Commercial Truck Negligence

• Five employees of an oilfield services company were in a van heading to a fracking site in West Texas when a Mack truck coming toward them crossed over the double yellow line. The driver of the van swerved to the right, but the Mack truck still made significant impact. The driver suffered head injuries, a crushed hand, and loss of fingers, all of which imperiled his ability to continue with the type of labor-based work he did. The other passengers also sustained injuries. Each of the oilfield workers suffered neck and back injuries, as well as lacerations from glass impaled in their faces and eyes when the windows shattered. All five workers chose to hire HMH to sue the driver of the Mack truck and the company she drove for. The case settled at mediation after HMH attorney William Hagans deposed the Mack truck driver and asked if she thought she fell asleep. She answered, “It’s a possibility.”
• A motorcyclist was riding down the feeder road of Highway 249. As he approached a green light, an 18-wheeler suddenly entered the intersection from his right. He tried to brake, but struck the 18-wheeler, which crushed his leg and threw him off his motorcycle and into the side of a car to his left. Because this commercial truck ran a red light, the motorcyclist’s life changed forever: his leg was amputated below the knee, he suffered a traumatic brain injury, and multiple bones were broken. After depositions, focus groups, and hearings, the case settled shortly before trial.