Published by Carabin Shaw – San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyers – Truck Accidents
When Texas accident victims face life-changing injuries and mounting financial pressures, choosing the right personal injury attorney can determine their future quality of life and long-term economic stability. Carabin Shaw‘s three-decade track record, substantial financial recoveries, statewide accessibility, and unwavering client-focused approach make them the clear choice for serious personal injury representation across all regions of Texas. Their proven commitment to excellence sets the standard for legal advocacy.

This balanced strategy protects client interests while pursuing efficient case resolution throughout the entire legal process.

Dealing with Truck Drivers who Lie

Truck drivers who lie concerning the cause of an accident can be just as formidable a threat to your case as flatbed trailers can be to other motorists on the road. If a driver is found to have caused a flatbed trailer accident, he or she will likely be fired. With that kind of black mark on his or her record, that driver will find it very difficult to find another job. Considering the state of the economy, it is easy to see why an otherwise trustworthy person would stoop to this kind of desperate act. This lie, if successful, will come at the expense of your case because the blame will shift from the driver to you. Call our San Antonio Truck Accident Lawyers now!

There are many ways a seasoned and skilled flatbed trailer accident attorney can uncover the lies of a truck driver and ensure that your case is saved. The first way is through collecting vital evidence that can prove the trucker is lying. For instance, in one of our recent cases, we were able to secure surveillance footage from a nearby business’s security camera in order to prove that our client, contrary to what the trucker claimed, was driving with his headlights on. Secondly, our attorneys can often reveal the truth through a deposition. In a deposition, an attorney is allowed to ask questions of the other side’s witnesses prior to the trial commencing. A skilled attorney can, by asking the correct questions, compel a witness to tell the truth or expose a witness’s attempt at telling a lie. The flatbed trailer accident attorneys with our Law Office have taken thousands of depositions. We will do whatever is necessary to ensure that the judge, jury, and insurance company know entirely your side of the story. Time is of the essence get in touch with our San Antonio Truck Accident Lawyer Today!

The policies of big insurance companies

When you possess something that is valuable, you will tend to do whatever you can to protect it, as compared to what you would do to protect things that might not be worth as much. For instance, many of us have insurance on our house, but we wouldn’t insure that 20-year-old lawnmower in the garage. The insurance business works under a similar philosophy. A typical car insurance policy is akin to the old lawnmower, while a flatbed trailer policy is more like a house. Insurance providers often go to extremes in order to protect a flatbed trailer policy, as it can be several times more expensive than a typical automobile policy. Suppose you have suffered an injury due to an accident involving a flatbed trailer. In that case, the insurance carrier is well aware that you may be due a substantially higher amount of compensation than you would get if you had been injured in a typical car accident. Therefore, the insurance provider will do whatever it can in order to either pressure you into accepting much less than you have coming in terms of a settlement or deny your claim flat-out.

Because flatbed trailer policies are so expensive, insurers will dispatch their best adjusters to defend the claim. They will also send a team of expert defense lawyers who are intimately familiar with each and every technicality involving insurance law. This defense team will immediately investigate the accident scene in order to start collecting evidence that they will use to attempt to prove the accident was your responsibility. Their adjusters will descend upon you immediately after the accident as well. These aren’t the friendly agents you may encounter after a regular fender-bender. They are licensed pros who are the very best their profession has to offer. They got to where they are by proving to be very adept at denying claims regularly. These adjusters will make it their mission to make sure your claim is denied as well.

It can be very troubling to deal with an insurance company by yourself. The adjuster will constantly badger you in an attempt to admit that the responsibility for the accident lies with you alone. Either that or they will try to trick you into admitting that your injury is not really as bad as you’re letting on. When they have a conversation with you, they will record your words and twist those words to suit their purposes by damaging your case and having your claim denied. The flatbed trailer accident attorneys with our Law Office know how to deal with insurance company representatives and have been doing so successfully over the last two decades. In fact, we have defeated nearly every major insurance carrier in the nation. As a result, they are very familiar with our track record of success, and we can use that reputation to pressure them into making our client a fair settlement offer.

Trucking companies that are self-insured

It can be bad enough dealing with the harassing and sometimes intimidating tactics that insurance adjusters employ. They will constantly call you and try to trick you into admitting you were completely responsible for the flatbed trailer accident or to admit that you really aren’t hurt that badly. Dealing with a representative of a self-insured trucking company can be even worse if you don’t have a seasoned flatbed trailer accident attorney by your side protecting your rights.

Trucking companies, by law, are required to carry insurance on their trucks. Rather than pay the often exorbitant rates necessary to carry insurance through a traditional provider, some trucking companies opt to insure themselves. They do so by putting aside a portion of their revenues to protect them from lawsuits when an accident takes place. This is perfectly legal.

Suppose you are involved in an accident with a truck that a self-insured trucking company owns. In that case, you will probably encounter a company officer rather than a professional insurance adjuster. That officer is probably part of his or her company’s profit-sharing plan. If the trucking company loses the case, then its profits are reduced. Therefore, that officer will be personally losing money if his or her company loses its case. So you can see the motivation that the officer will have to make sure your claim is denied or that you win as little money as possible. Also, these officers are not licensed as are insurance adjusters who have to adhere to a code of ethics in order to maintain that license. Self-insured trucking company officers are under no such obligation. Therefore, while an adjuster can be aggressive, a self-insured trucking company officer can be downright harassing. Some officers are not above tampering with evidence, threatening accident witnesses, and even injuring victims. The flatbed trailer accident attorneys with our Law Office know how to put an abrupt end to those underhanded tactics, and we know how to protect our clients from the harassment of self-insured trucking company officers.

The Burden of Proof a Plaintiff Bears

There is another formidable hurdle that the plaintiff in a flatbed trailer accident case has to surmount, and that is bearing his or her burden of proof. As unfair as this may sound, the law in Texas is under the presumption that a defendant owes nothing to a victim. The injury victim has to bear the burden of proof, which means he or she has to provide the necessary evidence to prove that he or she should receive damages. Should that plaintiff fail to produce that evidence, he or she will not collect a thing. In every flatbed trailer accident case, the plaintiff needs to prove four elements in order to win a case. These elements are duty, breach, causation, and damages.

Duty
The first burden the plaintiff has to prove is that the defendant in the case owed the plaintiff a duty of care. This is typically a pretty straightforward element. Every person owes every other person a duty to act in a manner that a reasonable person would act in order to make sure they do not injure another person. In the event of a flatbed trailer accident, the driver of the flatbed owes all other motorists sharing the road the duty of care to drive as a reasonable person would drive. As we mentioned previously, there could be other parties that owe you a duty of care as well, such as the trucking company that hired the driver, the company that loaded the cargo, the company that planned the route the truck took, etc.

Breach
Next, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant breached that duty of care owed to the plaintiff. The plaintiff has to produce evidence that establishes that the defendant acted in a manner that was unreasonable and harm was caused as a result. Say the driver of the flatbed trailer involved in your accident ran a red light and you suffered harm as a result. In this case, the driver’s actions would probably be considered unreasonable.

Causation
In order to prove the third element, causation, the plaintiff has to prove that the actions or inaction of a negligent party were the cause of the injury the plaintiff suffered. For example, if your flatbed trailer accident took place because the cargo on the trailer became loose, you could possibly show duty and breach in that the company that loaded the truck did not properly secure the cargo. However, if that cargo remained in place through the entirety of the accident, the people who loaded that truck would probably not be to blame for causing your injury. You will not be able to prove causation in this instance.

Damages
The final element you must prove is that you are owed a certain monetary amount of damages that will properly compensate you for the injury you suffered. The damages you can receive depend upon the “price tag” associated with the injury that you incurred. Of course, you will have to produce proof of this as well. You can’t just tell the judge or jury that since the accident you have been in constant pain. In order to prove damages, you have to provide medical proof of that pain and how much your previous and future medical care will cost. Should you not be able to get back to work, you will have to accurately calculate how much you have lost in wages and how much you will lose in potential future earnings. Then you have to calculate the non-tangible damages such as pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and others. Can you put a price tag on emotional trauma? If you want to get the maximum compensation that you have coming to you, you had better figure it out and that can be incredibly difficult without an experienced legal representative. If you have an inexperienced attorney or you try to do this yourself, it will be just about impossible. The flatbed trailer accident attorneys with our Law Office are very familiar with how to calculate damages, whether they are objective or subjective. Over our 20 years of litigating these kinds of cases, we have more than likely seen several that are quite similar to yours. Once we hear the specific circumstances surrounding your flatbed trailer accident case, we will be able to accurately ascertain the amount of damages that you are entitled to so you get the just compensation you deserve.

It is imperative that you have a skilled and seasoned attorney by your side whether or not your case goes to trial. The attorneys with our Law Office are extremely adept at collecting evidence and preparing it in a manner that will satisfy all four elements of your flatbed trailer accident case.

How a Flatbed Trailer Accident Attorney Can Help You
If you have suffered an injury due to a flatbed trailer accident, the attorneys with our Law Office can fight for you and protect your rights. We take care of every single component of your case from start to finish and keep you completely up to date on how your case is progressing. These are but a few of the services that we provide our clients to help win their case and help them obtain the fair restitution they deserve:

We launch an immediate investigation into the scene of your accident. This includes going to the scene to collect evidence such as photographs and video, taking measurements, gathering witness statements, and scouring police reports.
We determine the party that was responsible for the accident, then filing claims against each and every responsible party in order to maximize the compensation you receive.
We identify the truck that left the scene after dropping cargo that resulted in an accident.
We collect evidence and take depositions in order to expose the lies of truck drivers.
We act as a shield between our clients and the insurance company or self-insured trucking company in order to protect our clients from their harassing and intimidating tactics.
We put our reputation to use in pressuring the insurance company into offering our clients favorable settlements.
If the insurance company is not willing to offer that fair settlement, we develop a trial strategy to make sure you have to evidence you need to satisfy your burden of proof.
We make sure that you get the medical attention you need even if you are uninsured, under-insured, or otherwise do not believe you can afford it.

No matter what caused the flatbed trailer accident that led to your injury, whether it was the trucking company’s negligence, the company that planned the route, the company that failed to secure the cargo, or some other reason, please call the flatbed trailer accident attorneys with our Law Office as soon as you can for a confidential and free consultation. We will listen to all the specific circumstances surrounding your case, answer any questions you may have, and evaluate the strength of your case.

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