Texas Trucking: Accidents And Injuries Across Midland-Odessa And Permian Basin

This article covers:

• Common causes of truck accidents in Midland and Permian Basin of Texas.
• The nature and injuries caused by these accidents.
• How to recover damages for injuries and costs from such accidents.

What Are The Most Common Causes Of Truck Or Commercial Vehicle Accidents In Texas’ Midland And Permian Basin?

The most common sources of trucking problems and dangers in Midland, Texas, and the Permian Basin are the oil fields.

In the oil industry, time is money, so everyone is in a hurry. All the oil companies, upstream services, suppliers, pump suppliers, pipe suppliers, dirt workers, water suppliers, everybody’s in a hurry to make deadlines. Unfortunately, this includes most drivers.

Worse, people in this industry often work late, and clock in long hours. This means that many drivers are frazzled, overworked, and given deadlines that they will struggle to meet. Because of that, they do not always obey the rules, and accidents become far more common.

What Kind Of Trucks Cause These Accidents And Who Is To Blame?

While many accidents do involve 18-wheelers, there are plenty of other types and sizes of trucks, often commercial, which can be involved.

A recent and tragic Texas case involved a plumber’s truck pulling a trailer, with plenty of weight behind him. He was getting ready to go do some septic work and ran a stop sign in his hurry. He killed one person and put another person in crutches for life.

These cases are very serious, and while drivers have their share of the blame, much of it also lies with pressure from upper management. Because the managers of these Midland and Permian Basin companies are often telling their drivers to get there faster, deliver more, and meet tight turnaround deadlines, they end up slipping up and becoming a great danger to everyone else on the road.

Why Are Pilot Cars So Important For Massive Loads?

When a big truck pulls out onto a heavily trafficked road, it often takes considerable time to maneuver and get moving. They start slowly because they’re so heavy but also have trouble stopping, and often end up obstructing traffic. This is where pilot cars come in.

Pilot cars are vehicles that go in front of and behind oversize loads to warn others that the truck is coming, protecting other drivers from making moves on the road that could put them directly in harm’s way.

Properly Trained And Implemented Pilot Vehicles Can Prevent Disasters

Pilot cars need to be in place, and they need to be well-coordinated. If they are not, trucks will pull out into traffic and drivers won’t realize until it’s too late that the truck’s not going to make it out of their lane. That’s just one way such accidents can occur, which could be avoided by properly trained and implemented pilot vehicles.

The danger is doubled, if not tripled, at night if those trailers are not properly marked with reflective material on the sides. Drivers can’t see them coming out because their headlights aren’t facing forward, so they’re difficult to see at times. That’s when the accidents happen.

The Final Cause Of Truck-Related Accidents And Personal Injuries: Poor Road Repair

The final, tragic, cause of so many truck-related accidents in the Midland area is the poor state of the roads. They are permanently under construction and new roads are constantly being added. Many of them are dirt roads.

Trucks will pull off of a dirt road, locally called a leash road, onto a public road. The intersection is not well-lit or marked or even properly designed. Often the person who designed the road or the construction company that was putting up the pylons or putting up the barricades didn’t do it right and is thus responsible for the accident.

Many factors feed into causing oil field trucking accidents. The number one cause is hurry because of which drivers are not attentive. The next one is poor staffing and coordination. And then the third one is the poor state of the roads with corresponding visibility issues.

What Kinds Of Injuries Happen In Truck And Passenger Vehicle Accidents?

Neck And Back Injuries Remain, Tragically, The Most Common Personal Injuries

The number one type of injury caused by trucking accidents, like most car accidents, are neck and back injuries. Our necks and backs are flexible and pressed up against a seat. When you are in an auto accident, your neck and back flux, especially in impacts at high speeds. Thus unfortunately neck and back injuries are the most commonly witnessed on Texas roads.

Head Injuries Are The Second Most Common

A lot of people may not realize it, but if your head hits a windshield, even a window, it can cause serious neurological and cognitive problems. Texas roadways and personal injury lawyers have witnessed cases where people’s personalities have changed. There have been divorce cases because the husband doesn’t even know his wife after an accident, she’s become a stranger to him.

The neurological aspect of these injuries is important, sometimes even more so than the physical.

Injury And Death In Texas Trucking Accidents

Midland roadways, and those in the Permian Basin, have all witnessed broken bones and internal injuries like ruptured spleens, damaged kidneys, punctured lungs, and broken ribs.

One horrible case occurred when a man crawled underneath a tractor-trailer while he was working on it and another truck driver got in it and pulled the truck forward. Two crossbars caught the man, crushed his chest, and he had serious lung injuries; fatal ones, unfortunately.

Almost any part of our often fragile bodies can be injured. Hands and limbs get injured out on the oil fields a lot, though neck and head injuries remain both the most common and the most frequently severe.

Trucking Accident Injuries’ Repercussions And Complications

Neck and back injuries are as complicated as those parts of our bodies. Thoracic vertebrae, cervical vertebrae, soft tissue, discs, and nerves are all complex and interconnected in the sacral, lumbar, thoracic, and cervical areas.

All those different areas have different types of problems in auto, truck, and industrial accidents – and the immediate consequences are not necessarily the end of an injury’s complications.

Take blood clots for example, few realize that blood clots can be a serious problem after an injury. One incident featured a man with a broken femur, which is already a big deal, but the fracture led to a blood clot that went into his brain and lungs. These kinds of complications compound the injury.

Injuries Impact Our Lives Beyond Immediate Physical Conditions

Knees and hips are frequently injured in trucking accidents and are often underestimated in the cost they can have on someone’s life. People whose knees are injured badly might limp for the rest of their lives unless they get a full knee replacement.

However, even if they get a knee replacement, they may have to change jobs because they’re not able to do the things that they used to do with an artificial knee, which doesn’t have the range of motion that a regular natural knee does. Injuries like this can have entirely unexpected consequences.

One Texas case involved a broken ankle that cost a man his job, as a dentist of all things. His ankle was hurt so badly that he could no longer press the foot pedal and operate his dental equipment to make his dental drills work. It cost him considerable sums of money from lost work because he couldn’t operate his drill anymore. Fortunately, our firm worked to help him recover his damages and pursue a new path forward.

What Should I Do If I Have Been Injured In A Truck Accident?

From head to toe, all parts of your body can be in the wrong place at the wrong time during an accident sequence and be injured. Even if it is not the neck or head, it could have serious repercussions on your life and work.

The first thing to do if you are ever in a truck accident or incident in the Midland-Odessa or Permian Basin regions of Texas and suffer an injury is to seek immediate medical attention. The second, however, should be to seek legal counsel from lawyers specializing in personal injury cases to make sure you recover everything you are owed and have the resources you need to get back on your feet.

With the guidance of a skilled attorney for Trucking Accidents, you can have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that an expert is on your side. For more information on Trucking Accident Cases in Texas, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (432) 653-1899 today.