
Houston truck accident attorney Steve Lee is currently accepting cases involving people who have been injured in accidents with trucks or tractor trailers due to no fault of their own. Accidents with commercial trucks and eighteen wheelers almost always result in serious injuries or worse. If you or a loved one in the Houston, Texas area has been injured in a crash involving a truck, contact Steve Lee for a free legal consultation today.
Any traffic accident has the potential to be serious. There have been cases where a collision at five miles an hour caused severe damage to the drivers and passengers, and there have also been cases where people have emerged unscathed from collisions at forty miles an hour. For the most part, there is no real way to predict what can happen to the human body during a car accident.
But truck accidents are different. Truck accidents are almost always very severe. The average car weighs around 3,000 pounds, while the average commercial truck weighs around 70,000 pounds. That is a significant difference in weight and momentum, and that difference translates into severe bodily harm and property damage.
There is also a difference in the way that truck accidents are handled among insurance companies. Due to the commercial nature of trucks, there are different rules and regulations for truck drivers and truck owners, so depending on the circumstances, both the truck driver and the trucking company could be held liable.
The commercialism of a truck is what makes things different. Commercial trucks are on public roads for no other reason than to make money. Eighteen wheelers, flatbeds, dump trucks, delivery trucks, cement mixers or tanker trucks are all driving for profit, so the rules for these trucks regarding licensing, driver training and maintenance are particularly stringent. If a driver or the company violates any of these regulations and an accident occurs as a result of these violations, the driver and/or trucking company can easily be held liable.
Truck accidents can occur for any number of reasons, but some of the more common reasons are:
Poor training or lack of experience: Driving a large commercial truck is not something that can be mastered in a short period of time. It takes a lot of time, effort, and first rate instruction to operate it safely.
Oversized trucks: Trucks don’t come in standard sizes anymore than cars do. Many of them are taller or wider than a bridge or overpass or tunnel, and occasionally a driver might try to squeeze through in order to save time.
Overloaded trucks: A truck that is overloaded is harder to control and harder to stop.
Poor maintenance: Because of the size and weight of the average truck, the maintenance standards are fairly stringent. This is particularly true for the braking system. But some drivers or trucking companies skimp on the maintenance procedures in order to save time and money.
Driver fatigue: Many truck drivers are financially compensated when they get their freight in faster. To that end, some drivers opt to drive at night when there is less traffic, while some drivers opt to go without sleep. It is never safe to get behind the wheel of a car when you haven’t slept, and it is even more dangerous if you are behind the wheel of a truck.
Aggressive driving: Aggressive driving is always dangerous, but the dangers are multiplied exponentially of the vehicle in question is a commercial truck.
Speeding: This is another danger of rewarding drivers and freight companies for speed.
Of course there are many other causes of truck accidents, including bad weather, poor road conditions or poor visibility. But regardless of the cause of the accident, it is almost a certainty that the victims involved in a truck accident will suffer very real injuries and very expensive property damage.
A victim of a truck accident will no doubt have many valid questions. How can you determine who was at fault? Who will pay for the medical bills, property damage and time off of work? Is the driver of the truck responsible, or was the company that owned the truck responsible? These are questions that need to be answered quickly. When you are recovering from an injury and are unable to work, time is of the essence.
Your best course of action would be to contact an experienced truck accident attorney, and in Houston, Texas, that is Steve Lee.
Steve Lee has helped thousands of truck accident injury victims in the Houston area receive prompt and fair treatment from trucking insurance companies that would otherwise go out of their way to give you less than what you deserve. If you or a loved one has been injured in a truck accident anywhere in the Houston, Texas area, contact Attorney Steve Lee for a free legal consultation today.
Steven M. Lee, PC
5823 Gulf Freeway
Suite 300
Houston, TX 77023
Phone: 713-921-4171
Toll Free: 800-232-3711
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