Beaumont Commercial Vehicle Accident Lawyer
While most of the cars on the road are driven by personal drivers, many are actually commercial vehicles. Commercial vehicles generally include large tractor-type trucks, but they can also include pick-ups and passenger vehicles, including those driven by Uber or Waitr drivers. While any vehicle on the road can become involved in a collision, the situation is different when the other vehicle is commercial for several important reasons. Generally, the available policy limits are greater, which can mean the insurance adjuster is more aggressive or sophisticated in their initial investigation. Accidents with commercial vehicles can trigger a complex determination as to whether the driver’s employer is also liable or legally responsible for the collision or what lawyers refer to as vicarious liability. Questions about the investigation into the at-fault driver’s background become very important as well as the training and retention of that employee-driver after the employer’s initial hire, which can make the employer independently negligent. Depending upon the industry or type of vehicle, various federal or state regulations could apply more stringent requirements on the driver, the commercial vehicle, employer or all three. Also, the damage inflicted by large or heavy vehicles is often much greater than with just passenger vehicles. The proper analysis of these issues by an experienced lawyer can be the difference between only a partial recovery and a full recovery for all of your damages including your medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other associated costs. At the Gilbert Adams Law Offices, our commercial vehicle accident attorneys help Texas injury victims and their families recover compensation for their losses from the commercial vehicle drivers and their employers that are responsible for any harm that they cause.
We Can Help with Accidents Involving Any Type of Commercial Vehicle
Our commercial vehicle accident attorneys have years of experience pursuing claims against drivers and commercial trucking companies who have injured our clients. We are prepared to fight on your behalf if you have been involved in an accident involving any kind of commercial vehicle, including the following:
- Delivery trucks or vans
- Passenger transport vans
- Log trucks
- UPS or FedEx trucks
- Tanker-trailer trucks
- Garbage or dump trucks
- Utility and repair company vans or trucks
- Fleet vehicles
- Construction company vehicles
- Buses, including private, city, and school buses
- Oil trucks
- Concrete trucks
- Moving vans and trucks
- 18-wheelers, semis/tractor-trailers, and other large trucks
- Uber, Lyft, Waitr, Grub Hub, Amazon and similar drivers
- Mail carrier trucks (USPS)
Responsibility and Liability for an Accident with a Commercial Vehicle
Like other auto accidents, if a commercial vehicle driver causes property damage, injury, or death in an accident, the victim can seek compensation for their damages. However, when the other car involved is a commercial vehicle, a different set of questions regarding responsibility arises. If the commercial driver was carrying out their responsibilities for the company at the time of the accident, then both the driver and their employer may be jointly liable for your damages. This joint liability, including larger insurance policy limits or additional insurance policies, may exist even if the driver wasn’t technically on the clock. Often times, sophisticated investigations are conducted with a bias towards denying these circumstances. These companies will generally have greater financial resources available to pay for your medical bills and other damages, although having deep pockets also means they will have more resources to fight you to avoid legal responsibility. You need an experienced and passionate accident attorney in your corner with the requisite resources to avoid being overrun by their large legal teams and their insurers.
The commercial vehicle accident lawyers at the Gilbert Adams Law Offices are experienced and resourceful in prosecuting claims against these large companies and are ready to stand toe-to-toe against their attorneys to ensure that you get the compensation you are rightly owed. We will investigate the circumstances of your accident to establish whether the other driver was negligent and vigorously pursue your claims against the other driver and their employer in order to maximize your recovery. If the collision was in part caused by the employer’s business practices, such as their hiring and qualification policies, driver training and re-training, safety policies, or vehicle maintenance, we will fight to make sure that the proper parties are held accountable for the collision and responsible for your damages.
Helping Victims of a Commercial Vehicle Accident
If you’ve been hit by a commercial vehicle in Texas, call us at the Gilbert Adams Law Offices. Since 1930, we’ve helped auto accident victims in Texas assert their rights against insurance companies, drivers, and other responsible parties, and we look forward to helping you and your family too.
