Commercial trucking companies that operate semi-trucks in Austin continually focus on ways to ship maximum cargo to multiple destinations in the minimum amount of time. That’s how they can reduce operating costs and maximize their profits. To achieve this goal of profit maximization, some trucking companies may push semi-truck drivers in direct or indirect ways to prioritize speed and driving time over safety.
For this reason, it is important in semi-truck accident cases to investigate the role of the trucking company and prove their liability, and not just look at the trucker’s negligence. At Miller Weisbrod Olesky, our seasoned Austin semi-truck accident lawyers are determined to hold negligent trucking companies and other at-fault third parties liable in order to maximize financial compensation for the injured victims in Austin.
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Our Truck Accident attorneys are led by Clay Miller who is Board-Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law. Less than 3% of all Texas attorneys have achieved board certification and less than that have a personal injury trial law board certification which required numerous jury trials and the passing a rigorous exam in the specialty.
If you or a family member has suffered a personal injury or a wrongful death due to a negligent semi-truck driver or their trucking company employer, understand that you do not have to fight this battle alone. The experienced and award-winning Austin Semi-Truck accident attorneys at Miller Weisbrod Olesky can take on the fight for you so you can focus on recovering from your injuries or properly mourn the loss of a loved one whichever is the case. We will make sure you can focus on family and health without suffering any harm in obtaining the justice you and your family rightfully deserve.
A truck driver for one of the largest trucking companies in the United States attempted to use an on-board computer while driving, and did not see our client’s mother’s vehicle slowing down to assist a disable vehicle. The semi truck smashed into her vehicle causing her death.
Miller Weisbrod Olesky quickly filed a wrongful death case and obtained a temporary restraining order over the semi-truck. Our legal team learned during the lawsuit that the national company had made a corporate decision to disable a "lock-out device" for the on-board computer—thus allowing drivers to drive and type/read on the computer simultaneously; allowing the semi-truck driver to be distracted while driving. The company and its insurance companies then agreed to a $6,000,000 settlement on the eve of trial.
Why Semi-Truck Drivers and Trucking Companies Should Be More Vigilant on the Road?
A semi-truck when fully loaded can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. Their imposing size and weight makes them inherently dangerous vehicles. As a result, there are stringent federal and state regulations to ensure safety of others on the road. But when semi-truck companies and operators violate the safety rules and act with negligence, they put your life in danger.
A semi-truck’s margin of error is far smaller than that for an average passenger car. Even the slightest distraction, momentary sleepiness, yawning or fatigue can cause the trucker to lose control and hit another vehicle. Moreover, even when the driver is alert, a semi-truck going at 70 miles per hour requires about 550 feet to come to a full stop after realizing they need to brake. In contrast, a passenger car traveling at that speed would only require about 300 feet.
At Miller Weisbrod Olesky, our dedicated Austin semi-truck accident lawyers will investigate whether the trucking company’s unrealistic deadlines, forcing the driver to overwork, or another third party’s negligence contributed to the driver’s negligence. Distracted driving, failure to yield, lane departure, obscured vision, over-correcting, tailgating, and disobeying traffic signs or signals are some of the negligent driving behaviors, which must be investigated.
Side Underride Semi-Truck Accidents In Austin Pose A Real Danger
Among the most catastrophic crashes involving semi-trucks in Austin are underride accidents, where smaller vehicles slide beneath the trailers after colliding with them. The consequences are devastating, with vehicles' roofs being crushed or torn off, and the occupants facing the full weight of the trailer.
Despite the existence of federal regulations mandating the installation of rear underride guards to prevent underride accidents, side underride collisions remain a significant issue due to lack of regulation. Statistics related to side underride accidents reveals the danger of collisions with the sides of semi-trucks.
Of those fatalities, 301 were drivers who struck the side of a trailer, while 292 hit the rear. These numbers highlight the need for specific measures to protect drivers and passengers involved in semi-truck underride accidents.
Even when a side underride accident is not fatal, it can cause catastrophic injuries, some of the most common being spinal cord injury and paralysis, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and amputation.
Why are Semi-Truck Side Underride Accidents so Dangerous?
In normal semi-truck crashes, safety features like crumple zones, airbags, and seatbelts offer some protection to the car drivers. However, underride accidents force the top portion of the car beneath the trailer, subjecting it to being crushed, torn off, or dragged for a considerable distance before coming to a halt.
The resulting injuries can range from severe to fatal, including being crushed by the trailer's weight, head injuries from roof collapse, impacts with the trailer's undercarriage, lacerations from shattered glass, burns, scarring, and various other life-threatening injuries.
Although underride accidents in Austin are commonly associated with the rear of trailers, the same risk exists in side-impact collisions with the side of a tractor-trailer.
How Do Side Underride Truck Accidents in Austin Occur?
Side-impact collisions typically occur when cars and trucks intersect perpendicularly. Another common scenario involves jackknife accidents, where the truck driver loses control, causing the trailer to swing out at a 90-degree angle relative to the cab. This results in the cab facing traffic while the trailer forms an obstructive barrier across multiple lanes. In such cases, cars may be unable to avoid colliding with the trailer, potentially sliding underneath it if there are no side guards to prevent it.
The Importance of Side Guards in Semi-Trucks to minimize injury
To address the issue of deadly side-impact underride accidents in Austin, side guards have emerged as a potential solution. These metal guards are affixed to the sides of trailers, extending below the bottom edge and minimizing the gap between the guard and the road surface. While collisions with side guards remain dangerous, they effectively prevent cars from sliding beneath the trailer.
Promising results have been observed in recent side guard tests conducted by the IIHS. Certain side guards demonstrated the ability to prevent side-impact underride accidents for cars traveling at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour. In these tests, airbags deployed, and seat belts held the test dummy securely, significantly reducing the risk of serious injury.
Side underride accidents in Austin continue to occur, causing severe injuries and fatalities. If you or a loved one has suffered injuries in a side underride accident, the leading Austin semi-truck lawyers at Miller Weisbrod Olesky are ready to advocate for you, pursuing full and fair compensation for your injuries and losses.
Trucking Company’s Liability in Semi-Truck Accidents in Austin
Commercial trucking companies are mandated by law to purchase large liability insurance coverage in order to protect the interests of accident victims. But it is their regular business to deal with accident and injury claims. Along with insurance giants, the legal departments of these companies will do everything possible to deny or limit their liability.
The team of Austin semi-truck accident lawyers at Miller Weisbrod Olesky has the skills, experience and resources to take on these powerful defendants and prove their liability. If you have suffered injuries in a semi-truck accident or someone you loved was killed in a wrongful death accident with a semi-truck in Austin, we can recover the largest possible financial compensation you are entitled to for your injuries and losses.
Pressuring Drivers: We will investigate and prove whether the trucking company directly or indirectly pressured or incentivized the semi-truck operator to work excessively long hours or take unreasonable risks. This may have resulted in your accident due to fatigue, distraction, drowsiness, or even intoxication of the negligent trucker.
HOS Violations: Our semi-truck accident lawyers in Austin will review the driver’s log books, the trucking company’s records and timed receipts/GPS data to determine a history of Hours of Service (HOS) violations. The trucking company may have turned a blind eye to these federal violations, which eventually contributed to your accident and injuries.
Negligent Hiring: Considering the historic shortage of experienced semi-truck drivers in the industry, the trucking company in Austin may have loosened their hiring policies. We will investigate if there was negligence at the time of hiring or training of the driver, insufficient background checks, or negligent retention of the driver even after a pattern of bad driving behavior.
Poor Maintenance: Aging fleets of semi-trucks in Austin is a serious issue, especially because the trucking companies often cut corners on fleet maintenance, inspection and upkeep. Our lawyers will investigate and prove liability of the trucking company and/or the fleet maintenance agency if a defective component, tire blowout or lack of inspection contributed to your accident.
Insurance Companies are not on Your Side After a Semi-Truck Accident
Our client-focused semi-truck accident attorneys in Austin are aware that the moment the negligent driver reports your accident and injuries to the dispatcher, the insurance company put deploy all its legal firepower immediately to find ways to dilute or deny liability and even blame you for your own accident and injuries. Your safety and well-being, medical bills, loss of income, and pain and suffering are the least of their concerns.
Insurance adjusters may appear to be empathetic to you, but their intention may only be to extract statements from you, which will eventually be used against you to diminish your claim.
Insurance adjusters are professionally trained negotiators, who may subtly intimidate or manipulate you into accepting a lowball settlement at a time when you are in a most vulnerable condition.
In Austin, according to the state’s modified comparative liability rule, you cannot claim any damages if your percentage of shared fault in the semi-truck accident is more than 50%. That could be the underlying motivation of the insurers to deny their liability.
Rather than engaging directly with the insurance company representatives, you should reach out to our Austin semi-truck accident attorneys as soon as possible. We will move immediately to secure and preserve evidence from the crash site, the truck’s black box, and the trucking company’s records. Armed with evidence and witness testimonies, we will negotiate strongly with the insurance company on your behalf, while you focus on your physical and emotional recovery.
While we will aim for the largest financial damages from all the liable parties through settlement, we will not wait to prepare meticulously to take the case to trial. No expense will be spared to investigate every aspect of your case, collect robust evidence, hire leading witness experts, and pursue an aggressive trial strategy.
With our trial preparedness and our formidable record of multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements, the insurance company may agree to settle your claim for the maximum compensation you deserve instead of taking the risk to argue their case before a jury.
Protect Your Right to Financial Compensation
Our Austin Semi-Truck Accident Attorneys will explore every possibility to increase your financial compensation and hold all the negligent parties liable for damages. Once you have us on your side, we will move aggressively to obtain truck data recorder evidence, driver logs, witness information, and evidence from the crash site in order to build a strong claim for damages, while you and your family can focus on your recovery.
We will fight to make sure you get all financial compensation you deserve through settlement against the responsible trucking company and their insurers or take your case to trial with through preparation of evidence and a winning legal strategy if they fail to pay you the money you are owed. Schedule your free consultation with our legal team today. Our proven record of success in obtaining substantial settlements and verdicts for our injured clients speaks for itself.
Meet The Leader In Truck Accident Litigation With A Record Of Multi-Million Dollar Settlements And Verdicts
With a 30-year history heading the Truck Accident Department of Miller Weisbrod Olesky, firm partner Clay Miller has a proven record of holding trucking companies accountable and achieving multi-million dollar settlements and court verdicts for his clients. Clay has been consistently listed in Super Lawyers as one of the Best Lawyers in Texas, published in Texas Monthly, for over 15 years.
Clay is regularly invited to speak to Trial Lawyer Groups around Houston and across the state of Texas on the topics of trucking laws, trial tactics and techniques, and how to prepare evidence and a winning legal strategy in Truck Accident Cases throughout Texas. Clay was the featured speaker for the Texas Trial Lawyers Association on the new changes to trucking laws passed by the state of Texas.
Our truck accident legal team includes Josh Birmingham, who is currently on the Dallas Trial Lawyers Board of Directors and served as the president of the Mesquite Bar Association for four years. Josh was named Thomson Reuters | Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2016 and 2017.
We also have on our team Michael Orth, a board certified personal injury trial lawyer who has spent the last decade representing injured Texans and their families. Michael’s success in scores of personal injury cases across federal and state courtrooms has earned him the coveted Board Certification in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Miller Weisbrod Olesky Austin Semi Truck Accident Attorneys
Clay Miller
Clay is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Clay has practiced solely in the field of catastrophic injury and wrongful death since graduating from law school. His practice has been limited to the representation of victims. Over the past twenty-four years, Clay has successfully settled or tried to verdict cases in the areas of vehicular negligence, medical malpractice, construction site accidents, workplace injury, premises liability, and commercial trucking and a nationwide business loss case (suits filed in a dozen different states) involving defective truck engines sold to trucking companies.
Clay represented dozens of trucking companies in lost profit and diminished value claims against Caterpillar in 2010 through 2012. These cases were filed in over a dozen states with the bellwhether trial set in Federal Court in Davenport, Iowa. After intense litigation and trial preparation, a global confidential settlement was reached for all the clients.
Clay's most recent 2017 victories are a $30,800,000 jury verdict in Tennessee arising from fraud claims in the sale of heavy-duty truck engines and a $26,500,000jury verdict in a construction accident, obtained within 60 days of each other.
Clay was raised in Lewisville, Texas and completed his undergraduate degree in Finance at Texas A & M University. Following graduation from Southern Methodist University School of law, Clay worked for two Dallas firms representing victims. In 1998, Clay began his own practice before forming his current partnership. In addition to his law practice, Clay has lectured at seminars and published in the areas of construction accidents, jury selection techniques, medical negligence, trucking accidents and settlement tactics.
Josh Birmingham was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico and raised in the small oil town of Hobbs, New Mexico. He graduated from the University of Nebraska in 2004 where he was a part of the Big 12 champion baseball team and was a College World Series participant.
He obtained his law degree from the University of Tulsa: College of Law in 2007 where he earned numerous awards in Mock Trial and Negotiation competitions.
Josh began his career at another prominent law firm where he fought for the victims of other’s negligence.
After 9 years Josh left being a trial lawyer and became an executive for a healthcare consulting firm but his passion for helping others in the law quickly pulled him back. Josh has tried numerous cases in both state and federal court. Josh began his first day with Miller Weisbrod Olesky in trial with Clay Miller representing an injured construction worker, Fernando Canales. Josh second chaired the trial and handled all of the medical expert testimony in the case.
Josh is a member of the State Bar of Texas, American Association of Justice, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, Dallas Trial Lawyers Association, and Dallas Association of Young Lawyers. He is currently on the Dallas Trial Lawyers Board of Directors and served as the president of the Mesquite Bar Association for four years. Josh was named Thomson Reuters | Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2016 and 2017.
Josh accredits his passion toward helping others to his mother Pam Parkinson, a nurse and business woman, and his father Ray Birmingham a college baseball coach.
Michael is a board certified personal injury trial lawyer who has spent the last decade representing injured Texans and their families. Born and raised in Dallas, Michael attended Texas A&M University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Political Science. Following graduation, Michael worked in sales for one of the largest trucking companies in the United States. While working in the trucking industry, Michael saw the dangers that can and do occur when companies put profits before safety, and safety is not provided its proper place at the table. It was at this point Michael decided to pursue a career in law to help those harmed by the negligence of others.
Michael attended the University of Houston Law Center, where he served as a Senior Articles Editor for the Houston Journal of International Law. Throughout law school, Michael clerked at one of the 5 law firms that represented the State of Texas against Big Tobacco, where he worked on cases ranging from catastrophic crane collapses, to sexual abuse cases to environmental class action lawsuits. Most importantly, Michael learned the law could be used to do a lot of good in peoples’ lives, and could help those who had been injured because of the carelessness of others.
After obtaining his law license, Michael moved to South Padre Island and practiced personal injury law in the Rio Grande Valley. While practicing in South Texas, Michael tried nearly 20 cases in federal and state courtrooms across South Texas, consistently obtaining verdicts significantly higher than the insurance companies’ offers. As a result of his success in the courtroom, Michael is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, a designation earned by practicing personal injury law almost exclusively, showing substantial success and experience trying personal injury lawsuits, completing extensive Continuing Legal Education in personal injury trial law, and passing a rigorous written exam demonstrating superior competence in handling personal injury cases.
Michael is married to Katlyn and has 2 young daughters, Kathleen and Mary Louise. Michael volunteers for the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program, providing pro bono legal services to others in the community.
