Truck Accidents
Truck Accident Lawyer in Dallas
An 80,000-pound truck hitting a 4,000-pound car isn't a fender bender. It's a catastrophic event. The injuries are worse. The medical bills are higher. The insurance policies are bigger. And the trucking company already has lawyers and investigators working against you — probably before you've even left the hospital. You need someone on your side who knows how these cases work.
Truck Accident?
Tell us what happened. Time-sensitive evidence needs preserving.
Why Truck Cases Are Different From Car Cases
Bigger Insurance Policies
Commercial trucks carry $750,000 to $5,000,000 in liability coverage — compared to $30,000 to $100,000 for a typical car. More coverage means higher potential recovery. But it also means the insurance company fights harder.
Multiple Liable Parties
In a car wreck, it's usually one driver at fault. In a truck wreck, the driver, the trucking company, the cargo loader, the maintenance contractor and the equipment manufacturer can all share liability. More defendants = more insurance policies = higher total recovery.
Federal Regulations
Truck drivers must follow FMCSA rules: 11-hour daily driving limits, mandatory rest breaks, drug and alcohol testing, vehicle inspection requirements. Violating these rules is evidence of negligence. We subpoena the ELD data to prove it.
Evidence Disappears Fast
ELD data can be overwritten in 6 months. Dashcam footage gets deleted in 30 days. Drug test results expire. Trucking companies are supposed to preserve evidence, but they don't always. A spoliation letter from a lawyer forces them to keep it.
Truck Accident Settlement Values
| Injury | Settlement Range | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Soft tissue / whiplash | $25,000 – $75,000 | 6–12 months |
| Broken bones / fractures | $75,000 – $250,000 | 6–18 months |
| Back / spinal surgery | $250,000 – $1,000,000 | 1–2 years |
| Traumatic brain injury | $500,000 – $5,000,000 | 1–3 years |
| Amputation / permanent disability | $1,000,000 – $10,000,000+ | 2–4 years |
| Wrongful death | $1,000,000 – $10,000,000+ | 1–3 years |
Truck accident settlements are typically 3-10x higher than comparable car accident settlements due to larger insurance policies and more severe injuries.
Common Causes of Truck Accidents in Dallas
Driver Fatigue
FMCSA limits drivers to 11 hours per day. Many violate this. Trucking companies pressure drivers to deliver faster. ELD data proves when a driver exceeded legal limits.
Distracted Driving
Texting, GPS, eating, phone calls. A distracted truck driver is 23x more likely to cause a crash. Cell phone records and dashcam footage prove distraction.
Overloaded Cargo
Max gross weight: 80,000 pounds. Overloaded trucks can't stop in time, blow tires and roll over. The cargo loading company is liable if the load exceeded limits or shifted during transport.
Brake Failure
Commercial brakes require regular inspection and maintenance. Deferred maintenance is one of the most common trucking company violations. Maintenance logs prove negligence.
Why Dallas Is a Truck Accident Hotspot
DFW is the largest inland freight hub in the United States. Three major interstates converge here — I-35, I-30 and I-20 — forming a crossroads for commercial trucking between the Gulf Coast, the Midwest and the West Coast. More than 50,000 commercial trucks pass through the DFW metroplex every day. That volume puts 18-wheelers alongside commuter traffic on highways that weren't designed for this mix.
I-35E from Waxahachie to Denton is the most dangerous truck corridor in North Texas. This stretch carries north-south freight between San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Oklahoma City and Kansas City. The southern segment through South Dallas narrows to three lanes in each direction while carrying some of the highest truck percentages in the state — 30 to 40 percent of traffic at certain times. Rear-end collisions involving semis are a daily occurrence.
I-20 through Southern Dallas County connects the ports of Long Beach and Houston to the eastern seaboard. It intersects with I-35E and I-45 in tight interchange configurations that force trucks into rapid lane changes. Underride crashes — where a passenger vehicle slides under a trailer — happen here more often than TxDOT likes to admit.
I-30 between Dallas and Fort Worth carries heavy truck traffic between the DFW logistics hubs in Arlington and Grand Prairie. The speed limit is 70 mph but trucks frequently run 75 to 80 in the left lane. At those speeds, stopping distance for a loaded 80,000-pound truck exceeds 500 feet — nearly two football fields.
Texas has more truck accident fatalities than any other state. Dallas County consistently ranks in the top five Texas counties for commercial vehicle crashes. The combination of high truck volume, high speeds and an aging highway system creates conditions that produce catastrophic injuries. When a 4,000-pound sedan collides with an 80,000-pound truck at highway speed, physics dictates the outcome. The car always loses.
Truck Accident Questions
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Truck Accident?
Tell us what happened. Evidence must be preserved quickly.
Hit by an 18-Wheeler? Time Is Critical.
Evidence gets destroyed. Witnesses forget. The trucking company already has lawyers. Call now.
Call (214) 736-4400