Most people think of garbage trucks as friendly, lumbering neighborhood vehicles—until they’ve experienced an accident with a truck that’s built like a tank and weighs over 27 tons.
If you or a loved one suffered injuries in a garbage truck accident in Austin, you may find the process of recovering compensation for your damages overwhelming. A compensation claim against a city or county agency isn’t the same as a typical car accident claim against a negligent driver. Instead of taking this on alone and possibly missing an opportunity to recover the maximum compensation for your losses, call the truck accident lawyers in Austin with years of experience navigating this specialized type of claim.
Why Are Garbage Truck Accidents Surprisingly Common?
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, an astonishing 1,200 garbage truck accidents with injuries occurred in a single recent year, including 80 fatal crashes. We rely on garbage trucks to remove refuse but they present a significant safety hazard to motorists. Common causes of garbage truck accidents in Austin include the following:
- Garbage trucks often operate early in the morning during hours of poor visibility
- Garbage truck drivers make frequent stops, starts, turnarounds, and reverses
- Garbage truck drivers have limited visibility and rely on directions from the worker on the back of the truck
- Garbage truck drivers sometimes stop in the middle of the road to save time collecting trash on both sides of the street
- Inexperienced or inadequately trained drivers sometimes operate garbage trucks
- Improperly balanced loads may increase garbage truck instability
- Inadequate vehicle maintenance and repair increases the chances of a garbage truck accident
Garbage trucks operate inside communities and throughout neighborhoods, increasing the chances of an accident on busy roadways as people leave home for work or school.
Injuries in Austin Garbage Truck Accidents
Garbage trucks have heavy metal frames and wide wheel bases, causing serious or catastrophic damage to smaller vehicles in collisions. Injuries in garbage truck accidents in Texas range from mild, recoverable injuries with a single missed paycheck and emergency room bill, to life-altering disability or wrongful death. Common injuries include the following:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Fractures
- Back injuries
- Neck injuries
- Spinal cord damage
- Internal organ damage
- Soft-tissue injuries to shoulders, knees, ankles, and wrists
- Lacerations, bruises, and abrasions
Toxic exposures may also occur in garbage truck accidents when trucks carry hazardous waste and other dangerous materials. Speak to an injury lawyer in Austin to learn more.
Who Is Liable for Damages in a Garbage Truck Accident Claim?
Texas is a modified comparison negligence insurance state requiring car accident victims to file compensation claims against the at-fault party. In garbage truck accident claims in Austin and elsewhere, the at-fault party could be the garbage truck driver, a city or county waste management agency, a negligent vehicle maintenance company, a private waste-collection company, or even a city road maintenance agency or the manufacturer of a defective garbage truck part. It takes a meticulous investigation to determine the cause of the accident and to identify one or more liable parties. Proving liability in an Austin garbage truck accident claim requires showing evidence that the at-fault party owed a duty of reasonable care to others sharing the roadway, they breached this duty through negligence, and their negligent breach of duty caused injuries with damages to the victim.
Call the Austin Garbage Truck Accident Lawyers at Shaw Cowart LLP
An accident with a garbage truck is expensive as well as frightening and painful. You may have large medical bills coming in at the same time that you’re unable to return to work. Reach out to the experienced Austin accident attorneys at Shaw Cowart LLP for the assertive representation and legal counsel that gets results for accident and injury victims in Austin.