How to wreck your Texas truck accident case before it even begins

I.  Texas Truck Accident Statistics

The State of Texas has some of the heaviest truck traffic in the world, and certainly in the United States.

As an unfortunate result, Texas has some of the highest truck accident rates in the United States.

For example, in 2003, Texas had 5040 fatal traffic accidents, of which 438 were fatal truck accidents.  That number was higher than the previous year.

Houston has some of the highest truck traffic in the entire state of Texas (and in fact in the United States).

As a result, Houston has the highest truck accident rates in Texas.

II.  We Handle Truck Accident Cases Every Day

Our law firm is a Houston-based Texas truck accident and injury firm.  We handle car and truck accident cases every day. 

We get called on a lot of cases.  Unfortunately, we cannot handle all the car and truck accident cases clients want us to handle for them.  Instead, we limit our car and truck accident cases to only those involving serious or permanent injury or wrongful death.

Because we have handled a lot of truck accident and injury cases in Texas, we have seen how clients can ruin their case at the very beginning without even realizing they are ruining their case.

III.  How to Ruin Your Truck Accident Case

The following is a list of 4 of the most common things we see clients do to ruin their truck accident case before it even gets started:

1.  Giving too much information to the insurance adjuster

Insurance adjusters make their living settling cases just like yours as cheaply as possible.  They are trained professionals and will try to convince you to give them more information than you really should. 

You won't even know you're being taken for a ride until it's too late.

You are NOT REQUIRED to give the insurance adjuster any information at the early stages of your case.  In general, the less information you provide the better.

2.  Not obtaining timely medical care

If you are hurt, you should get proper medical care immediately.  If you are not hurt, or not hurt that badly, then you should probably consider not even bringing a case.

All too often, we see clients who are legitimately hurt but try to "tough it out" for a few days or weeks or even months before they see a doctor.

When they finally see a doctor, and the doctor says they are in fact really injured, it may be too late to save their legal case.

3.  Hiding information from your attorney

Have you had other lawsuits?  Have you had other injuries?  Did you miss work because you were hurt on the job?  Do you have a criminal or other issue in your background? 

Even if the answer to these questions may seem like it will hurt your case, YOU MUST TELL YOUR ATTORNEY ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND.  It is ALWAYS better to be truthful and upfront about yourself than to conceal things from you attorney.

The lawyers and insurance adjusters working for the trucking company are competent, well-paid professionals.  They will find any relevant negative information.  If you've tried to hide that information, it will really hurt your case.

4. Exaggerating or lying about your injuries

People who are really hurt don't need to exaggerate their injuries.  It's obvious. 

If you exaggerate your injuries, that will be obvious too.  While you shouldn't try to hide any of your injuries, you should overexaggerate them either. 

If you exaggerate your injuries and say you can't do something that you can, in fact, do, then you can bet your bottom dollar that the insurance company or the truck company lawyers will catch you on videotape doing what you say you can't do or something very similar.

And that will ruin your case.

Want to read more about Texas accident and injury law? 

Please take a moment to read the following articles:

1.  How to select a Houston lawyer for you injury or accident case

2.  Common misconceptions in Houston truck accident cases

3.  Five things that could wreck your Houston car or truck accident case

4.  The insurance company wants me to give a statement - what should I do?

5.  How to beat the insurance companies at their own game - ask these 5 questions

6.  Do I need a lawyer for my Houston car or truck accident case?

7.  What to do immediately if you are involved in a Houston car or truck accident

 

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Vujasinovic & Beckcom P.L.L.C
1001 Texas Avenue, Suite 1020
Houston, TX 77002

Phone: 713.224.7800
Fax: 713.224.7801