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Beaumont Trucking Accident Attorney: Fighting For 18-Wheeler Victims

A fully loaded 18-wheeler can weigh as much as 80,000 pounds, dwarfing the average passenger vehicle. When these massive commercial trucks collide with cars, the consequences for those in the smaller vehicle can be catastrophic. Victims often leave the accident with severe injuries and potential long-term disabilities. In severe cases, it results in death.

At Reaud, Morgan & Quinn, L.L.P., we understand the devastating impact a truck accident can have on your life. For over 45 years, our attorneys have offered tough, skilled representation to hard-working men and women who have been injured in incidents like these. Whether you’re an injured worker from the oilfields, a driver involved in a collision with an 18-wheeler or a family member seeking justice on behalf of a loved one, we are here to fight for you.

What Are Some Of The Most Dangerous Roadways For Beaumont Trucking Accidents?

Truck accidents can occur anywhere in Texas, but certain Beaumont roadways pose higher risks due to heavy commercial traffic and challenging conditions. Identifying danger zones can strengthen your claim and help our Beaumont truck accident lawyers pursue the compensation you deserve after a serious crash.

The I-10 Refinery Corridor

I-10 sees heavy tanker traffic, especially between the Neches River Bridge and ExxonMobil Beaumont. This area is sometimes referred to as the Refinery Corridor, and it can become a serious bottleneck, especially during the daily rush hour when drivers are commuting to or from work. The bottleneck causes traffic to slow, and, in some cases, that slowdown leads to catastrophic rear-end crashes. Remember that many semi trucks have very long stopping distances due to their weight.

The U.S. 69/96/287 Spaghetti Bowl

This freeway interchange is extremely complex, leading to it being nicknamed the Spaghetti Bowl. Many drivers have to make rapid lane changes to complete their exit, especially close to Delaware Street, and many vehicles are rapidly entering and exiting the highway at all times. This can result in trucks colliding with vehicles that are in their blind spots, and it can also cause squeeze accidents, where vehicles get trapped between two trucks.

Cardinal Drive and Highway 73

This is often referred to as the Energy Highway, as it connects traffic to the Port of Beaumont. There are numerous logging trucks, hazmat tankers and other 18-wheelers. High-speed rollovers are a significant risk, as are accidents caused by poorly secured cargo.

Major Drive and I-10

The retail center at the West End has been growing, leading to more traffic. This includes both commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles. Higher traffic levels often lead to accidents, such as when a driver fails to yield the right of way close to major shopping centers. Increased traffic levels can increase overall congestion on the roads, and all it takes is one mistake for a serious crash.

When there are high traffic levels and a combination of passenger vehicles and commercial trucks, major crashes are always a possibility. Those who have suffered injuries may need to work with a Beaumont truck accident lawyer to determine which parties are liable and how to seek appropriate compensation for damages to medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, disfigurement, disability and more.

Why Hire Our Trucking Accident Lawyers?

Our attorneys have the skill and experience necessary to hold negligent trucking companies accountable for your pain and suffering, wage loss and medical expenses. We have recovered more than $25 billion in total verdicts and settlements across all of our practice areas.

Many of our attorneys have earned awards and honors that include selection to the Super Lawyers list, AV-Preeminent* rating through Martindale-Hubbell, Million Dollar Advocates Forum, The National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40, Best Lawyers In America and others. These awards demonstrate our hard work, respected reputation and dedication to our clients.

As a Beaumont firm, we are thoroughly familiar with this area of Texas, its people and the legal community. We know the local court personnel and we know how to appeal to local juries. All of these things help us to build strong cases for compensation after a truck accident. You can rely on our experience and on our nearly 50 years of serving the Beaumont area and surrounding communities.

While the majority of trucking accident cases settle out of court, there are cases that do go to trial. Our attorneys know when to pursue a settlement and when to take a case to court. We are savvy trial lawyers who are confident in arguing cases in court before a judge and jury.

You can also count on our ability to negotiate with the commercial insurance companies that are involved in trucking cases. The insurance company lawyers will try to deny fault for the accident, but we know how to prove our case.

We understand that this is a difficult time in your life, which is why we provide caring, knowledgeable representation. Our lawyers are here to help you with the legal aspects of your case, as well as the mental and emotional toll. We can guide you to appropriate resources that help you move forward.

Your consultation with us is free of charge, and you pay us nothing unless we get compensation for you and your family. If we secure a settlement or a jury award, our fee comes out of those funds.

Understanding The Complexities Of A Truck Accident Claim

Accidents involving commercial trucks are unfortunately common on Texas roads and highways. The sheer volume of truck traffic, particularly in areas like Beaumont with its bustling oil and gas industry, increases the risk of serious collisions. One particularly dangerous type of accident is an underride collision, where a smaller vehicle slides underneath the trailer of a truck, often with devastating consequences.

Depending on the specifics of the accident, multiple parties may be liable for your injuries. This can include:

The truck driver
The trucking company
The vehicle manufacturer
The cargo loader

When a commercial truck causes an accident, trucking companies and their insurers act quickly. Their primary goal is often to minimize the financial payout to those injured, rather than ensuring they receive fair compensation.

Our attorneys understand these challenges. We prepare every case as if it will go to trial, even though not all do. Our seasoned truck accident lawyers will fully investigate your accident and gather crucial evidence to establish liability. We take an aggressive stance with those responsible for your injuries, making sure you receive the compensation you deserve.

Are Expert Witnesses Necessary To Prove Fault In A Truck Accident Case?

Expert witnesses play pivotal roles in truck accident cases. It is important to understand two elements regarding the role that experts play in truck accident cases: (1) the various ways that expert witnesses can help establish fault in truck accident cases, and (2) the process by which experts must qualify to testify as witnesses in commercial motor vehicle accidents.

How Experts Are Selected in A Truck Accident Case

These are actually two types of experts that can be used during a commercial motor vehicle accident case: non-testifying and testifying.

A non-testifying expert might not testify at court but might be hired to determine whether a commercial motor vehicle was built according to specifications.

Texas courts tend to follow federal law regarding situations when testifying experts are allowed to act as witnesses in truck accident cases. There are four factors that determine that ultimately decide if an accident expert will be testified to provide information regarding the accident. The success with which an accident expert witness largely determines the power of an expert witness.

An accident expert to qualify as a witness must possess the knowledge and experience necessary to inform the jury about an issue that is central to how the accident occurred or the subsequent lawsuit.
Texas law requires that an expert must establish knowledge beyond the average person in a particular area that is important to the case at hand. These experts are usually specifically trained with advanced degrees in engineering or physics.
Expert witnesses must be reliable and trustworthy to be deemed admissible to provide testimony as a witness. For example, an expert may be used to establish the relationship between compliance or lack of compliance upon which the court may reliably draw an inference about the accident or truck involved in the accident.
A long established rule requires that all evidence used in a court of law must be relevant to the case at hand to be admissible in a court of law. Expert testimony can be essential when the condition of a vehicle is important and served as a cause of the vehicle accident.

How Experts Can Help Win A Truck Accident Case

Accident experts can help win cases through a variety of various techniques and strategies.

Determine who is fault. By carefully piecing together various components of the accident, experts can often determine what party was responsible for causing the accident.
Discredit opposing witnesses. Expert reports can be used against opposing witnesses to discredit claims of how accidents occurred.
Lack of witnesses. In accident situations, qualified experts through the use of materials that reconstruct the accident can demonstrate how the event occurred when there is a lack of eyewitnesses to the event.

Difficulties Experts Have In Using Evidence About Accidents

There are numerous reasons that an expert might have difficulty establishing evidence to prove various elements of an accident case.

Cost. The use of experts can be remarkably expensive with experts charging hundreds of dollars per hour for analysis. Due to expert’s high cost, experts are often only used in the most serious of commercial motor vehicle accidents.
Large amount of evidence. To form a complete reconstruction of a commercial motor vehicle accident, an expert must review a considerable amount of material including driving logs, driving records, inspection reports and information uncovered through the use of electronic device recorders.
Time sensitivity. Evidence like photos, scattered vehicle parts, and other remnants of the accident can be destroyed shortly after the accident, which means that experts must hurry to ensure that as much evidence as possible concerning the accident is collected.

The Elements That Accident Reconstructions Demonstrate

When experts are allowed to testify in commercial motor vehicle accidents, experts can create accident reconstruction that can persuade courtrooms that accidents occurred in ways that are beneficial to the represented party. Accident reconstructions can be extremely complex and include a variety of features, which include the following:

Crash recorders. Information gleaned from crash recorders can demonstrate how commercial motor vehicles were traveling at the time the accident occurred.
Eyewitness testimony. Expert reports can use eyewitness testimony, if available, to support various numerical and physical information gathered from various sources.
Photographs. Experts can rely on photographs of an accident scene taken prior to the arrival of an insurance investigator to demonstrate how an accident occurred.
Physical inspection. Experts can rely on various parts taken from the automobile accident to establish how various mechanical failures or events might have contributed to the accident.
Weather elements. Experts who understand physics and the effect that various weather elements can have on vehicles can use information about the weather conditions at the time the automobile accident occurred to describe the movement of various vehicles.

Compensation For Truck Accidents

Truck accidents in Texas can provide enormous damage. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration reports that the number of large trucks involved in injury crashes was 88,000 in 2014. The Texas Department of Transportation has issued a specific report demonstrating the age breakdown for each accident victim with startling results. The report demonstrates that incapacitating injuries due to truck accidents can strike anyone at any time. While there were 535 incapacitating injuries suffered by 20-year-olds in 2014, there was also 102 incapacitating injuries suffered by 70-year-olds. Fortunately, there is compensation available for the various types of damages caused by injuries suffered from truck accidents.

Compensatory Damages

The goal of compensatory damages is to “restore” an injured party to how the individual was prior to the accident through a monetary settlement. Compensatory damages are divided into “economic” and “non-economic” damages.

Economic Damages

“Economic” damages include injuries for which a direct dollar amount can be assigned. These damages include:

Property damage. This common category includes damage to one’s vehicle. These amounts are often easy to calculate because insurance companies or automobile mechanics bills demonstrate the exact amount of money required to repair these damages.
Medical treatment. Another common category of damages, medical treatment includes injuries suffered during an automobile accident that require compensation. Bills from doctors or health insurance companies often list the amounts charged for medical care. Keep in mind that not all injuries suffered by individuals are included by this category.
Lost income. If your automobile accident causes injuries that prevent you from working, this category is designed to compensate you. If you are self-employed or are paid in fluctuating amounts, this category can prove difficult to calculate.
Rehabilitation costs. Recovering from a truck accident can be a long journey. Truck accident victims may require physical therapy to restore physical capacities. The cost for these expensive appointments can easily be calculated based on bills recording the cost of visits.

Non-Economic Damages

Other “non-economic” damages are harder to calculate, and courts spend time analyzing the exact financial amount of these damages. These damages include:

Pain and suffering. This category includes any pain or discomfort suffered due to the accident. Persistent pain is an unfortunate ailment claimed by truck accident victims so pain and suffering is a frequently included category in compensation.
Emotional distress. Truck accident victims can suffer from a variety of emotional ailments including anxiety, grief, and depression.
Loss of consortium. This category arises from injuries that alter the relationship between the injured party and the spouse of the automobile accident victim.
Loss of income capacity. Truck accident victims can suffer from injuries that have further reaching effects than just missing time at work. If you lost job opportunities or missed injuries due to injuries caused by a truck accident, this category is designed to compensate these types of lost wages.

Punitive Damages

Punitive damages are the second category of compensation. These damages are designed to punish the individual who caused the accident in an effort to make sure this individual does not cause similar accidents in the future. To obtain punitive damages, the injured party must demonstrate that the defendant was extremely careless or reckless. Truck accidents that include punitive damages include drivers who disregard basic traffic laws or display dangerous behavior including substance abuse.

Who Can Be Sued In An Accident Involving Commercial Trucks?

The commercial motor vehicle industry is a large economy in the United States that involves various parties. The American Trucking Association estimates that 5.7 million commercial trailers were registered in 2009. With this substantial number of commercial motor vehicles, however, also comes a great number of vehicular accidents. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that 3,660 fatalities due to large truck collisions in 2015. When accident victims decide to pursue damages against the parties responsible for commercial motor vehicle accidents, it can be difficult to determine which parties should be held liable. This response will list and describe the various parties that might be held accountable for accidents involving commercial motor vehicles.

The cargo owner. When cargo is improperly loaded or restrained, the company who owns the cargo might be found liable for the commercial motor vehicle accident.
Government authorities. The municipality, state, or other regional organization where the commercial motor vehicle accident occurred may be found liable for the accident through failure to properly maintain signs or fix poor road conditions. Government authorities might have also designed roads in a way that leads to accidents or used defective guardrails to prevent vehicles from going off the road. Liability for government authorities, however, is often difficult to establish because these agencies hold immunity for many types of vehicle accidents.
Insurance company. Any insurance company who is responsible for allowing a dangerous commercial motor vehicle driver to operate a commercial vehicle can be held accountable as a party liable for the accident.
Maintenance workers. Individuals who were tasked with maintaining the commercial motor vehicle might also be held liable for the truck accident if the party was reckless or negligent in maintaining the commercial motor vehicle.
Part manufacturer. The manufacturer of the truck or various components that comprise the truck can be held liable where defective parts cause the commercial motor vehicle to be involved in an accident. Some of the most frequently defective parts on commercial motor vehicles include axles, brakes, gears, and tires. If a manufacturer negligently or intentionally sold a defective commercial motor vehicle part and failed to provide the necessary warning, the company can be held liable for the accident.
The rig and trailer owner. Separate third parties might own the rig and the trailer.
The shipper. The party who was tasked with loading and unloading the cargo might have violated various laws regarding the transportation of cargo. This group might be different from the party that actually owns the cargo or the commercial motor vehicle.
Trucking company. The company that employs the driver operates the commercial motor vehicle can be held liable for the driver’s negligent driving. The trucking company can also be accountable for a variety of negligent practices including hiring, training, or supervising the truck driver because it might very well be the case that the trucking company should have been aware that the driver was engaging in dangerous driving techniques. A trucking company might have even hired unlicensed or unqualified commercial truck drivers or encouraged truck drivers to violate various rules concerning commercial motor vehicles to ensure that cargo arrives at destinations in a shorter amount of time. An experienced lawyer will be able to obtain information that can potentially demonstrate that the trucking company is liable for the truck driver’s actions. Not to mention, the trucking company can be held liable for failing to properly maintain the truck or not sufficiently monitoring the driver’s operation of the vehicle.
Truck driver. A truck driver is tasked with the responsibility of driving safely on the road, which means obeying all posted signs, keeping accurate and up-to-date driving logs, and performing required routine inspection of the commercial motor vehicle. It should be noted that drivers are legally required to inspect commercial motor vehicles for noticeable problems. Drivers should be particularly aware of the conditions of a commercial motor vehicle’s tires, which can result in blow outs that can cause a number of different types of serious accidents. A driver might have also failed to properly secure the cargo being transported by the vehicle. A truck driver might even be liable for drug or alcohol use, fatigue, or various other factors that directly caused the motor vehicle accident. When truck drivers fail to obey these tasks, truck drivers can be held liable for failure to properly operate a commercial motor vehicle.
The truck owner. The trucking company might lease the truck from a third party, who can also be held liable for the commercial motor vehicle accident.

How Can You Prevent A Trucking Company From Erasing Black Box Data After A Crash On I-10?

After a crash on I-10, trucks’ Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) and Event Data Recorders (EDRs), often called black boxes, contain crucial information like speed at impact, braking patterns and Hours of Service (HOS) compliance. However, this data can be overwritten if not preserved.

At Reaud, Morgan & Quinn, L.L.P., we act immediately to protect these records. Our first step is sending a spoliation letter, a formal legal notice that forbids the trucking company from deleting any relevant data. This makes sure the evidence remains intact for your case. Strong evidence includes:

Braking and speed data: Helps establish how the accident occurred.
HOS logs: Can reveal violations that may have contributed to the crash.
Other EDR recordings: Can confirm the driver’s actions leading up to the collision.

Preserving black box data is critical because it forms the backbone of proving your version of events in court.

Who Is Responsible If A Petrochemical Or Refinery Truck Hits You In Beaumont?

Beaumont’s heavy industrial traffic means accidents often involve commercial chemical or tanker trucks. Liability in these cases rarely rests solely on the driver. Investigating every party connected to the truck is essential.

Carrier or trucking company: Their safety record and training procedures may influence liability.
Shipper of hazardous materials: Improper loading or documentation can make them partly responsible.
Maintenance contractors: If brakes, tires or other systems fail, contractors can share liability.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) allow for multiple parties to be financially accountable for your medical bills, lost wages and damages. A thorough investigation helps ensure all responsible parties are identified, maximizing the compensation you deserve. An attorney experienced with Beaumont’s industrial traffic is essential to hold these entities accountable.

What Is The Required Insurance Coverage For An 18-Wheeler In Texas?

Commercial semi-trucks in Texas carry much higher insurance limits than passenger vehicles, reflecting the potential for catastrophic accidents. Federal law mandates coverage ranging from $750,000 to $5 million, depending on the cargo, especially hazardous materials.

High-limit policies: Can make cases complex when insurers fight claims.
Cargo-specific requirements: Chemical or fuel loads require more extensive coverage.
Settlement challenges: Insurance companies often try to minimize payouts.

A skilled attorney helps ensure you are not pressured into accepting a fraction of what your claim is worth and can challenge insurance companies that attempt to deny or underpay your compensation.

Big Rig Accidents On Texas Roads And Highways

Eighteen-wheeler accidents often have devastating consequences including catastrophic injuries and property damage. Unfortunately, in Texas the number of 18-wheeler accidents is on the rise. This page describes the reasons, consequences, advice and common legal actions involved with 18-wheeler accidents in Texas.

Reasons Accidents Occur

According to the FMCSA, the most frequent truck violations are due to extreme wear on tires and defective lighting while the most frequent violation for truck drivers are the absence of driver logs.

Other common reasons for 18-wheeler accidents include:

Bad weather. Adverse weather conditions can cause vision difficulty for 18-wheeler drivers. Not to mention, rain and snow can make eighteen-wheelers harder to control.
Blind spots. Visibility for 18-wheelers can sometimes be greatly limited, which can lead to driver difficulty in spotting nearby vehicles.
Defective equipment. Eighteen-wheelers can suffer from a variety of failures including brake and tire malfunction, which can lead to accidents.
Distracted driving. To entertain themselves on long hauls drivers often turn to cell phone usage, which leads to drivers who do not pay enough attention to driving.
Driving under the influence. Drivers sometimes resort to anti-sleep medication or alcohol to survive the weariness of driving many hours at a time.
Drowsy driving. Because drivers are paid by the trip rather than the hour, drivers often try to arrive at destinations in a shorter amount of time by avoiding sleep.

Underride Accidents

The term “underride” refers to accidents where a smaller vehicle collides with a commercial motor vehicle and slides underneath the larger vehicle’s trailer. Underride accidents are some of the most catastrophic dangers on the road and frequently result in substantial damage to the smaller vehicle and often either serious injuries or death.

Since 1998, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has enforced a regulation that requires vehicles of a certain weight to be equipped with rear impact guards that meet established safety standards. These metal rear impact guards are designed to prevent accidents and minimize the effect of resulting damages from underride accidents. The most recent investigations, however, have revealed that underride accidents can and still do occur despite the presence of rear impact guards. Not to mention, not all commercial motor vehicles meet the standards to require rear impact guards.

Causes Of Underride Accidents

There are types of accidents that directly lead to underride accidents:

Improper turns. Rear-end collisions tend to result when vehicles fail to signal turns or turning when the adjacent is not clear. Commercial motor vehicle drivers might also fail to properly examine blind spots prior to changing lanes.
Inadequate vehicle maintenance. Commercial motor vehicle drivers who fail to properly monitor commercial vehicles can directly cause situations that lead to underride accidents. Some of these most common types of commercial vehicle failures that cause underride accidents are defective brake or tail lighting.
Driving speed. Vehicles that travel too fast (or in some cases, too slow) sometimes result in situations that cause underride accidents.
Unexpected stops. Sudden braking by a truck can result in rear-end collisions.

Ways That Impact Guards Fail To Prevent underride Accidents

There are a few direct ways that impact guards cause underride accidents, which include:

Absence of guards. A collision occurs and the commercial vehicle lacks an impact guard to prevent a car from sliding underneath the vehicle.
Defective guard. The truck has a defective or poorly designed impact guard that fails to prevent an underride accident from occurring.
Missing reflectors. Not only does the commercial vehicle lack an impact guard, the vehicle’s reflective tape or other types of reflective devices are absent or damaged.

When underride accidents do occur, common injuries that occur are spinal damages and broken bones. Accident victims might be able to pursue claims against the manufacturer of the impact guards in addition to the trucking company and commercial vehicle driver.

Consequences

After an 18-wheeler accident, trucking companies immediately contact risk management teams to evaluate crash scenes and perform damage control. Because 18-wheeler accidents might involve a trailer and cargo owned by separate companies, there might be multiple parties involved at the accident scene, which can make matters even more complicated.

If you are involved in an accident, you have the right to a competent attorney to pursue legal action.

Advice For Your Case

If you are involved in an 18-wheeler accident, there are some crucial pieces of advice to follow after the accident:

Collect evidence. If you are able to take photographs after the accident, do so. Following the accident, also be sure to collect all proper documentation. Collecting evidence can help with insurance claims or potential legal cases.
Contact law enforcement. After an 18-wheeler accident, there is likely to be traffic obstruction in addition to personal and vehicular harm. Do not hesitate to contact law enforcement to assist in these situations.
Medical treatment. Receive medical treatment even if you do not have any apparent injuries, sometimes wounds are not immediately apparent.

Legal Actions

Most 18-wheeler accidents require a plaintiff to establish the truck driver’s negligence. Negligence is a substantial element of 18-wheeler accidents. If the driver violated any applicable regulations, this type of neglect will likely be applicable to your case. The employer of the driver is also vicariously liable if the driver was in the duty of employment when the accident occurred.

Get The Clarity You Need: Talk To Our Attorneys Today

A semi truck or tractor-trailer accident can leave you with many questions and uncertainties. Our truck accident lawyers can provide you with clear answers and guide you through the legal process. Schedule a consultation with us today. Call (409) 838-1000 or fill out our online form.