Abilene Truck Accident Questions, Answered

See a doctor even if you think you walked away clean. Spinal and internal injuries often surface days later, and a gap in treatment is the first thing an adjuster points at. Photograph the vehicles, the debris and your injuries, and write down the carrier name off the cab door. Then call a lawyer before signing anything, because the truck data is already on a clock.

Texas generally allows two years from the date of the crash to file suit. That deadline is set by Texas law (Civil Practice and Remedies Code 16.003). Exceptions exist, and some cut the window shorter rather than longer, especially where a governmental body is involved. Do not sort that out from a web page; talk to a lawyer promptly, long before the date gets close.

Frequently several parties at once. The motor carrier can answer for how it hired, trained, supervised and dispatched the person behind the wheel. Responsibility may also reach whoever owned the trailer, the crew that loaded the freight, the broker who arranged the haul, or a manufacturer whose component failed. Building that list is early work, because it decides how much insurance the case can reach.

Because that side will not be waiting on you. Carriers often have adjusters and rapid response investigators working a serious wreck within hours, and their assignment is to hold down what the company pays. The friendly early call asking for a recorded statement is part of that assignment, not a courtesy. Once you have a lawyer, those calls come to us instead.

Nothing out of your pocket. We take commercial truck injury cases on contingency, so our fee is a share of what we recover and there is no fee at all unless the firm wins. The review that comes first is free and confidential whether or not you go forward with us.

Nearly every part of it is larger. You are up against a company, not an individual, with much more insurance and lawyers who defend these claims for a living. A truck also generates evidence a car never does: hours of service logs, onboard engine data, dispatch records, maintenance files, and the federal trucking regulations behind them. That material can carry a case, and it can also expire on a schedule.

Expect that argument; carriers reach for it early. Texas uses a comparative fault approach: if you are assigned a share of the blame, your recovery drops by that share, and past a certain point it disappears altogether. That is why an independent look at the crash matters. Being blamed and being at fault are two different things.

Texas law lets certain close family members bring a wrongful death claim, and the estate may hold a separate claim for what your loved one went through beforehand. Those cases pursue losses the law recognizes, including lost financial support, the value of care and companionship, and burial costs. None of that describes what your family actually lost. What a claim can do is put the company on the record.

No, and we will not pretend we do. The firm is based in Houston and represents injured people throughout Texas, the Big Country included. When a case comes from this part of the state, we travel to the client rather than asking a hurt person to make that drive, whether we meet at a hospital, at your kitchen table or at the county courthouse.

Truthfully, it depends, and any lawyer who names a number of months at the first meeting is guessing. A straightforward liability case with limited injuries and one insurer can wrap up in months. A catastrophic injury or death case against a carrier that intends to fight can run past a year and into litigation. We keep you current on where things stand as it moves.

Most likely not, but tell your lawyer about it right away and do not give a second one. Early statements get replayed later to suggest your injuries were minor or that your story shifted, especially if you spoke before anyone knew the full extent of the damage. Context can be added and medical records can explain what you did not yet know.