The answer is yes. Third parties—anyone besides the truck driver who contributed to the crash—can also be on the hook.
Here is what you need to know.
Who Can Be Considered a Third Party in a Truck Accident Case
As the motor vehicle crash statistics in Texas show, accidents can be incredibly devastating. The good news is that victims of such crashes can recover their losses from a wide range of third parties, something that increases their chances of being made whole.
The parties that may share responsibility when commercial trucks cause wrecks in Houston include:
The Trucking Company
If trucking firms drop the ball in any way, they can be considered negligent. For example, putting profits over safety by encouraging drivers to speed or exceed service hour limits.
Specific violations may involve:
- Inadequate driver screening and training
- Supporting or demanding excessive driving hours
- Failing to address complaints about driver misconduct
- Not maintaining trucks per safety standards and regulations
- Requiring drivers to overload cargo beyond legal weight limits
- Not verifying drivers comply with route restrictions and rest rules
The Cargo Loader
If cargo isn’t balanced or secured correctly, it can shift and cause the truck to overturn. This may reflect negligence by warehouses, distribution centers, shipping companies, or other handlers.
Mistakes can include:
- Overloading the trailer beyond weight restrictions
- Failing to evenly distribute cargo weight
- Not securing the load properly per state and federal regulations
- Allowing hazardous materials to leak during transport
Manufacturers and Mechanics
When defective auto parts cause crashes, the parts maker or mechanic who installed them improperly can be sued. Some common truck defects involve breaks, tires, lighting, mirrors, and electrical systems.
Specifically:
- Auto and truck part manufacturers may be liable if their products are unsafe or lack adequate safety features
- Mechanics can be negligent if improper installation or servicing causes or contributes to an accident
- Repair shops can also be sued if improper repairs are performed by their staff
Other Motorists
Drivers who ignore traffic laws often slam into the sides of turning trucks or rear-end them. Their insurance company may have to pay your damages.
Negligent driving behaviors include:
- Speeding, especially around large trucks with extensive blind spots
- Distracted driving due to texting, calls, or operating in-vehicle electronics dangerously
- Tailgating large commercial vehicles without leaving adequate stopping space
- Unsafely passing trucks by cutting quickly in front of them
- Ignoring right-of-way rules for turning trucks
Government Agencies
If a public department failed to address road hazards, faulty signals, poor visibility, or other risks they knew about, truck accident victims in Houston can pursue injury claims against them.
Areas they may be liable for involve:
- Poorly maintained roads with excessive damage or debris
- Missing, damaged, or obscured traffic signs or signals
- Dangerous intersections with inadequate visibility
- Guardrails in need of repair after prior accidents
- Failure to trim foliage obstructing the line of sight
- Allowing dangerously sharp turns or steep slopes
Property Owners
Businesses that fail to trim trees or address other obstructions on their land that block views of oncoming traffic, causing collisions, can be considered negligent third parties.
Specific oversights include:
- Overgrown landscaping or trees infringing on roads
- Debris spilling over from adjoining construction sites
- Dangerously placed signs, fences, or structures limiting visibility
- Poorly lit entrances, exits, and parking areas
- Damaged or absent curb cuts forcing wheelchair riders into traffic
Common Reasons a Truck Crash May Trigger Third-Party Liability
To have a valid personal injury case against a third party, there must be demonstrable negligence on their part and a clear connection between this negligence and the accident.
Some examples of third-party behavior that could justify truck accident claims include:
Trucking Companies
- Pushing drivers beyond legal service hour restrictions
- Setting unrealistic delivery timelines that encourage speeding
- Knowingly hiring inexperienced or unqualified drivers
- Failing to address complaints about a driver’s conduct
- Not maintaining trucks adequately per safety standards
Cargo Loaders
- Distributing too much weight towards the back of trailers
- Securing loads insufficiently leading to dangerous shifting
- Overloading trucks beyond legal gross vehicle weight ratings
- Allowing spills or leaks of hazardous materials
Manufacturers
- Selling trucks with low-quality or defective parts like brakes or tires
- Failing to issue timely recalls when systemic defects are reported
- Providing inadequate warning labels around risky components
Mechanics or Repair Shops
- Using counterfeit or second-hand parts from questionable sources
- Failing to notice and address signs of accelerated wear and tear
- Improperly servicing essential systems like brakes or lighting
Other Motorists
- Texting or otherwise driving distracted around commercial trucks
- Following too closely behind trucks, not allowing for longer stopping times
- Unsafely passing trucks without accounting for extensive blind spots
Government Agencies
- Neglecting to repair damaged roads or replace knocked-down signage
- Not addressing vegetation overgrowth or debris spills into rights of way
- Failing to modernize outdated and dangerous intersections
Property Owners
- Allowing their fences, foliage, or décor to spill out into the right of way
- Placing signs, structures, or art installations too close to roads
- Not maintaining adequate lighting in parking areas or entrances
The key is being able to demonstrate clear negligence that foreseeably raised the risk of a truck collision occurring in the manner that caused your specific injuries.
How Injury Lawyers Try to Prove Third-Party Negligence
Seasoned Houston truck accident attorneys have extensive litigation experience using tools to build strong negligence claims against third parties like:
Subpoenas
They can request maintenance records, inspection reports, personnel files showing inadequate training or experience, dispatcher logs pointing to exhaustion, and other documentation. This evidence can powerfully demonstrate institutional oversight.
FOIA Requests
The Freedom of Information Act allows access to crash data, traffic studies, prior complaints about road conditions, and more from public agencies. If they were on notice about hazards but failed to take corrective action, they may share liability.
Experts
Independent specialists in accident reconstruction, engineering, trucking, medicine, vocational capacity, and economics can provide reports, testimony, and analyses pinpointing third-party negligence. Matching the right experts to case facts is key.
Examples of experts who may provide opinions include:
- Accident reconstructionists: Analyzing how vehicles moved and what avoidant actions were possible for each party
- Engineers: Identifying defective parts or systems that may have caused critical function loss
- Trucking operations: Opining on regulatory violations by carriers that endangered public safety
- Medical professionals: Describing the mechanisms of injury and the necessity of treatments undergone
- Vocational experts: Quantifying earning capacity reduction resulting from disability statuses
- Economists: Calculating reasonable cost projections for medical care, substitutions for lost household contributions, and other financial damages
Discovery
Skilled injury lawyers will demand depositions, interrogatories, requests for production, and admissions to question drivers, witnesses, police, and third-party managers under oath. This can uncover contributory errors and omissions not contained in official reports.
Accident Site Inspection
Thoroughly documenting road conditions, visibility, signage issues, property encroachments, and other hazards personally via photographs, video recordings, measurements, and notes can powerfully supplement witness testimony.
Compensation Available from Third Parties
In Texas, monetary damages from accident lawsuits serve two key purposes:
- Reimbursing accident victims for quantifiable losses
- Holding negligent parties fully accountable
So when third-party liability is established, their insurance or assets can pay for:
Medical Expenses
Both current and future costs of reasonable and necessary treatments for crash-related health problems are recoverable.
This includes reimbursement for:
- Hospitalization
- Surgeries
- Prescription medications
- Devices like braces, crutches, or wheelchairs
- Imaging tests like X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs
- Physician and specialist visits
- Physical or massage therapy
- Chiropractic treatment
- Psychological counseling
Lost Income
If injuries prevent you from working for a period of time, the wages you lost out on are entitled. Calculations account for:
- Base salary or wages lost
- Benefits like health insurance, retirement matching, tuition reimbursement
- Commissions, tips, overtime, and bonuses
If disabilities will lower future earning capacity long-term, experts can provide reasonable estimates grounded in your education, vocational history, and economic models.
Property Losses
If your vehicle, smartphone, laptop, clothing, eyewear, or other personal property was damaged or destroyed in the collision, you can claim those losses. Calculations are based on fair market replacement value at the time of the accident.
Disability Associated Expenses
Ongoing medical care, mobility equipment, accessibility remodeling, in-home nursing care, transportation assistance, and other costs directly emerging from crash-related disability needs are recoverable. Life plan experts can project necessities.
Pain and Suffering
Monetary compensation for past, present, and future physical discomfort, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and other intangible damages are justified when injuries are substantial and negligence is pronounced. Typically calculated using a multiplier method.
Punitive Damages
If negligence was truly blatant, grossly reckless, or intentional, extra punitive damages may be awarded also. These are meant solely to punish and deter continued egregious conduct.
Steps to Take After an Accident to Preserve Your Rights
In order to support potential third-party liability claims, be sure you or your attorney:
- Call the police immediately so an official report is created
- Take extensive photos of property damage, injuries, road conditions, and hazard signs
- Get contact information and recorded statements from eyewitnesses on the scene
- Seek prompt medical care even for minor pains to create a record of causation
- Save any communications from insurance adjusters about liability acceptance
- Gather maintenance records, inspection history, and training credentials for the commercial truck and driver
- Research the safety record of the trucking company
- Request 911 calls and dispatcher transcripts from the day of the incident
- Download data from the truck and your vehicle’s black box if possible
Documenting evidence this way from day one will be crucial for demonstrating where responsibility lies. With a complete picture of what went wrong, your legal team can determine what parties contributed to the collisions through mistakes or oversight. And in turn, pursue maximum compensation through truck accident claims or settlements.
