18-Wheeler Truck Accidents Dean Law Firm Attorneys Houston Texas

18-Wheeler Truck Accidents

In 2007, the US Department of Transportation recorded that Texas has the highest rate of fatalities in 18-wheeler truck accidents. The roads of the United States witness over 500,000 truck accidents each year. Truck wreck deaths nationwide often top 5,000 annually.

Because of these terrible statistics, the trucking industry is one of the most regulated commercial industries in the United States.

Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies DO NOT have the manpower and resources to strictly enforce these strict regulations. The trucking industry knows this. Every day the rule breakers are hauling overweight loads and sending out overworked and undertrained drivers on our roadways. When the trucking industry rule breakers gamble that they won't get caught, they gamble with our lives.

When Dean Law Firm represents victims of truck wrecks, its attorneys work to enforce the trucking industry rules and regulations. When Dean Law Firm wins for its clients, the rule breakers have been exposed and, hopefully, the conduct of the trucking company and driver will change. To hire an attorney who understands the regulations of 18-wheeler accidents and can properly enforce the rules for negligence on the roads in Texas, please contact the Dean Law Firm to get the settlement you deserve.

18 wheelers? Double Tires and a Few Possible Consequences
Posted by: Christopher Dean
February 05, 2012

Ever wonder why 18 wheelers have so many sets of double tires? The common name of a pair of tires is double tires, “dualies”, or tandem. Tires are paired together in case one tire is compromised the other will support the truck or trailer until the ruined tire gets fixed.

Think of all the times one travels down a highway and sees the roadway littered with pieces of tire. Do NOT go over them? Tires have wire in them. These wires can puncture a car’s tire and leave a motorist with a flat on the side of a highway. That is not a safe place to be.

Imagine being the motorist beside the 18 wheeler that has had a tire blow. For a moment in time, the truck driver has no control over that large vehicle. That is comparatively the same response a passenger vehicle would have to a tire blowing, but 18 wheelers are so much larger. The black rubber marks left on the highways from 18 wheeler blowouts leads one to believe that the drivers around the 18 wheeler had quite the scare as the truck driver strove to control the large vehicle.

Indeed, the tandem may have been developed as a safety precaution and money saver. However, there is a greater risk of other vehicles getting flat tires or worse, leading another motorist to an accident.

18 Wheeler "Safety Features" Are Not Safe
Posted by: Christopher Dean
November 25, 2011

Each year, more and more people are killed when the car they are riding in crashes into the rear end of a stopped or slow-moving 18-wheeler or truck. These incidents are known as underride crashes and have been an issue for decades. It is a person's worst nightmare to wind up in this situation, to be traveling safely and then, in the blink of an eye, be under an 18-wheeler. Even worse is the aftermath and devastating toll it takes on the victim's family and friends.

What is Distracted Driving?
Posted by: Christopher Dean
October 28, 2011

What is Distracted Driving?

There are three main types of distraction:

Visual - taking your eyes off the road
Manual - taking your hands off the wheel
Cognitive - taking your mind off what you're doing

Distracted driving is any non-driving activity a person engages in that has the potential to distract him or her from the primary task of driving and increase the risk of crashing. While all distractions can endanger drivers' safety, texting is the most alarming because it involves all three types of distraction.

Other distracting activities include:

Using a cell phone
Eating and drinking
Talking to passengers
Grooming
Reading, including maps
Using a PDA or navigation system
Watching a video
Changing the radio station, CD, or Mp3 player.

Driver distraction could present a serious and potentially deadly danger. In 2009, 5,474 people were killed in U.S. roadways and an estimated additional 448,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes that were reported to have involved distracted driving. Distracted driving comes in various forms, such as cell phone use, texting while driving, eating, drinking, talking with passengers, as well as using in-vehicle technologies and portable electronic devices. Even with the CSVA cracking down this week with their "Operation Safe Driver Campaign Mobilization", there is still heavy researched facts of Distracted Truck Driving that include:

20 percent of injury crashes in 2009 involved reports of distracted driving. (NHTSA).
Of those killed in distracted-driving-related crashed, 995 involved reports of a cell phone as a distraction (18% of fatalities in distraction-related crashes). (NHTSA)
In 2009, 5,474 people were killed in U.S. roadways and an estimated additional 448,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes that were reported to have involved distracted driving. (FARS and GES)
The age group with the greatest proportion of distracted drivers was the under-20 age group - 16 percent of all drivers younger than 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving. (NHTSA)
Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
Using a cell phone use while driving, whether it's hand-held or hands-free, delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent. (Source: University of Utah)

Negligent Trucking Companies
Posted by: Christopher Dean
October 03, 2011

If the driver of a trucking company causes an accident as a result of negligence, the company can be held responsible. The defendants in a truck accident injury case can include:

-The truck's driver
-The owner of the truck or trailer
-The person or company that leased the truck or trailer from the owner
-The manufacturer of the vehicle, tires, or other parts that may have contributed to the cause or severity of the accident
-The shipper or loader of the truck's cargo

In the past, trucking or leasing companies would often deny responsibility and attempt to pass the blame to the victim. Trucking Companies use to hire the drivers as independent contractors from the truck owner, instead of hiring them as employees to get around the liability. If an accident occurred, the trucking company would be able to claim that the driver was not an actual employee and therefor they were not responsible for the accident.

Now federal law has changed this, any company that owns a truck permit is responsible for all accidents involving a truck with the name of the trucking company displayed on the vehicle - regardless of whether the driver is an employee or independent contractor. Trucking companies can also be held responsible for negligence, including

Failure to:

-properly monitor truck driver safety
-check log books and require accurate entries
-enforce limited driving hours
-maintain the truck and parts
-provide proper training to drivers
-hire safe drivers
-conduct background checks

Trucking Regulations and Codes
Posted by: Christopher Dean
September 25, 2011

Due to high statistics of accidents in the trucking industry, it has become the most regulated commercial industry in the United States. There is a broad scope of rules that must be followed by the trucking companies and truck drivers. Here are some regulations and codes that lawyers use to claim fault in a Truck Accident.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations
Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations.
PART 382 - Controlled Substances and Alcohol Use and Testing
PART 383 - Commercial Driver's License Standards
PART 387 - Minimum Levels of Financial Responsibility for Motor Carriers
PART 399 - Employee Safety and Health Standards
PART 397 - Transportation of Hazardous Materials

Texas Transportation Code
§644.152 and §644.052 - Safety Standards
§522.101-106 - Alcohol and Drug Use
§522 - Requirements for Commercial Driver's License

Rules of the Road (Sections 541-600 followed by police officers when issuing traffic tickets)

§ 545.062 - Following Distance
§ 545.351 - Maximum Speed Requirement
§ 545.420 - Racing on Highway
§ 550.023 - Duty to Give Information and Render Aid

The Dean Law Firm recognizes the regulations of the trucking industry and is experienced to investigate which were violated or ignored. It is important to hire an attorney who is knowlegable in prosecuting negligence of the truck driver, the trucking company or both in order to receive the settlement our clients deserve. To hire an attorney who understand the regulations of 18-wheeler accidents and can properly enforce the rules for negligence on the roads in Texas please contact the Dean Law Firm to get the settlement you deserve.

Holding the Truck Driver's Employer Responsible
Posted by: Christopher Dean
September 15, 2011

When an accident occurs, the truck driver is typically blamed. It is obviously the negligent fault of a truck driver who speeds, drives under the influence, or falls asleep behind the wheel.

What is different about a trucking accident versus a car accident? Well, it is the truck driver that is acting as a commercial representative of the trucking company. Therefore most times the trucking company can be held liable for the accident. It is not just that simple of an explanation to put a trucking company or driver at fault. Truck accidents are complicated and it is important to hire an attorney who understands at fault truck accidents.

If you've been injured in an accident due to an impaired truck driver, you deserve to be rightly compensated. An experienced truck accident attorney can help maximize the settlement you deserve. Call The Dean Law Firm today.

Impaired Truck Driver Accidents
Posted by: Christopher Dean
August 30, 2011

There are over 500,000 trucking accidents that occur every year in this country. Some of these motorists are killed by the truck drivers who are driving while impaired.

Alcohol is not the only deadly substance that leads to these kinds of accidents. A study by the Insurance Institute for Traffic Safety (IITS) of interstate tractor-trailer drivers found that 15% of all drivers had marijuana, 12% had non-prescription stimulants, 5% had prescription stimulants, 2% had cocaine, and less than 1% had alcohol in their systems. Due to the intense pressure for time efficiency, a National Transportation Safety Board investigation of fatal truck accidents found that stimulants were the most frequently unidentified (15%) drug class among fatally injured truck drivers.

Driving impaired is non-tolerable, and the deadly risks are larger for truck drivers. If you've been injured in an accident due to an impaired truck driver, you deserve to be rightly compensated. An experienced truck accident attorney can help maximize the settlement you deserve. Call The Dean Law Firm today.