Underride Truck Accident Attorney in Dallas

If you or a loved one was involved in an underride truck accident, the experienced underride truck accident attorney in Dallas at the Law Office of Doug Goyen can help you get the compensation you deserve and demand justice.

Underride truck accidents occur when a smaller passenger vehicle is crushed beneath an 18-wheeler's trailer, often resulting in serious injury or death. While this type of truck accident can occur for a variety of reasons, it is sometimes caused by the negligence of a truck driver or trucking company.

If you were injured in an underride truck accident or a loved one was killed in an underride truck accident, you have rights that a truck accident attorney can help you protect. Our law firm has years of experience obtaining compensation for injured accident victims and assisting bereaved families with wrongful death claims. Contact us today for a no-obligation consultation.

Call For A Free Case Review (972) 599 4100

THE DANGERS OF AN UNDERRIDE TRUCK ACCIDENT

Whether or not the truck is moving, this type of collision can result in serious injuries to those inside the car that ended up beneath the truck's trailer. Underride accidents happen more often than not when post-collision momentum forces a passenger vehicle beneath the truck trailer, or when the truck stops suddenly, giving the driver of the smaller vehicle insufficient time to react, and the smaller vehicle slides under the side or rear of the truck.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office in 2019 report describes underride collisions as: "An “underride” crash occurs when a passenger vehicle slides under the body of a tractor-trailer or “single-unit truck,” such as a delivery or dump truck. Due to the height difference between the vehicles, the car’s safety features are bypassed because the point of impact is not the front bumper of the car. Without these safety features to absorb the force of the collision, the passenger compartment can be crushed when it contacts the truck, potentially resulting in death or severe head and neck injuries for the occupants."

Unfortunately, police departments do not consistently report, or even report at all, fatalities that are caused by underrides. Accurate national statistics are difficult to determine. According to the 2019 GAO report, at least one state official reported that when they analyzed their data closely, they found that 16 percent of all fatal large truck crashes were caused by underride collisions.

Underride accidents are responsible for some of the most serious injuries and horrific deaths because the top of the vehicle can be cut off as a result of the collision, leaving the occupants of the smaller vehicle with severe trauma to the head and chest, including decapitation. Underride collisions are frequently caused by truck drivers' or trucking companies' negligence, such as turning in front of oncoming traffic, running a red light, running a stop sign, or changing lanes into another vehicle and dragging that vehicle underneath the trailer.

Call For A Free Case Review (972) 599 4100

CHOOSE A QUALIFIED DALLAS TRUCK ACCIDENT LAWYER

Hiring an experienced group of personal injury attorneys or a law firm to represent you in your lawsuit may help ensure that you receive the maximum financial compensation for your personal injuries and other losses. Your legal representatives should take the following steps to ensure that your recovery is not jeopardized:

• File a lawsuit against the responsible parties.
• Contact the defendant's insurance company.
• The cause of the collision and the cause of the injuries are being investigated.
• Recruiting top experts.
• Send information requests to the defendant.
• Depositions of any and all witnesses and parties.
• Get our case, our witnesses, and our clients ready for trial.

Our firm represents people who have been involved in a variety of truck accidents involving passenger vehicles.

Commercial truck accidents can be difficult to resolve if more than one entity is held liable for injuries and fatalities. To ensure that victims receive the compensation to which they are entitled, an experienced Dallas truck accident attorney who has successfully prosecuted truck accident cases is required.

Throughout Texas, the Law Office of Doug Goyen represents people who have been injured in truck accidents. We invite you to speak with one of our attorneys for a free consultation to discuss your legal rights following a truck collision. Please contact us right away so that we can begin working on your case right away.

Call For A Free Case Review (972) 599 4100

INJURIES RESULTING FROM UNDERRIDE ACCIDENTS

Semi-trailers, due to their elevated nature, pose a deadly hazard to any driver who happens to collide with them. Victims of underride accidents often suffer serious trauma, such as:

• Traumatic brain injury
• Wrongful death, often by decapitation
• Back and neck injuries
• Spinal cord trauma including paralysis
• Lacerations and crush injuries
• Bone fractures

Victims of a serious underride crash are extremely fortunate to survive. Underrides cause emotional and financial harm that can last a lifetime. The majority of injured victims will require long-term medical treatment, physical therapy, and assistive devices, imposing an unwelcome financial burden on the victim and loved ones. It can be difficult to predict the long-term medical and financial consequences of catastrophic injury cases like these.

Call For A Free Case Review (972) 599 4100

CAUSES OF UNDERRIDE TRUCK ACCIDENTS

There are a wide variety of causes of underride truck accidents. They often are caused by the truck driver's negligence. Truck drivers, truck companies, and their insurance companies are trained to NEVER ADMIT FAULT. Because of this mindset, it is not unusual to hear truck drivers who are normally upstanding citizens outside of work, who have completely fabricated what happened in an accident. The reasons are built into the trucking industry. Truck drivers can lose their jobs if they are found to be at fault in an accident (meaning they lose their ability to earn a living). If there are too many accidents on a driver's record they can lose their ability to be insured - which means their company will no longer be able to employ them. There is a high incentive on the driver's part to never admit responsibility, even when it appears they should. Trucking companies and their insurers do not want to pay for accidents their drivers cause because it causes losses to their bottom line.

Truck companies send company representatives to the scene of an accident to do an "investigation". This investigation is not to find out what happened but is designed to find anything they can use to place blame on the other driver (or to blame some phantom vehicle that they claim caused the accident). The truck driver is trained to gather any evidence they can find to place blame on the other driver (or on a phantom driver) - this is not like a regular driver who wants to get out of responsibility - truck drivers are trained in what to look for, questions to ask, things to claim that the other driver said or did that they will use to try and make it seem as though the other driver caused the accident.

Types of accidents that cause underride collisions with passenger vehicles include:

• Truck drivers who are distracted while driving or texting and driving
• Truck drivers who fail to yield the right of way - such as making u-turns in front of traffic, or making a left turn in front of oncoming traffic.
• Truck drivers who are intoxicated or drug-impaired
• Truck drivers who are fatigued while driving
• Truck drivers who are inexperienced drivers, or improperly trained or supervised
• Truck drivers who run red lights or stop signs - sometimes because of brake failure, or an overweight load, or inexperience and not driving in a reasonable manner for the circumstances.
• Truck drivers who make unsafe lane changes and drag a passenger vehicle underneath their trailer
• When a tractor-trailer fails to yield the right-of-way or changes lane into another vehicle - it is not the same as when a passenger vehicle does so. Due to the high level of the trailers, the injuries caused are often severe. An accident with a passenger vehicle that may have caused whiplash, when it happens with a tractor-trailer can cause decapitation due to the height of the trailer and lack of side or rear guards.

The cause of the accident is often caused by the truck driver. The cause of the severe injuries that high unguarded trailers cause (decapitation, etc.) is due to the trucking company refusing to have adequate side and rear guards on their trailers - regardless of which party was at fault in the accident.

Not only rear guards are needed to avoid trailers causing serious injuries, but side guards are needed as well. Injuries caused by the design of trailers and lack of guards in the side and rear are well-known issues in the trucking industry. Many trucking companies have begun to add guards to the rear and sides of their trailers - but many still do not. Some trucks damage their rear-guards when backing into objects or loading docks. It is not uncommon to see a tractor-trailer driving with a damaged and collapsed rear-guard on their truck. Collapsed and damaged guards must be fixed to be effective.

Call For A Free Case Review (972) 599 4100

CONTACT OUR DALLAS UNDERRIDE ACCIDENT LAWYERS

If you or someone you care about has been injured in a Dallas underride truck accident, you should contact an attorney as soon as possible. Our attorneys at the Law Office of Doug Goyen have extensive experience handling complex commercial truck accident claims in Dallas and across Texas. We understand what it takes to investigate these cases, determine liability, and negotiate a fair settlement on behalf of our clients with all parties. We will not back down in the face of adversity from insurance companies or trucking companies. If you require the services of a Dallas underride accident attorney, please contact us at (972) 599 4100 for a free consultation.

FREE CASE REVIEWS

If you are looking for a personal injury attorney, call (972) 599 4100. We offer free phone consultations. We also provide a free strategy session. The strategy session includes a summary of your case, legal issues involved, and legal issues we identify as being critical to maximizing the compensation owed.

THERE IS NO FEE IF WE DO NOT WIN

You owe us nothing if we are unable to recover. We charge a contingency fee structured to take a percentage of what we recover. As a performance-based contract, the better we do for you, the better we do for ourselves. This aligns our interests in the case with our client’s interests.

DIRECTIONS TO OUR OFFICE

Law Office of Doug Goyen
15851 Dallas Pkwy #605
Addison, Texas 75001
(972) 599 4100 phone
(972) 398 2629 fax

Directions to our office: We are on the southbound side of the service road to the Tollway. Stay on the Dallas North Tollway until you come to the Keller Springs exit. Take the Keller Spring exit. Stay on the service road on the southbound side and go just past Keller Springs. Our office is the 2nd building south of Keller Springs, located on the service road to the North Dallas Tollway in the Madison Business Center on the 6th floor.

By Doug Goyen, douggoyen@goyenlaw.com

Related Pages:

• Car Wrecks
• Truck Accidents
• Checklist After Leaving the Truck Accident Scene
• Blind Spot Truck Accident Lawyer
• Truck Accident Checklist at Accident Scene
• Damages in Truck Accident Cases
• Trucking Company Denying Liability

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