Commercial Truck Accidents

September 24, 2019

North Texas Highway Deaths: Another Terrible Weekend

Funeral
We don’t know why every weekend produces another round of fatal car and truck crashes across the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Or why we treat this news as if it is inevitable. Or that there is nothing we can do about it. But we all know that it can be frightening to drive on our North Texas highways. This past weekend produced more tragedies including these:

South of Fort Worth: two people lost their lives in Burleson Sunday evening at 6:30 when a car traveling north on Interstate 35 crossed through the cable barrier and hit a southbound vehicle head-on. Two people in the north-bound car perished and other people were injured, some critically.
South Dallas: a woman crashed into a truck and car that had already collided and were on the shoulder on Interstate 20, taking her life.

September 20, 2019

Client Happy With Settlement After 18-Wheeler Collision

by William K. Berenson

Happy-client-with-baby Berenson Injury Law has resolved a case filed on behalf of a man who was injured outside of Fort Worth last year. He was driving his pickup truck on a hilly road with very poor visibility when he collided with a tractor-trailer that had pulled out in front of him. He was taken to the hospital with various injuries.

However liability was disputed. The trucking company attorneys accused him of improper lookout and speeding and there were other issues to contend with.

We obtained a favorable result, then cut his medical bills to put more money in his pocket. With clear liability and more serious injuries, we would have taken the case to trial.

Our client was very happy. He wanted us to meet his cute little girl when he came in to get his check and kindly wrote this review:

Mr. Berenson is the best! He far exceeded all of my expectations and I got far more money than I thought I would! Mr. Berenson made sure that I got everything that I needed! His office is courteous, efficient and great at what they do! I highly recommend his service!

Thanks for the privilege of representing you, John, and for that wonderful note.

September 18, 2019

Preexisting Injury Can Harm Car Accident Case Unless You Do These Things

by William K. Berenson

Average Compensation for a Whiplash Settlement Under Texas law, a driver who causes a crash must pay the other driver’s damages including medical bills, lost wages, and pain that he caused. But often people have been hurt before. With little if any evidence, insurance companies will argue that someone’s damages were not caused by this collision but from a preexisting injury from a prior crash or event to get out of paying what the case is worth. That is not fair. Any good personal injury lawyer knows how to fight this trick so that his client is compensated fairly.

August 16, 2019

Commercial Vehicle Lawsuit Settled

by William K. Berenson

Damage-to-clients-car

There’s more than meets the eye in a commercial vehicle claim

Our client was a passenger in a car in Fort Worth two years ago that stopped at a flashing red light on a wet morning when she and her husband were rear ended by a delivery van. Property damage to their car was minor and there was only a scratch to the front bumper on the commercial vehicle. The driver said that his brakes had locked up on the wet pavement and blamed the light for confusing him. No one reported any injuries, the police were not called, and both vehicles drove off.

End of this story? No, just the opposite.

As often happens after a collision, the woman’s neck and back started hurting. Four days later, her PCP said she had a strain/sprain and prescribed anti-inflammatories.

She filed a claim with the other company but the insurance adjuster said she could not possibly have been hurt in this low speed impact. Further the adjuster told the woman that her husband and the company’s driver were not injured and its driver had a valid excuse. The insurance company made her a paltry offer of settlement of several hundred dollars, referred to in the world of personal injury as a “nuisance offer.”

Adding to the complexity of her case, she had fallen earlier in her life and had just had three vertebrae in her cervical spine fused the year before this wreck. Proving that someone’s current pain is not preexisting can present a problem for a personal injury lawyer. Further, her medical treatment consisted of only two routine visits at her PCP.. And she was salaried and did not lose any wages from her job. Her damages were minimal.

She hired our firm a month later after other personal injury firms had turned her case. But we knew we could help her. Mr. Berenson has represented a lot of people who were injured in wrecks caused by a commercial vehicle over the past almost 40 years and knows what to do. Our firm went to work.

July 10, 2019

Lawsuit Filed For Couple Crashed Into By Commercial Vehicle

by William K. Berenson

…. and who shot J.R.?

Berenson Injury Law has filed suit on behalf of a husband and wife who were seriously injured when they were rear ended by a commercial vehicle on Interstate 35. Both could have died. They suffered multiple fractures, had to undergo surgeries and extensive physical therapy, and have a very difficult time recovering from their massive injuries.

The young commercial driver admitted that he looked away and didn’t notice the traffic in front of him slowing down. We intend to prove that he was texting while driving in violation of state and federal laws.

May 9, 2019

Shoulder Injury Lawsuit Successfully Resolved

by William K. Berenson

shoulder My client was driving his car on Interstate 35 in Fort Worth when traffic suddenly came to a stop and an 18-wheeler next to him was not able to stop in time. The truck crashed into a motorcyclist and tragically killed her. It then sideswiped our client’s car and rammed into four other vehicles, seriously injuring several drivers. The damage to our client’s car was relatively minor and he drove home.

We conducted an immediate investigation and obtained all necessary evidence. Our client had torn a ligament in his left shoulder and he had to undergo two arthroscopic procedures to repair it. Our client did not have health insurance and we arranged the medical treatment he needed and assisted him financially. We filed a lawsuit and settled his case at a mediation.

The biggest problem with the case was that the trucking company was severely under-insured, as many are. Personal injury lawyers often learn later that there is only the minimum required amount of $750,000 to cover everyone who is injured or who loses his or her life. This amount has not increased in the almost 40 years since it was first instituted. Clearly, that is not fair to the people and the families of victims who are hurt in these multiple vehicle collisions. The truck company’s insurance company chose to quickly pay the wrongful death claim so there were insufficient proceeds for the other claimants. This is another reason it is important for injured victims to act quickly to preserve their rights. Continue reading

September 14, 2018

What To Do After A Commercial Truck Accident

by William K. Berenson

It was a typical Thursday two weeks ago when a horrific crash on I-40 in New Mexico reminded drivers across the country the very real dangers from commercial truck accidents. In a disaster scene straight out of Hollywood, a tractor-trailer swerved over the median and crashed into a Greyhound bus head-on.

Eight people tragically died and more than two dozen, including three children, were rushed to area hospitals with serious injuries.

How could such a disaster happen? News reports reveal that the truck lost the tread on a tire. The truck driver’s and his California company’s inspection and maintenance of the truck are being scrutinized. The front tires have been sent to the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington, D.C. to be examined. Two lawsuits have been filed on behalf of the victims and their families to learn more about what caused this avoidable crash — and hopefully prevent future ones.