Commercial Vehicles Aren’t Just 18-Wheelers

When you hear the words “commercial vehicle wreck” what do you think of?  Most people imagine a massive, fully-loaded, semi-truck crushing down on them.  The reality, however, is that more and more serious accidents are caused by smaller commercial vehicles; including delivery vans, box trucks, and even gig economy drivers.  With the increase in online shopping, Amazon, UPS, FedEx, Uber Eats, and others have a lot of commercial rigs on the roadways.  The Car Crash Captain looks at what’s going on, how you can stay safe, and what to do if you’re involved in a wreck with a commercial vehicle in Texas.

The Rise in Commercial Vehicles

Multiple factors have increased the number of delivery vehicles on the roads.  While semi-trucks are still used heavily, they’re often for interstate travel and to move large quantities of goods from factories to warehouses.  Once there, however, companies rely on the smaller rigs for localized transport.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more deliveries have hit the roads with companies like Amazon leading the way.  Amazon realized it was more efficient to do their own deliveries (rather than rely on shipping companies), and thus over 100,000 branded delivery vans are out in force nearly every day of the week.

Gig economy – which is freelancing including driving like deliveries through Uber or transporting people – continues to grow as well.  About 60 million Americans freelance or do gig work.  Many of them are behind the wheel delivering products, people, or packages.

With minimal training, tight schedules, and deadlines, these drivers can often hit the roads without being fully prepared to actually hit the roads.

The Legal Issues of Commercial Vehicle Wrecks

There are numerous factors that pop up with a commercial vehicle wreck.  Like a crash with a big truck, liability isn’t always straightforward.

Is the driver independent, or an employee?  If they’re driving for Amazon, using an Amazon truck, it might be that Amazon is liable.  But if they’re driving for DoorDash, who is the liable party?

What kind of insurance does the driver carry?  Personal policies often won’t cover when driving for pay – and some drivers skip out on the proper insurance so they can make more money.

Is the vehicle classified as a commercial vehicle?  Here in Texas, the definition of a commercial vehicle depends on the use and weight, not necessarily the employer.  So, a delivery van transporting goods might be considered commercial, but a passenger vehicle delivering people might not.

How to Stay Safe on the Roads

With all of these “new” drivers on the road, how do we stay safe?  What do we do so we can ideally avoid a wreck, but also receive compensation if we are hit?

• Pay attention: many wrecks can be avoided by the victim paying more attention.  We can’t control the at-fault driver’s behavior, but we can control our own.
• Avoid commerce routes: if possible, stick to the streets where trucks and vans aren’t heavily using.
• Be insured: you can get a policy that will provide compensation if the other driver doesn’t have the right insurance.
• Know your rights: you have the right to an attorney.

What to Do After a Wreck

With all wrecks, the first thing is to ensure safety.  Clear the area, call the police, get medical attention.

Then, get in touch with Herbert Law Group.  If you’re injured, your number one priority should be to recover from those injuries.  You shouldn’t have to be worried about fighting with insurance companies, discovering liability, and dealing with adjusters.  Let us handle that.

All you have to do is call us at 214-414-3808, or fill out our contact form, and we’ll figure out what needs to be done to get you the justice you deserve.

What Injury Victims Need to Know About Medical Emergencies

We have said it before, and we’ll say it again: even if you’re a completely safe driver, it’s hard to predict the behavior of other drivers.  You may be driving and following all the rules, when suddenly another driver swerves into your lane and causes quite the collision.  Later it is discovered that the other driver had a medical emergency; maybe a heart attack, seizure, or otherwise lost control of his or her vehicle.

The Car Crash Captain explores this situation and helps you figure out who is liable for your injuries in this situation.

Texas Sudden Emergency Doctrine

Here in Texas there’s what’s called a “Sudden Emergency” doctrine.  What this case law does is reduces, or even eliminates, the driver from liability if the wreck was due to unforeseen and uncontrollable medical events.  In other words, if the crash happened because of a medical emergency, the driver that had the emergency might not be at fault.

There are some stipulations that apply here, so you can’t just claim anything was a “sudden emergency.”  It must be:

• Sudden and unexpected
• Not caused by the driver through negligence
• Driver’s response must be reasonable

To ensure that this doctrine isn’t abused, it’s often imperative to evaluate the medical condition.

Evaluating the Medical Condition

One of the biggest factors with this doctrine is the fact that the emergency must be unexpected.  Drivers who have knowledge about their own medical conditions, such as epilepsy, heart disease, diabetes, or more, might still be held liable since an attack could be determined “expected.”

To decide whether or not it could be expected, we have to consider evidence such as:

• Medical records
• Physician’s advice
• Use of prescription medication

If medical records or advice show that the person is likely to have an attack, or shouldn’t be driving, but they do so anyway, they might not be able to argue this doctrine.  Or, suppose a driver with a known seizure disorder skips his or her medication that morning, that would mean an attack happened due to the driver’s negligence.

What You May be Liable For

If you’re hit by a motorist that is deemed to have suffered a medical emergency, and thus not liable for the wreck, what happens?

You, as the victim, might still be able to seek compensation if you have:

• Uninsured/Underinsured motorist coverage
• Personal injury protection benefits
• Health insurance or accident insurance

Sometimes filing a claim with these additional coverages is straightforward, but other times it’s not.  Keep in mind that uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage usually only covers medical bills – it often won’t cover damage to your vehicle (ask your insurance agent about uninsured property damage coverage for that benefit).

You Need Herbert Law Group

These situations are complex, and it’s precisely why you need a lawyer that understands Texas law, knows how to argue for you in court, and can discover evidence that otherwise might be missed.

In other words, you need Herbert Law Group on your side.

If you’ve been injured in a wreck, and the other driver claims a medical emergency, are you going to be able to research their conditions, find out their medical records, and argue that they knew about the medical condition and chose to drive anyway?

Not likely.  But we do.

Let’s chat about what happened and determine how we can help you.  Call our offices at 214-414-3808, or fill out the contact form and we’ll be in touch with you.

Why is Texas Deadlier than Other States?

Hopping on your motorcycle and feeling the wind in your air… that’s why people ride.  It’s invigorating, freeing, and many bikes get much better gas mileage than their four wheel counterparts.

But that excitement doesn’t come without its risks.  We don’t have to tell you that riding a motorcycle is more dangerous than driving a car.  Besides the obvious (the lack of protection from the car body) what leads to the higher number of fatal motorcycle accidents in Texas?

Contributing Factors to Fatal Motorcycle Accidents

According to the 2017 data from the NHTSA Texas had a total of 490 fatal motorcycle accidents that year.  That’s around 9.4% of the total deaths for the entire US (which, if you compare population for Texas vs. the USA, Texas has about 8.8% of the population).

So, what contributed to those fatal accidents?  There are a few categories we should look at.

Speed – They say that speed kills.  When you’re in the open air, it happens more often.  Among fatal car crashes, 18% were caused by excessive speed (nationwide).  But when you look at fatal motorcycle accidents, speed was a factor in 32% of those wrecks.

Alcohol – Alcohol use while driving has gone down in recent years, but it’s still a significant factor.  35% of fatal motorcycle accidents were discovered to have at least some alcohol in their system (with 28% of that 35% being over the legal limit).

Helmet Usage – If you’re over the age of 21, you aren’t required to wear a helmet when riding in Texas (with proper certification).  But, it seems that most people do.  Roughly half of the fatal motorcycle accidents occurred when the rider was wearing a helmet.  Compare that to states where no helmet laws are in place, and the un-helmeted fatalities are closer to 70% of the total.

Population – Higher population states naturally have a higher number of fatal motorcycle accidents.  But that’s not always a factor.  If you look at Florida (population 21.5 million), they had the majority of the fatal motorcycle accidents despite a lower population than many other states.

Texas has a large population.  So, the number of fatal wrecks is going to be higher.  But if everyone that rides practiced safer riding (and wear a helmet), and all other vehicles do their diligence to watch out for those on bikes, that number can continue to go down.

Herbert & Eberstein Help with your Texas Motorcycle Accidents

Until we live in a perfect world, there will always be accidents.  Some of them will result in injury, and some will be fatal.  Compound the matter with insurance companies that want to pay you a tiny settlement that doesn’t compensate you, and these things are tough to recover from.

That’s where Zach Herbert and Brian Eberstein come into play.  With plenty of experience and deep knowledge of Texas motorcycle law, you can focus on healing or grieving, and we will handle the insurance companies.

Fill out the contact form, or give us a call at 214-414-3808, and let’s have a conversation about what happened to see if we’re able to help with your case.