Fault for a Dallas truck accident is typically determined by:
Investigating the 18-wheeler crash: This involves identifying and collecting any items that may be evidence of fault, as well as damages. Depending on how a truck accident happens, the subsequent investigation may involve interviewing witnesses, taking photos and videos of the crash scene, gathering debris from the scene, and more.
Analyzing the evidence: The evidence for a Dallas truck accident can reveal or affirm the exact causes of the wreck. In some cases, experts may be needed to help interpret and explain the evidence. Whatever causes the evidence ends up pointing to, those can be integral to uncovering negligence, making fault determinations, and discovering which parties are liable for it.
After a big rig wreck in Dallas, parties like (but not limited to) the following tend to be make their own fault determinations:
Police: If police respond to the scene of a Dallas tractor-trailer crash, they will conduct their own investigation, writing up a report with their findings. That can include police officers’ fault determinations, along with details about actions taken by law enforcement after the accident, like citations issued, breathalyzer testing, or any arrests that were made.
Insurance companies: Insurers conduct their own investigations to make their own fault findings. While that may mean relying on the findings of police reports, it can also mean being at the scene as a quick response team and conducting truck accident investigations alongside and independent of police.
With fault for Dallas truck accidents, it’s also essential to understand that:
Partial fault is not necessarily a bar to compensation: Texas law states that “a claimant may not recover damages if his percentage of responsibility is greater than 50 percent.” That opens the door for victims who are not primarily at fault for an 18-wheeler wreck in Dallas to recover, though compensation will be reduced in these claims.
Others get fault determinations wrong: Victims cannot depend on the fault determinations made by others. That’s because parties, like police, may not have all of the evidence when they issue their reports. And others, like insurance companies, are not necessarily conducting unbiased investigations. That means it’s in victims’ best interests to make their own assessments of fault.
Truck accident victims can be wrongly blamed: Many parties can benefit when victims are wrongly blamed, especially insurance companies and those who are at fault for an 18-wheeler crash. This is another reason that victims should question others’ fault findings and, instead, make their own assessments of fault. Generally, it’s best to do this with the help of an experienced truck accident lawyer.