accident. Without the proper experienced in past 18-wheeler accident cases, many attorneys may not even think to look further into an accident case in order to assess full liability. With twenty years of experience in litigating such cases, our San Antonio trucking accident law firm knows where to look and what to look for so that you can stand to be compensated by all parties responsible for your injury or loss.

Highly Valuable Trucking Insurance Policies

In addition to the particular challenges brought forth in cases involving multiple defendants, 18-wheeler accident cases are often some of the most well-defended types of personal injury or wrongful death cases. This occurs because a trucking company will likely be covered by a very expensive insurance policy. Passenger vehicle only accidents do result in a certain amount of damage, but semi-truck accidents can result in exponential damage due to their size, weight, and speed of travel. In other words, the compensation that can be sought as a result of an 18-wheeler accident is often quite large since the damage done by the wreck is quite immense. The damage caused by commercial trucks can be massive, so the insurance policies that cover trucking companies are consequently quite valuable. Trucking companies and their insurers will go to extraordinary lengths to avoid being held responsible for an accident since so much money is likely at stake.

Highly Experienced Trucking Accident Insurance Adjusters

As a result, trucking insurance companies will be sure to utilize their most seasoned insurance adjusters to work claims made as a result of a semi-truck accident. These particular types of insurance adjusters are seldom anything like your own car insurance agent. They will often be working with their company’s best interests in mind, and not your own. These insurance adjusters often just want to see that their company’s bottom-line is not affected by your claim. As a result, they will employ certain tactics in order to try to get you to admit to some or all of the blame for an accident. Insurance adjusters often rely on talking to a trucking accident victim, or his or her family, before anyone has had a chance to speak to an attorney. I have seen insurance adjusters take advantage of people's grief time and time again, attempting to get them to sign away their rights for a meager compensation. In so doing, they are working to get the claim completely denied, in which you’d receive no compensation at all, or to the get the compensation package severely lessened, in which you likely won’t receive fair compensation that can help you get back on your feet.

By enlisting the help of our San Antonio truck accident law firm, you can be sure that you’ll have a legal ally on your side that is looking out for your best interests at all times. Additionally, since we’ve been working these kinds of cases for two decades, we’re all too familiar with the tactics that these insurance adjusters will attempt to use on unwitting victims. Let our experienced and expertise go to work for you so that you’re not taken advantage of by these experienced insurance adjusters.

Highly Trained Trucking Accident Defense Attorneys

Before the truck driver is even allowed to leave the scene, the trucking company will likely have sent a specialized team of defense lawyers, accident recreation experts, and insurance adjusters. This team will be working around the clock to build a case against you. Defense attorneys employed by such insurers will likely be as experienced in these particular kinds of cases as are the insurance adjusters working the claim. As a result, they will know what to look for in order to pin some, or even all, of the blame for the accident on the victim, regardless of the victim’s need for compensation due to an injury or loss. Often, getting onto the scene of an accident quickly is highly beneficial for any case, since evidence can be lost over time and witnesses can forget key details. By contacting the San Antonio trucking accident law firm of Grossman Law Offices as soon as possible after you or a loved one has been in an 18-wheeler accident, you can ensure that your best interests are being looked out for, even if a rapid-response team of defense attorneys and accident recreation experts have investigated the accident scene. We will employ our own proven investigative techniques to assess the truth of the accident scene in order for all liable parties to be held responsible for their negligence actions so that you can stand to receive full and fair compensation for your loss or injury.

Deceitful Truck Drivers

Furthermore, truck drivers that have caused severe personal injury or loss of life are sometimes prone to lying about their involvement in the wreck out of fear of losing their jobs. Our San Antonio truck accident law firm has seen this occur many times before in our decades of litigating trucking accident cases. As such, our investigative techniques and tactful deposition procedures are often able to assess whether or not a truck driver is lying about their liability.

Choose to Act Quickly: Contact Our San Antonio Truck Accident Law Firm Today

Victims of truck accidents often have many legal options available for seeking compensation and bringing those responsible to justice, but it is important to act quickly. Some trucking companies may destroy evidence when they realize that they are going to be held liable for an accident. Trucking companies are even able to legally destroy many of their records within a certain time period after an accident if no attorney has requested them. That is why, whenever I take a truck accident case, I move quickly to put the vehicles in lock-down so that my firm can conduct a thorough investigation to get to the bottom of what really happened. We could also share many stories in which a client’s ability to contact us quickly in the aftermath of an 18-wheeler accident was the difference in the outcome of their 18-wheeler accident case.

The bottom line is that there are many avenues available to trucking accident victims, but navigating the legal landscape is a complex process. Our San Antonio trucking accident law firm, however, has handled hundreds of high-profile trucking accident cases. We have faced every single major trucking company and insurance carrier in the nation. These people know who we are, and they will do whatever they can to avoid going up against our attorneys in court. This means that we are often able to secure favorable settlements out of court, which makes the whole process much simpler for you. If you have been hurt in a trucking accident, our Texas injury attorneys can help. Contact our San Antonio truck accident law firm today.