Trucks are an essential part of our economy, but they cause serious dangers when the people responsible for transporting goods are careless about ensuring that trucks are properly loaded. There are strict federal and state regulations that dictate how much cargo can be loaded in a certain amount of space and how that cargo needs to be distributed across a truck bed so that unsecured cargo accidents can be minimized. Unfortunately, these regulations are sometimes disregarded, causing truck accidents that have serious and fatal consequences. 

Why Is Overloading a Truck Dangerous? 

When a vehicle as strong and large as a truck is capable of carrying tons of cargo, a few extra pounds may not seem like a big deal. But an overloaded truck carries serious safety problems, including: 

• Greater risk of tipping and rollover accidents 
• Reduced ability to steer accurately 
• Going too fast down hills and being unable to control speed 
• Being unable to stop or slow down in time 
• Not being able to respond appropriately to inclement weather conditions 

Any one of these factors makes the likelihood of a truck accident much higher, especially when other vehicles are around. Even the best truck drivers are at risk of getting into accidents because they simply cannot control their vehicle as predictably. 

As anyone who has been hurt in a serious car accident can tell you, the impact of a car crash can be long-reaching and unpredictable. In addition to the medical treatment that the driver and passengers often need, people injured in car accidents often miss work, have long-term changes in their physical or cognitive abilities, and suffer from psychological trauma that requires professional intervention. 

Finding out that an insurance company has given you a lowball offer for your settlement can quite literally add insult to injury. The last thing you want to do as you recover from a car accident is to have to fight for fair compensation for your injuries, yet because of the enormous expense and long-term implications of your injuries, taking the time to get a fair offer is crucial. If you have been in a car accident and have received what seems like a low or unfair offer from the responsible driver’s insurance company, you do not have to manage the situation by yourself. Get help from a Texas personal injury attorney who is familiar with insurance companies and their tactics. 

Will an Insurance Company Always Give a Low Offer? 

While the person the insurance company hired and trained to talk to you on the phone about your accident may have sounded polite and even sympathetic, do not fall for it. They are specially trained to offer sincere-sounding apologies and sympathetic commiseration, but they do not know you or care about you. Instead, the job of an insurance company’s agent is only to work for the insurance company and help them be financially successful. 

Last week in El Paso’s Upper Valley, two women were killed when a semi-truck pulling a cargo trailer crashed into a passenger vehicle as the vehicle attempted a U-turn at an intersection. Texas has several hundred fatal trucking accidents every year, each accident leaving behind grieving loved ones looking for reasons for their loss. 

If you have lost someone you love in a Texas car crash, it is important to determine whether the other driver’s actions were responsible for the accident. An experienced personal injury attorney can complete an investigation into the causes of the accident on your behalf. If the other driver had even partial responsibility for the crash, you may be able to recover compensation for a wide range of losses, including lost wages, pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and more. 

What Are the Most Common Causes of Passenger Vehicle and Semi-Truck Accidents? 

Passenger vehicles rarely fare well in even relatively minor crashes with semi-trucks. Semi-trucks are so much larger and heavier than passenger vehicles that small crashes can quickly become serious or fatal. Many times, the accidents are the result of the truck driver failing to pay sufficient attention to their environment or driving under heavy fatigue. Other times, passenger vehicle activity causes or contributes to crashes. 

While all types of car accidents have the potential to cause serious and even fatal injuries, rollover car accidents are responsible for a disproportionate share of car crash fatalities. The majority of rollover accidents happen on highways at high speeds and a car may roll laterally or longitudinally, depending on the speed and direction of the accident. Because drivers and passengers are commonly ejected from the car in these accidents, they easily suffer extreme injuries or death upon impact with the ground. Even when passengers’ bodies remain in the car, the chance for severe injuries is still high.

When rollover accidents occur, it is important to determine whether another driver, motorcyclist, pedestrian, or other third party was responsible for causing the accident so injured parties can bring a personal injury lawsuit. If you or someone you love was injured or killed in a rollover car accident, a Texas personal injury attorney may be able to help. 

Why Do Rollover Accidents Happen? 

Cars with a high center of gravity, like SUVs or pickup trucks, are at the greatest risk of rolling over. However, any car that is moving fast enough and which experiences a sudden change in direction can roll over. Such changes in direction can happen for a number of reasons, including side, rear, or front impact with another vehicle. In fact, rollover accidents involving multiple vehicles result in nearly twice the fatality rate as single-vehicle rollover crashes. Other causes of rollover accidents include: 

As every parent knows, children–especially infants–cannot help but put everything in their mouths. While this behavior may be an important part of childhood development, it is also a major source of stress for parents who are constantly trying to keep their children from choking to death on small objects. 

Parents are responsible for making sure that toys with small parts and known risks, such as building blocks and marbles, are kept safely out of the reach of young children. But what about toys that are supposed to be safe for infants? What about toys that break into small pieces, or packaging that fails to notify parents of the toy’s hazardous potential? If your child has been injured or killed by a toy or broken piece of a toy, you may be able to take legal action. 

Non-Fatal Choking Accidents Can Still Cause Serious Injuries

News headlines stand as a warning to parents all over the country when a young child tragically chokes to death on a toy. But even when a child does not die in a choking accident, she can still suffer serious and even life-threatening injuries. Examples of such dangerous circumstances include: