This Blog was published by Carabin Shaw Personal Injury Lawyers – San Antonio Car Accident Attorneys

Texas Highway Car Accidents: Dangers and Legal Options

Texas is home to some of the busiest and most dangerous highways in the United States. From the sprawling interchanges of Interstate 35 cutting through Austin and San Antonio to the congested corridors of Interstate 10 through Houston, millions of drivers share these roads every day. The sheer volume of traffic, combined with high speed limits and aggressive driving behavior, makes Texas highways the setting for some of the most devastating car accidents in the country. If you have been injured in a highway crash, the car accident lawyers in Houston at Carabin Shaw have the experience and resources to handle even the most complex high-speed collision cases. These car accident attorneys understand that highway accidents often produce catastrophic injuries that require long-term medical care and carry enormous financial costs, and they fight to make sure victims receive every dollar they are entitled to.

Highway car accidents differ from crashes on city streets in several important ways. Higher speeds mean greater force of impact, more severe injuries, and a higher likelihood of fatalities. Multi-vehicle pileups are more common on highways, complicating questions of fault and liability. The car accident attorneys in Austin at Carabin Shaw have handled highway accident cases involving multiple vehicles, commercial trucks, and even highway construction zone crashes. Experienced car accident lawyers know that these cases require a more intensive investigation and a deeper understanding of traffic engineering, vehicle dynamics, and accident reconstruction.

The aftermath of a highway car accident can be overwhelming. Victims face painful recoveries, overwhelming medical bills, and the stress of dealing with insurance companies that are looking for ways to minimize their payout. Car accident attorneys at Carabin Shaw are ready to take that burden off your shoulders and fight for the compensation you need to move forward with your life.

Why Highway Accidents Are More Dangerous

The physics of a car accident are straightforward — the faster a vehicle is traveling, the more kinetic energy is involved in the crash, and the more severe the injuries tend to be. Texas highways with posted speed limits of 75 or even 80 miles per hour mean that crashes regularly occur at velocities that produce devastating results. At those speeds, a vehicle covers more than 100 feet per second, leaving almost no time to react when something goes wrong.

Highway crashes also tend to involve secondary collisions. A vehicle that is struck and spins out of control may be hit again by other traffic before coming to rest. Multi-car pileups on highways can involve dozens of vehicles and cause injuries across a wide range of severity. The chaos of these scenes makes evidence gathering particularly important and complex.

Common Causes of Highway Car Accidents

Several factors contribute disproportionately to highway accidents in Texas. Speeding and driving too fast for conditions top the list. Even though speed limits on Texas highways are among the highest in the nation, many drivers exceed them, and nearly all drivers fail to reduce speed adequately in rain, fog, or heavy traffic.

Lane change accidents are extremely common on multi-lane highways. Drivers who fail to check blind spots, signal their intentions, or wait for adequate space before merging cause sideswipe crashes that can send vehicles careening across multiple lanes of traffic. Tailgating at highway speeds is particularly dangerous because it eliminates the reaction time needed to respond to sudden stops or slowdowns.

Fatigue plays a major role in highway crashes, especially on long, monotonous stretches of Texas interstate. Drowsy drivers experience reduced reaction times, impaired judgment, and microsleep episodes that can cause them to drift out of their lane or fail to notice stopped traffic ahead.

Construction zones are another significant hazard on Texas highways. Narrowed lanes, shifting traffic patterns, uneven road surfaces, and reduced speed limits create a dangerous mix, especially when drivers fail to slow down or pay attention to warning signs.

Catastrophic Injuries From Highway Crashes

The severity of highway car accident injuries reflects the violent forces involved in these crashes. Common injuries include traumatic brain injuries ranging from concussions to severe diffuse axonal injuries, spinal cord injuries that may result in partial or complete paralysis, multiple bone fractures requiring surgical repair, internal organ damage and internal bleeding, severe burns from vehicle fires or contact with hot surfaces, crush injuries in vehicles that are compressed by impact, and amputation of limbs.

These injuries frequently require emergency surgery, extended hospital stays, intensive rehabilitation, and long-term or lifelong medical care. The financial impact can easily reach hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars when you account for future medical expenses, lost earning capacity, and the cost of adaptive equipment and home modifications.

Determining Fault in Multi-Vehicle Highway Accidents

Establishing fault in a multi-vehicle highway accident is one of the most challenging aspects of these cases. When several vehicles are involved, each driver’s insurance company will attempt to shift blame to other parties. Determining the sequence of collisions, identifying which driver’s negligence initiated the chain reaction, and allocating fault among multiple parties requires sophisticated investigation and expert analysis.

Accident reconstruction experts play a vital role in highway crash cases. These professionals analyze physical evidence including vehicle damage patterns, skid marks, gouge marks in the pavement, final rest positions of the vehicles, and data from electronic data recorders to reconstruct the accident sequence and determine speeds, angles of impact, and driver actions in the moments before the crash.

Sharing the Road With Commercial Trucks

Many highway car accidents in Texas involve commercial trucks, adding additional layers of complexity. Crashes between passenger vehicles and 18-wheelers or other large trucks almost always result in severe or fatal injuries to the occupants of the smaller vehicle. These cases may involve liability on the part of the truck driver, the trucking company, the cargo loader, or the vehicle manufacturer.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations impose strict requirements on commercial truck drivers and their employers regarding hours of service, vehicle maintenance, driver qualifications, and cargo securement. Violations of these regulations can serve as powerful evidence of negligence in a car accident lawsuit.

Take Action After a Highway Crash

If you have been injured in a highway car accident in Texas, you owe it to yourself and your family to explore your legal options. The car accident lawyers at Carabin Shaw have handled highway crash cases of every type and severity. They offer free consultations and work on a contingency fee basis, so there is absolutely no financial risk to reaching out. Do not let the insurance company dictate the value of your suffering. Contact Carabin Shaw today and get experienced legal representation fighting for you.