Dallas Cargo Truck Lawyer

Car accidents involving a cargo truck are often severe for Dallas drivers. Because these transport vehicles are so large, even a minor crash or fender-bender can cause significant damage to your car. In major accidents, cargo trucks may inflict injury to you and your passengers as well. The cargo being transported may also fall off the vehicle and pose severe hazards to motorists.

According to data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), car crashes involving large vehicles such as cargo trucks resulted in 116,000 injuries in 2017. Four thousand eight hundred eighty-nine large trucks were involved in fatal accidents that same year.

If you or your family has been involved in a cargo truck accident, you’re not alone. Our Dallas cargo truck lawyers are available to assist you. We can provide legal help for all types of cargo truck accidents. Our team of lawyers can help if you believe you may be owed compensation for personal injury, damages to your vehicles or property, or pain and suffering due to a cargo truck accident.

Contact us today for a free consultation. Our Dallas cargo truck lawyers are ready to discuss all the options for your case, free of charge, with zero obligation. Call (214) 496-5227 and find out how our attorneys can help you. Our legal services are free unless we help you win.

The Dangers of a Cargo Truck Accident in Dallas

A cargo truck can be defined as any large, commercial vehicle with three or more axles used to transport goods. Generally, cargo trucks are operated by logistics companies who contract with manufacturers and industrial distributors to ship raw materials, machinery, and other types of heavy cargo. A cargo truck can weigh upwards of 10,000 pounds.

Dallas drivers who get into an automotive accident with a cargo truck face numerous dangers. Below, we’ll break down some of the main reasons why cargo truck accidents pose such a hazard to motorists, and why you may need help from a Dallas accident attorney.

A Heavy Vehicle Inflicts Heavier Damages

Due to its significant size and more substantial mass, cargo trucks are capable of inflicting much more considerable damage than a typical car, pickup truck, or SUV. To understand why let’s turn to physics.

The force of impact of one object upon another object — in this case, a cargo truck on a passenger vehicle — is equal to the object’s mass (the weight of the cargo truck) multiplied by its velocity (the speed of the cargo truck).

In other words, if your car is hit by a cargo truck weighing 9000 pounds and traveling at a speed of 55 miles per hour, the force of impact will be 495,000 lbs/mph.

By comparison, an average-size family sedan only weighs around 2800 pounds, so the force of impact in a similar collision at 55 miles per hour would only be 154,000 lbs/mph.

Additionally, cargo trucks lack the mobility of smaller vehicles. Cargo truck drivers are unable to brake as quickly or swerve to avoid other drivers. Most cargo trucks also have significantly wider blindspots than standard cars. As you may recall from your Texas DMV test, “If you can’t see the driver, the driver can’t see you.”

The Cargo May Come Loose

However, some cargo truck accidents aren’t caused by the truck itself. In some situations, the cargo truck’s load can come loose and drop into the road or onto your vehicle. These types of accidents are known as fallen cargo accidents.

In a fallen cargo accident, objects cause damage by colliding with cars or abruptly disturbing traffic. The fallen cargo may require other drivers to swerve or brake without warning, resulting in collisions. Sometimes, the cargo truck driver may not be aware that they have lost their cargo and caused an accident.

These are some of the reasons why cargo truck accidents in Dallas can result in grave damages, injuries, and fatalities.

What Should You Do if You Get in a Cargo Truck Accident?

If you find yourself getting into an accident with a cargo truck, the first step is to pull over as soon as it’s safe. Call 9-11 and seek medical treatment for anyone injured.

Make sure you get the cargo truck driver’s name and insurance information, as well as the cargo truck’s license plate number. If you can document the accident without risking personal harm, take photos and videos of the crash scene. If there are any other drivers involved, remember to take their information down as well.

After you and your passengers are safe from the initial accident, write down or record a voice memo describing everything you remember from the incident. Try to preserve the details while still fresh in your mind — this will assist our legal team as they work on your case.

Liability in Cargo Truck Accidents

Determining liability in a cargo truck accident isn’t always black-and-white. In some situations, the responsibility may be shared among the driver, the cargo owner, and the logistics company or cargo distributor. Our Dallas cargo truck lawyers can help you establish who was at fault.

Some common liability scenarios for cargo truck accidents include:

Fallen Cargo Accidents: Not all drivers pack their cargo — this means the cargo’s manufacturer or shipping company may be responsible for fallen cargo truck accidents by failing to secure the shipment properly.
Collisions Caused by Mechanical Errors: If a mechanical error, such as brake failure or engine problems, causes the accident in the cargo truck, liability may fall to the driver as well as the truck’s owner (who are not always the same entity) for failing to perform adequate maintenance.
Collisions Caused by Poor Driving: An accident caused by distracted driving, impaired driving, or other “human errors” would place fault upon the driver. However, the truck company may also share some amount of liability in this scenario for hiring the wrong driver in the first place.