What is an 18-wheeler accident case worth?

Many of our clients ask, “What is an 18-wheeler accident case worth?” and the answer depends on several different factors.

General Considerations for Valuing Semi-Truck Accidents

Truck accident valuations differ significantly from a car-to-car crash for these reasons:

A higher standard of care comes with being a professional driver of an 80,000-pound vehicle. The federal motor carrier safety regulations, which have been largely adopted by the state of Texas, provide specific safety rules for both truck drivers and companies. Violation of the safety rules can be powerful evidence at trial, and for this reason, 18-wheeler accidents tend to be valued higher than the same accident with a car-to-car.

Damages are usually significant given the disparity of weight between the typical 18-wheeler and the vehicles it strikes. Simple physics suggest that the injury potential increases exponentially with the weight of the vehicle. Serious injuries such as broken bones, spinal cord injury requiring surgery, head injury, or other significant trauma are more likely than not when an 18-wheeler is involved. The severity of the property damage is a factor in assessing damages.

Commercial vehicles require commercial liability insurance policies that are much larger than the Texas minimum liability policy required for passenger cars. Most small to medium-sized trucking companies carry a minimum liability policy of $1 million, and some have policies much larger. Medium-sized to larger trucking companies typically have excess policies that exceed the primary limits.

Because a commercial policy is involved in truck accident cases and the heightened duties of both the trucking company and the professional driver, cases involving an 18-wheeler and personal injury are usually valued higher than the same damages with a car-to-car crash.

Factors for Determining Fair Damages

We have been winning tractor-trailer accident cases for over three decades and have become the go-to law firm in the greater Houston area for this type of case. Due to our expertise in suing truck drivers and trucking companies, we are able to fight for maximum compensation in a limited number of cases that we have agreed to take. In every case, the amount of damages is dependent upon many different factors. Here are a few considerations:

The amount of medical expenses- past and future
The treating physician’s diagnosis and prognosis for the future
Objective test findings by the treating doctors
Lost wages- past and future
Disability and disfigurement
Pain and suffering
Loss of mobility

Determining Fair Value for Your Case

We use our decades of experience in handling truck crash cases to analyze the severity of the damage for each of our clients. Factors such as the permanent nature of an injury or the recovery Timetable are important considerations. Injuries that are lingering and of a permanent nature tend to be significant factors in considerations by juries. The doctor’s testimony regarding future expenses associated with the treatment is very important in damage assessments.

Juries and the trucking company’s insurance adjusters tend to value the doctor’s testimony more than what the injured victim has to say. Although juries give great weight to treating physicians, and in serious damage cases, the defense always retains a doctor who will testify to minimize damages.

Other factors considered in damage assessment include whether surgery was necessary and whether hardware was implanted. Surgical cases are often easier to demonstrate to a jury the extent of the injury and the necessity of the treatment. Operated cases also tend to minimize the defense tactic of hiring a doctor who justifies that surgery is not necessary and the injured person is malingering.

Each case is analyzed once the complete medical records have been obtained and the doctor’s opinions are known. There is no universally accepted formula for dealing with a truck crash case.

Contact the Houston 18-Wheeler Attorneys for Help

Call for a free consultation- (281) 893-0760

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About Greg Baumgartner

Greg Baumgartner is a preeminent rated personal injury lawyer based in Houston, Texas, with over three decades of experience representing severely injured clients in truck accidents. He founded Baumgartner Law Firm, in 1985, with a mission to provide excellent legal representation and personalized attention to every client.