Brownsville Truck Accident Lawyer

Large trucks haul more than 75% of the cargo in the United States, and many of these commercial trucks travel through Texas every day. Brownsville, and specifically I-69, are thoroughfares for cargo arriving in the U.S. from Mexico and domestic cargo being exported. Unfortunately, many tractor-trailers and other large trucks are involved in accidents.

If you or a loved one has been hurt in a truck accident, you know how drastically it can affect your life. Serious injuries can lead to expensive medical bills, lengthy recovery times, and missed time from work. The truck drivers, trucking companies and others responsible for the accident may be held accountable for the harm they cause.

An experienced trucking accident lawyer can help you seek compensation for your doctor’s bills and other losses. The assistance of a knowledgeable truck accident attorney in Brownsville can make a difference in the outcome of your truck accident claim.

At Herrman & Herrman, P.L.L.C., we are ready to stand up and fight for you. Our attorneys are committed to helping families in Brownsville recover financially from injuries caused by the negligence of truckers, the companies that employ them, and others. Call (361) 882-4357 or reach out to us online to schedule a free consultation with a Brownsville truck accident lawyer.

How Can a Truck Mishap Attorney in Brownsville Help Me?

An experienced truck accident attorney can assist by reviewing the details of your accident at no charge. Our team of attorneys knows all of the ins and outs of a truck accident. We can help you determine whether you have a valid truck accident claim and whether legal action is appropriate.

Any personal injury claim will involve an accident investigation, a lot of paperwork, dealings with insurers, and deadlines to meet. Our truck accident law firm will conduct a detailed investigation to identify all liable parties.

Having a qualified Brownsville personal injury lawyer handle your claim puts you in the best position to receive a fair truck accident settlement. Our skilled legal team at Herrman & Herrman, P.L.L.C. has prevailed in thousands of personal injury claims for our clients. Let us use our experience to help you.

A truck accident claim will involve the insurance companies of the liable parties. Insurance companies often offer accident victims a quick settlement to relieve their liability and avoid the cost of litigation.

However, these quick settlement offers are designed to get you to accept payment and go away, and often will not cover all your losses. While some injury victims may be tempted to take a lowball settlement offer, we can give you an idea of what your claim is really worth and whether the insurer’s offer is reasonable.

Truck accident claims may involve multiple insurance companies. The truck driver, the trucking company, the owner of the trailer, the freight shipper and other parties involved in the accident may each have separate insurance companies. Dealing with multiple insurers can be complicated, but an experienced truck accident attorney can do so on your behalf, while you focus on your recovery.

Common Causes of Trucking Crash

The primary distinguishing feature is a truck’s size and weight compared to a passenger vehicle. At Herrman & Herrman, P.L.L.C., we see many different causes of trucking accidents, and we know that all can result in significant injuries to the occupants of the smaller vehicles.

The most common causes of truck accidents include:

• Drowsy driving:  Truckers are often on the road for long periods of time, and many of them skip rest periods required by federal law. However, even if drivers abide by the hours-of-service rules, they can still be fatigued, and driver fatigue contributes to many accidents.
• Distracted driving: Anything that takes a truck driver’s attention from the road can contribute to distracted driving. This can include talking on the phone, texting, looking at a navigation system, eating, daydreaming or anything that takes the driver’s eyes off the road or mind off the task of driving.
• Failure to brake on time: The sheer operating weight of trucks and their cargo means that drivers must have a longer lead time to come to a stop safely. A fatigued driver or distracted driver may fail to react in time to a traffic slowdown or light turning red.
• Speeding: Speeding is a significant cause of motor vehicle accidents, including large trucks. When a large truck is traveling at high speed, it needs a longer distance to stop.
• Driving too fast for conditions: The posted speed limit may be too fast in certain circumstances. Adverse weather, heavy traffic, and slick road conditions might dictate that a truck driver needs to slow down to operate a big rig safely. A truck driver needs to maintain a reasonable speed for the conditions, regardless of the speed limit.
• Following too closely: Truck drivers often fail to leave enough space between the truck and the vehicle in front. Tailgating or following too closely can make it impossible to brake safely and can lead to a rear-end collision.
• Aggressive driving: We have all seen aggressive drivers on the road. They pose a danger to everyone sharing the road. When truckers drive aggressively, their tractor-trailers can do severe damage.
• Equipment malfunction: Equipment failures such as misadjusted brakes and bad tires are frequent causes of truck accidents. A faulty piece of truck equipment can cause an accident and the truck manufacturer or brake manufacturer may be liable for the injuries to the accident victim.
• Wide turns: Trucks can cause significant damage due to their wider turning radius. If the driver fails to take into account other vehicles before initiating a turn, a severe injury accident could occur.
• Improper lane changes: Truckers in a rush to change lanes can fail to see a vehicle in a blind spot and cause significant harm to passenger vehicles and other motorists on the roads.

Types of Commercial Trucks

There are many types of trucks on the roads and highways of Cameron County. Any of them can pose a threat to other motorists and pedestrians, including:

• Semi-Trailer Trucks: Hauling one or more trailer units, with a maximum load of 80,000 pounds.
• Cargo Trucks or Vans: Motor vehicles designed to transport cargo.
• Tractor Trailers: A tractor connected to a trailer used for hauling freight.
• Fuel Trucks: These are smaller trucks that transport different types of fuel.
• Flatbed Trucks: These trucks can be small or large, with a flatbed for loaded transport instead of an enclosed trailer.
• Livestock Trucks: Trailers in livestock trucks are enclosed but often vented. Live cargo can add to the instability of a truck.
• Buses: School buses, charter buses, and city buses of all sizes can cause significant damage in accidents.
• Dump Trucks: These trucks have movable cargo containers, which can be responsible for a number of different elements in an accident.
• Cement Mixers: These heavy trucks can pose a threat due to their weight, moving components and debris.
• Oil Equipment Trucks: These are often tractor trucks that haul heavy, exposed equipment for a number of uses in oil fields.
• Tanker Trucks: These are typically larger trucks hauling large amounts of fuel in an enclosed, heavy cargo hold. They have a higher center of gravity than tractor-trailers and require special training to drive.
• Moving Vans: Moving vans are often driven by inexperienced drivers, and as a result can cause a high rate of accidents and injuries.

Common Types of Semi-Truck Collisions in Brownsville, TX

A semi-truck or commercial truck collision often proves catastrophic for other motorists involved in the accident. The sheer size and weight of trucks, combined with the fact that many semi-truck collisions occur at highway speeds, means that the occupants of smaller vehicles tend to suffer the brunt of injuries from the force of the collision. If your truck accident was caused by a truck driver’s carelessness or disregard for safety, you deserve full monetary compensation for your injuries.

After a semi-truck accident in Brownsville, you need an experienced truck accident attorney who can help guide you through the time-consuming effort to investigate the accident and pursue a claim for compensation for injuries and damages.

At Herrman & Herrman, our Brownsville truck accident lawyers can provide you with the compassionate, focused legal representation that you and your family deserve. We have a bilingual staff to serve both the English- and Spanish-speaking members of our community. We are honored by the numerous clients who have left positive reviews of our firm across Facebook and Google.

If you give us a call from the scene of the truck accident, we can dispatch our firm’s Accident Investigative Team to come to the accident scene to conduct a thorough investigation and begin preserving critical evidence we may need to pursue your claim, including driver’s logs, truck data recorders, and truck maintenance records. We understand how important it is to preserve evidence in a truck accident case.

After a Brownsville truck accident, schedule a free case review with the personal injury attorneys of Herrman & Herrman to learn about the financial recovery you may be entitled to seek following your accident. Give us a call at (361) 882-4357 or fill out our website’s contact form today.

Types of Semi-Truck Accidents

 Some of the most common examples of semi-truck accidents and collisions include:

1. Head-on collision: Head-on collisions usually occur when both the truck and other vehicle are traveling at speed. These accidents typically occur when one vehicle veers into an oncoming lane of traffic or when a truck driver gets lost on a route and ends up driving the wrong way down a one-way street or highway on-ramp.
2. Rear-end collision: A rear-end collision involves a truck colliding into the back of another vehicle, typically because the truck driver was speeding or was following too closely. Heavy trucks take longer distances to stop safely, so rear-end truck accidents occur regularly.
3. T-bone collision: Side impact accidents or T-bone accidents, as they are often called, involve the front of a truck colliding with the side of another vehicle. These accidents often occur when a truck driver fails to stop at a stop sign or red light or when the driver fails to yield, including when turning.
4. Side-swipe collision: Side-swipe collisions involve contact between the sides of two vehicles. These accidents occur when a truck driver makes an unsafe lane change or drifts into an adjacent lane. These accidents also happen when a truck driver takes a wide right turn and veers into an adjoining lane of traffic.
5. Underride accident: An underride accident involves a smaller vehicle sliding under the back or side of a semi-truck, due to the height difference between truck and passenger vehicles. These accidents can cause catastrophic or fatal injuries.
6. Tire blowout: Given the miles that big rigs travel, truck tires take a great deal of wear and tear and must be replaced regularly. Lack of maintenance or a tire blowout may cause the truck driver to lose control of his or her vehicle and collide with other vehicles.
7. Jackknife accident: A jackknife accident involves a trailer of a semi-truck swinging forward toward the cab of the truck. Jackknife accidents typically occur due to improper braking by the truck driver, especially in poor road conditions, or due to unsecured or unsafe cargo loads that can cause the back of the trailer to swing out.
8. Rollover accident: A truck driver can lose control of his or her vehicle due to speeding, failure of components, a tire blowout, or an unsafe or unsecured load shifting during travel. That can lead to the entire vehicle tipping over, leading to impacts with other vehicle or releasing the truck’s cargo, which may hit other vehicles on the road.
9. Cargo-related accident: A cargo load that isn’t properly secured may spill out onto the road, impacting other vehicles or setting off a chain reaction collision.

Truck accidents often have complex causes that require a thorough investigation to identify. It is important to seek the services of a Brownsville truck accident lawyer who has handled truck accident cases and understands the types of evidence to seek.

Recent Brownsville Semi-Truck Accidents

Some recent semi-truck accidents that have occurred around Brownsville include:

• In July 2019, a van carrying two Brownsville families on a trip to Galveston was struck in the side by an 18-wheeler, causing the van to careen into the opposing lane of traffic on the highway and collide head-on with an oncoming pickup truck, killing all the occupants of the van
• Another accident in June 2020 occurred on State Highway 4 when a semi-truck reversed onto and over the grassy median of the highway, causing a pickup truck to collide with the rear of the trailer, killing the driver and injuring the other passengers of the pickup.

Should I Reach a Settlement with the Trucking Company?

You should never accept a settlement from a trucking company without discussing the offer first with a personal injury attorney.

Every case is different, so we always advise prospective clients to make sure a knowledgeable Herrman & Herrman, P.L.L.C. truck accident lawyer in Brownsville has the opportunity to review the details of your claim. Most truck accident injury cases end in a settlement, but these settlements are usually carefully negotiated by skilled attorneys.

Do I Have Legal Rights to Compensation After a Brownsville Truck Accident?

In Texas, you have the right to seek compensation if you were hurt in an accident caused by a negligent truck driver, trucking company, or other entity.

Keep in mind that the statute of limitations to file an injury claim is two years from the date of the injury, according to the Texas Civil Code. If you fail to file a lawsuit within the time allowed, the court may dismiss your case.

Why Choose Herrman & Herrman to Represent Me?

The attorneys at Herrman & Herrman, P.L.L.C. proudly serve the residents of Brownsville and Cameron County in personal injury cases, including truck accident claims.

Our team of experienced attorneys has more than 100 years of combined experience serving our clients here in Texas. We offer our guidance to you as a first step on the road to your recovery. We have attorneys and staff who are fluent in Spanish, and we can answer any questions you may have if you are wondering whether you have a truck accident claim. Contact our Brownsville injury lawyers at (361) 882-4357 or reach out to us online for a free consultation.

Our firm has offices in the following locations: Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi South Side, Brownsville, McAllen, San Antonio, Houston, and Ft. Worth , TX.