A major accident occurred on I-35 in San Antonio this week, when the hydraulically-lifted dump truck bed being pulled by a big rig began to malfunction. According to reports, the big rig was driving down I-35 when the hydraulic dump truck bed began to lift. The truck driver and passenger apparently did not notice this occurring, and the dump truck bed got so high that it took out the power lines and fiber-optic lines over the highway. The live power lines snapped and fell, starting fires in a grassy area and a nearby building, as well as damaging multiple vehicles. The truck bed intercepting the wires also caused the entire truck and bed to flip, damaging and colliding with several other vehicles in the process, and resulting in serious injuries for the occupants of the truck.
First responders managed to control the fires and evacuate the driver and passenger from the truck. A man removed from the truck was transported by ambulance to an area hospital, while a woman removed from the truck had critical head injuries and was transported to the hospital via helicopter.
Liability for Major Collisions in San Antonio
If you have suffered an injury as a result of a truck or vehicle collision that was not your fault, you may be feeling overwhelmed and unsure of what your options really are. Luckily, you do not have to navigate this process alone. An experienced Texas personal injury attorney can make an excellent advocate and ally.
In order to recover for an injury in Texas, it must have been caused by another person or party’s negligence or recklessness. In order to establish negligence, you must show that this person or party failed to provide the duty of care owed to you. In a car accident case, deviating from the required standard of care may look like driving drunk, distracted, or fatigued. Speeding and violating traffic laws also violate your duty of care to other drivers.
Once you have established that the driver was negligent in some way, you must then demonstrate that the negligence is what caused your harm. For instance, if a driver was stopped at a red light texting and you rear-ended them, their texting would be irrelevant in establishing fault as it did not cause you to hit them. However, if a driver was texting while driving and hit you, it would be clear that the driver’s negligence directly contributed to causing your harm and subsequent injuries.
Identifying Negligent Parties
Although it is most common to immediately look to the drivers involved in the crash, sometimes liability is not that clear cut. Depending on the situation, it may be necessary to look deeper. For instance, in trucking accidents where the truck driver is driving fatigued, the truck driver may not be the only party liable. If the truck driver’s company required them to skip breaks, work long hours, or haul to meet a tight-deadline, the trucking company can also be liable. This can become apparent by having your lawyer request break logs and other information from the trucking company.
Product Liability Issues in Personal Injury Cases
In cases like the one mentioned above, a product liability issue may be responsible for the harm and injuries suffered. A properly functioning hydraulic truck bed should not be able to be lifted while the truck is in motion. Additionally, if this occurred due to a malfunction or a broken or poorly designed component of the dump truck bed, the manufacturer of the truck bed and the component can be held liable as parties to the lawsuit, as well. Notably, the driver and passenger of the truck would also potentially have the ability to sue the manufacturers for the harm they suffered as a result of their negligence. As you can see, liable parties are not always clear cut!
Contact a San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyer
If you have suffered injuries as a result of a San Antonio truck accident that was not your fault, contact the Law Office of Eric Ramos to schedule a free consultation today. There’s no fee until we win.