Average Truck and 18 Wheeler Accident Settlement | Texas Injury Laws
Wondering about the average settlement for Texas 18-wheeler accidents? Many variables affect the size of a Texas truck accident settlement and create multi-millions dollar settlements and verdicts for victims and their families. Damages usually depend on the extent of the truck driver’s fault and the extent of the victim’s injuries, which we fully explain on this page.
You can also learn of the prospects for settlement in your specific circumstances by speaking with one of our experienced personal injury lawyers today. Ask to speak with Texas Truck and 18 Wheeler Lawyer Niles Sneed directly by calling 866-434-0014 for a free and confidential consultation. Niles has become an icon in Texas courtrooms for aggressively and consistently holding commercial companies fully accountable for their unsafe and negligent actions. We fight protect our clients and are undefeated in court.
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What Is The Average 18 Wheeler Accident Case Worth?
Although determining the 18 Wheeler average settlement is difficult, a catastrophic injury claim , such as a severe back injury or traumatic brain injury, can easily exceed $1,000,000 million dollars, while additional compensation considerations, such as a punitive damage award (meant to punish a commercial trucking company) regularly create multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts for truck accident victims and their families.
Recent truck accidents may help clarify the wide range of settlements. A recent accident involving a tow truck in East Brunswick, New Jersey led to a settlement of $1.5 million. A Texas court awarded another victim one of the largest settlements in history ($140 million) in 2019 after an accident with an 18-wheeler truck. A similar award of 80.5 million was provided to a family after a loved one loss their life when a commercial trick collided head on with his vehicle at 70 mph.
The typical 18-wheeler truck accident settlement is much larger than those awarded following other auto accidents and depends on two factors;
1) What caused the tractor-trailer to hit you or your loved one? Truck drivers are often inattentive, reckless, intoxicated, or otherwise driving illegally at the time. Or accidents are caused by trucking companies and fleet operators that force their driver's to violate time-limit restrictions, load restrictions, or fail to properly maintenance the tractor trailer.
2) What is the physical, emotional, and impact of the accident? Large trucks cause extensive bodily injuries and create life-altering situations that include long-lasting medical treatment and rehabilitation costs, economic loss, permanent disfigurement, and future damages and costs related to all of the forms of compensation legally recoverable in Texas.
What Is A Truck Accident Case Settlement Calculator?
Lawyers that use the terms market "settlement calculators" or "pain and suffering calculators" to try and convince the public that there are computations to estimate the money damages a truck accident victim can secure in an award. Law firm do this to convince you into signing with this. Not us. Here at Sneed|Mitchell LLP we pride ourselves on being trustworthy, transparent, and straight forward. We've recovered millions for truck accident victims through our unrivaled experience in forcing commercial companies to let our experts inspect the damaged tractor trailer, the driver's driving history, all safety records, maintenance inspection logs, and more to prove the driver or company was engaged in negligent or reckless actions in causing the accident to occur.
The most important elements that factor into the settlement of a trucking accident case is proving liability (who is responsible), proving all the Federal and State safety rules that have been violated, and hiring medical treatment experts to show how your life have been impacted physically, economically, and emotionally both currently and in the future.
What Damages Can I Obtain in a Truck Accident Settlement?
Texas law recognizes that a person hit and injured in a semi-truck crash may receive financial compensation for both damages that can be quantified as ‘economic’ and also ‘non-economic’.
Examples of economic damages recoverable in a truck settlement or lawsuit would include:
Medical bills- for both past and future care
Lost income
Damage to your vehicle
Cost of future attendant care if needed
Examples of non-economic damages would include:
Pain and suffering
Disability
Loss of normal life
Scarring or disfigurement
Loss of society (in the case of wrongful death)
In certain commercial vehicles and 18-wheelers accident cases, punitive damages are also available. Punitive damages, also called "exemplary damages" are additional sums meant to financially punish bad behavior and discourage the company from engaging in similar actions moving forward. Punitive damages are obtained when a lawyer's investigations reveals that the truck driver or company violated certain safety or compliance rules that are viewed as reckless or grossly negligent under the law.
Punitive damages not available in every situation, but one of our experienced personal injury attorney can evaluate the claim and inform you of the types of compensation available truck accident settlement.
How Do I Maximize The Value of My Claim?
After a truck accident, your first priority should always be obtaining medical treatment. Adrenaline and shock can keep you from initially noticing severe injuries.
As soon as you’ve taken care of your injuries, you need to contact an Experienced Truck Accident Lawyer.
Retaining a lawyer quickly is important because trucking companies may lose or destroy important evidence related to your case. If you have suffered injuries in a big rig accident, contact the undefeated truck accident attorney Niles Sneed today.
Niles helps accident victims obtain deserved compensation for their injuries after serious trucking accidents. Trucking companies have a legal duty to operate their vehicles in a safe manner. If you believe that a trucking company violated that legal duty, thereby causing your injuries, Niles Sneed can help.
How Long Does It Take To Settle An 18 Wheeler Injury Claim?
If you or a loved one was involved in a commercial trucking accident and wants to settle the claim quickly, the best way to prompt a faster resolution is by ensuring that there isn't a delay in retaining an qualified attorney. Your lawyer should quickly send an accident reconstruction expert to examine the damaged tractor-trailer and collect electronic data. This investigation not only puts pressure on the insurance company, but discovers whether the company poorly maintained the vehicle and reveals the truck driver's actions at the time of impact.
Your lawyer might also determine that filing a lawsuit is needed immediately based upon the circumstance surrounding the accident. Some factors that could delay a settlement include unclear liability and whether your medical treatment plan is still undetermined.
With our law firm, truck accident settlements negotiations are normally finalized within one month after they begin. Our attorneys know what we figure we need to obtain for our client and tell every insurance adjuster and third party claims administrator that we won't accept any less on behalf for the victim and their family.
The best bet at settling a semi-truck accident as quickly as possible is gathering evidence from the scene, seeking immediate medical care, and consulting an attorney about your case. Without guidance from a lawyer, it could take weeks to settle a semi-truck accident situation, and even then, a lack of legal knowledge could be the difference in recovering a high or low settlement.
What Must Be Proven To Win Compensation?
When bringing a claim with the negligent driver’s insurance company here in Texas, the victim has the burden of establishing your right to compensation for your injuries. To prove liability and win a car wreck case, you will need to show:
The other driver had a legal duty to use reasonable care on the road.
The other driver was negligent by operating their car unsafely.
The other driver’s caused the wreck.
You were physically damaged by the driver’s negligence.
If you were partially at-fault in causing the auto accident, the law of proportionate responsibility in Texas still allows you to recover a portion of the damages as long as you were not more than 50% at fault in causing the collision.
What Types Of Injuries Result In Higher 18 Wheeler Case Recoveries?
Although you do not have to be severely injured to receive a substantial recovery after being hit by a commercial truck, certain injuries require extensive rehabilitation costs. Seven and eight figure commercial accident settlements include any medical treatment forecasts, vocational needs, equipment, future facility care, architectural renovations, and future treatment costs. The assessment that determines the needs of any accident victim is called a "Life Care Plan".
Common diagnosis that require Life Care Plans include:
Spinal cord injuries and whiplash - Spinal cord injuries occur from forceful impact to the head, vertebrae, ligaments, disks of the spinal column or to the cord itself. A traumatic blow to your spine can cause herniated disks, bulging disks, nerve pain, numbness, paralysis, or can even prove fatal to the victim.
Concussions and Brain Injuries - According to the Center for Disease Control, around 30% of all injury related deaths are contributed to traumatic brain injuries. Of these fatalities, more than 14% are the direct result of trucking and automobile accidents. If you are feeling even minor headaches after a trucking accident, please inform your doctor and attorney in order to obtain the proper care.
Broken Bones - The most common bones that suffer fractures in motor vehicle accidents include the spinal column, pelvis, facial bones, and sternum (breast plate). The imaging performed at an emergency facility detect skeletal breaks and .determine whether emergency surgery or follow-up care is required.
Shoulder or Rotator Cuff Injuries - Rotator cuff injuries are common in motor vehicle accidents and often occur to the arm restrained by the seatbelt during impact. Without proper medical treatment, rotator cuff conditions can lead to permanent loss of motion. An experienced personal injury attorney will ensure that any future procedure be provided for in the settlement.
Crush Injuries- When large trucks crash into smaller motor vehicles, the forceful impact often results in the the smaller car folding or collapsing, causing inhabitants to suffer direct tissue trauma and even crush syndrome. These conditions can result in organ failure, renal failure, hypothermia, paralysis, or acute lung injury.
Additional complications include whiplash, amputations, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), scarring and disfigurement, brain stem injuries, and even damaged breast implant injuries.
Never finalize a trucking accident settlement before you are fully aware of your extent of injury. If you are experiencing any odd sensations of physical discomfort that was not present before the collision, seek proper treatment to avoid any additional or long-term complications. An experienced attorney can assist by referring you to a medical specialist if you are uninsured or do not want to utilize your own insurance.
How Frequent Are Semi and Tractor-Trailer In Texas?
The roads are dangerous. A loaded trucks or 18 wheelers weighs 20 to 30 times as much as passenger cars and in 2018 caused 4,136 crash fatalities, with 96% of these deaths being to the passenger vehicle occupants. All of us have experienced hair raising close calls as semi trucks and big rigs sway near vehicles on interstates and freeways, which is why the law holds large trucks and their commercial fleet operators highly accountable for any unsafe actions or failed safety protocols that result in trucking accidents. As of January 1, 2020, the latest fatal truck accident statistics show that Texas has the highest rate of fatal large commercial truck accidents, followed by California, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
If you were a victim of semi or large truck crash and need assistance with a truck accident settlement, we are ready to assist you.
Experienced Texas Truck Accident Lawyers
If you or a loved one have been in an accident with a truck in Texas, talk to an experienced Texas personal injury attorney to assess the legal situation and the extent of your economic and non-economic damages. Our truck accident attorneys will offer you a free case evaluation and help you to understand exactly how damages are determined in your truck accident case. If you’d like to speak to an attorney at Sneed|Mitchell LLP, call us at 866-434-0014 or contact us online.