If you were injured in a truck accident in Texas, you may be entitled to compensation, but your attorney must first prove that the negligence of a truck driver or other party was the cause of your injury. Proving causation is a complex process, however, and relies on both factual evidence and legal standards that connect the defendant’s conduct to the harm suffered.
At Winocour Law in Dallas, we handle truck accident injury claims for clients in the DFW Metroplex and throughout Texas. Our knowledge of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations and investigative approach helps us determine the causes of truck accidents and identify all liable parties.
Backed by a 135-year legacy, our Dallas truck accident lawyers are prepared to handle complex truck accident cases involving disputed causation and serious, life-changing injuries.
Two Types of Causation in Texas Truck Accident Claims
Under Texas personal injury laws, plaintiffs must establish two types of causes when seeking damages for a truck accident. These are actual cause and proximate cause.
Actual Cause
Actual cause is essentially the reason something happens. If you were injured because a truck driver ran a red light, that traffic violation was the actual cause of your injury, which would not have occurred but for that violation.
The but-for test confirms this direct link. The defendant’s negligence must be the reason the harm occurred. The truck driver who runs a red light and strikes your vehicle has created the actual cause of your injury.
Proximate Cause
Proximate cause is about foreseeability and legal responsibility. In determining proximate cause, the law asks whether the defendant could have reasonably anticipated that their actions might result in the harm suffered by the plaintiff.
Any accident has an almost endless chain of theoretical contributing causes. Proximate cause identifies which of those causes is close enough and foreseeable enough to make the defendant legally responsible.
Common Types of Truck Accident Negligence
As important as causation is in a truck accident claim, it is important to know what types of negligence often come into play in these cases. FMCSA regulations establish strict safety standards for commercial trucking operations, and violations of these rules are often central to establishing causation.
Some of the most common truck accident causes include:
- Driver fatigue: Federal regulations place strict limits on how many hours a truck driver can drive per day and per week. When drivers exceed these limits, their attention and ability to safely operate a commercial vehicle are significantly impaired.
- Distracted driving: Truck drivers are required to keep their full attention on the road at all times. Using a phone, adjusting GPS devices, eating, or other in-cab distractions can delay reaction time and lead to serious collisions.
- Speeding or unsafe driving for conditions: Large commercial trucks require significantly more time and distance to stop. When drivers exceed speed limits or fail to slow down in heavy traffic, rain, or construction zones, they increase the risk of catastrophic accidents.
- Improper cargo loading: Trucking companies and loading crews must ensure cargo is properly secured and evenly distributed. Overloaded or shifting cargo can cause a truck to tip, jackknife, or lose control, endangering everyone on the roadway.
- Faulty maintenance: Trucking companies are required by law to maintain their vehicles and never allow any truck with known defects onto the road. Brake failure, tire blowouts, and other maintenance problems can lead to injuries and deaths on the road.
If negligence caused your accident, an experienced Dallas truck accident lawyer with knowledge of FMCSA regulations and other trucking laws can establish the links between your injury and breaches of the law by truck drivers, trucking companies, and other liable parties.
The Four Elements of Negligence in a Truck Accident Claim
Causation is only one of four elements you must establish in a negligence claim, which include the following:
Duty of Care
Every driver on Texas roads has a legal obligation to operate their vehicle in a reasonably safe manner and to avoid actions that could foreseeably harm others. For commercial truck drivers and trucking companies, this duty is heightened due to the size, weight, and increased danger associated with large commercial vehicles.
Breach of that Duty
A breach of duty occurs when a driver or trucking company fails to meet the required standard of care. This can include actions such as violating traffic laws, ignoring FMCSA safety regulations, failing to maintain equipment, or engaging in unsafe driving practices that put others at risk.
Causation
As discussed above, you must establish two things: that your injury would not have occurred but for the defendant’s action or inaction, and that the harm you suffered was a foreseeable result of that negligence.
Damages
You must have suffered material harm in order to pursue compensation. In a Texas personal injury claim, damages may include medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, diminished quality of life, and other economic and non-economic losses.
Proving Fault in a Truck Accident Case
Knowing a truck driver or other party caused your injury is one thing. Establishing it in court is another.
An experienced truck accident lawyer can seek key evidence from numerous sources to build a clear timeline of how the accident occurred and how the defendant’s actions directly led to the crash:
- Black box data
- Electronic logging device (ELD) records
- Driver hours-of-service logs
- Driver qualification files
- Trucking company maintenance records
- Cargo loading documentation
- Surveillance footage
- Eyewitness testimony
- Skid mark measurements and other physical evidence
- Accident reconstruction experts
By connecting regulatory violations, physical evidence, and witness accounts, an attorney can demonstrate both actual and proximate cause, showing that the injury was not only caused by negligence but was also a foreseeable result of it.
Let Us Investigate the Cause of Your Truck Accident Injury
Establishing actual and proximate cause in a truck accident case requires evidence, and evidence disappears fast after a crash. The sooner you have an attorney, the stronger your case. You don’t have to face the insurance companies and their legal teams alone. If you’ve been injured in Texas, contact us at Winocour Law for a free, no-obligation consultation. No fees unless we win.