Distracted Driving Truck Accidents

Michael S. Callahan | | 18 Wheeler Accidents
distracted driving truck accidents - callahan law firm - houston texas - injury attorney

Distracted driving has become a public crisis in recent years. According to the NHTSA, distracted driving kills more than 3,000 people each year. It is becoming that much more challenging for drivers to maintain a steady focus on the road when there are numerous high-tech distractions in vehicles. From smartphones to smart watches, tablets, radios, GPS systems and beyond, modern day vehicles are chock full of distractions. The stakes are even higher with distracted truck drivers as they operate tractor-trailers weighing upwards to 80,000 pounds capable of causing carnage in mere seconds.

Defining Distracted Driving

Any activity that makes it more difficult to focus on the road qualifies as distracted driving. Examples include texting, talking on the phone, drinking coffee, eating a snack, changing the radio station, fiddling with the navigation system and talking to others in the vehicle. Anything that diverts attention from the challenge of safe driving qualifies as distracted driving.

Texting is the most egregious example of distracted diving, especially for those who operate trucks for a living. It takes at least five seconds to grab one’s phone and read a text. It usually takes about 10 seconds or longer to type a text. A truck driver who attempts to type a text while operating a big rig puts the safety of everyone on the road at risk. Though experienced truck drivers might claim they are capable of safely multitasking while behind the wheel, it is impossible to drive safely unless driving has the operator’s full attention. This is precisely why truck drivers should wait until they reach a rest stop or their destination to engage in any non-driving activity.

Truck Driver Distracted Driving

Truck drivers sometimes assume they are capable of driving while distracted simply because they operate a massive vehicle for a living. It does not matter how many hours a truck driver puts in behind the wheel of a big rig; even the slightest distraction has the potential to cause a deadly accident that claims the truck driver’s life as well as the lives of completely innocent people in comparably small vehicles. There is absolutely no excuse for distracted truck driving yet it happens every single day on highways in Houston, throughout the rest of Texas and beyond. If you spot a distracted truck driver, do not hesitate to contact the police. A short phone call to the authorities just might save one or several lives.

How to Prove the Truck Driver was Distracted

A distracted truck driver is an unsafe driver. And an unsafe driver is a negligent driver. In Texas, negligence is defined as the failure to exercise ordinary care, which means failing to do that which a person of ordinary prudence would have done under the same or similar circumstances or doing that which a person of ordinary prudence would not have done under the same or similar circumstances. Each state has its own definition of negligence which is quite similar to this one. In a truck accident case, it can be challenging to prove the truck driver involved in the crash was distracted prior to the collision. This is not the type of challenge you should try to tackle on your own. To gather evidence in order to prove a truck driver was distracted just before a crash, you need an experienced Houston truck accident attorney on your side.

Meet with our truck accident attorney after your collision so we can review the unique facts of your case. We will take the appropriate steps to collect critical evidence and analyze the accident in-depth to determine the cause or causes of the crash including whether the truck driver was distracted. Most trucks on the road today have electronic recording devices or a “black box” that record vehicle activity leading up to the crash. Our legal team will promptly determine whether the truck that caused the crash had an electronic recording device, and if so, download the data and then interpret and analyze it to determine the true cause of the accident. In addition we will work to locate and interview witnesses to discover important information which in our experience has included witnesses observing the truck driver looking down, texting, reaching over to the passenger seat or radio, eating, drinking or doing something else that proved distracting prior to the collision. Even a seemingly minor piece of evidence that might seem inconsequential at first glance has the potential to help prove the truck driver was distracted.

Contact Our Houston Truck Accident Attorney Today

If you do not have an experienced truck accident attorney in your corner, you run the risk of being blamed for the accident or receiving a fraction of the payout you need and deserve. Reach out to our Houston truck accident attorney today to schedule a free consultation where we will review the facts of your truck accident and discuss with you what we can do to help. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by letting our experienced legal team analyze the nuances of your unique truck accident.