When truck driver error leads to a truck’s collision with a smaller vehicle, these large trucks can cause extensive personal injury and wrongful death. Many people experience injuries that change their entire lives. At the Pascoe Law Firm, our truck accident attorney represent people who have been seriously injured in semi-truck accidents of all types. If an injury has affected your life or the life of a family member, we urge you to talk with one of our lawyers about your needs. Our focus is on helping you get things back on track. There are many ways that truckers can be negligent, careless and reckless when operating commercial vehicles. Many of the Texas truck driver error cases that our attorneys handle have occurred because of:

• Driving while ability impaired by alcohol
• Driver fatigue
• Speeding
• Improperly loading cargo
• Improper maintenance

The U.S. Department of Transportation, the NHTSA, and Motor Carrier Safety Administration worked together to determine the major causes of large truck accidents in the United States and took a sample of truck accidents from a set duration of time to examine. The sample examined 1,000 crashes from 2001 through 2003 and tried to identify the major factors that caused large truck accidents, 18 wheeler accidents, and semi-truck accidents. In 2006, the three administrations reported the findings of the study and found that a majority of the time the truck driver was a fault for the fatal truck accident or fatal auto accident occurring.  Many of the truck drivers had been driving under circumstances that put themselves and other motorists at risk while driving on the roadways. Some of the major causes of fatal truck accidents involving truck driver error include:

• Prescription Drug Use– prescription drug use accounted for 26% of the fatal truck accidents and was one of the most common truck driver errors that caused a truck accident.
• Speeding– Truck drivers who were traveling at a speed faster than is safe accounted for 22% of the truck accidents in the study.
• Driver Fatigue– truck drivers driving while tired and under pressure to make deadlines accounted for 22% of truck accidents and is an extremely dangerous problem.
• Over The Counter Drugs– drugs, for example over the counter drugs, caused 17% of the fatal truck accidents on the roadways.
• Other Cause Includes– inattention of other drivers, illegal maneuvers, and following too closely to other vehicles.