Deadlines and Liability After a Texas Commercial Truck Collision

Attorney Answer

The clock is two years, and a truck crash usually has more than one party who can be responsible — the driver, and often the company the driver was working for. That second point is the reason these cases are worth putting in front of a lawyer early rather than handling with an adjuster.

Start with the deadline, because it governs everything else. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a) requires a person to bring suit for personal injury, or for injury to property, not later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues. Section 16.003(b) covers an action for injury resulting in death and states that the cause of action accrues on the death of the injured person. Those are different starting points and should never be blurred together.

Which rule of the road applies depends on how the collision happened. If the truck came from behind, Tex. Transp. Code § 545.062(a) requires an operator following another vehicle to maintain an assured clear distance between the two vehicles so that, considering the speed of the vehicles, traffic, and the conditions of the highway, the operator can safely stop without colliding with the preceding vehicle or veering into another vehicle, object, or person on or near the highway. Speed has its own section: § 545.351(a) provides that an operator may not drive at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the circumstances then existing, and § 545.351(b)(2) requires an operator to control the speed of the vehicle as necessary to avoid colliding with another person or vehicle that is on or entering the highway in compliance with law and the duty of each person to use due care. A violation of a rule of the road is evidence of negligence, not an automatic win.

Now the part that separates a truck case from an ordinary one. The driver is rarely the only responsible party. In Painter v. Amerimex Drilling I, Ltd., 561 S.W.3d 125 (Tex. 2018), the Texas Supreme Court set out the two questions that decide whether an employer answers for its driver: whether the person was an employee, and whether the person was acting within the course and scope of the employment when the collision occurred. The court also addressed the coming-and-going rule and the exception that applies where the employer has assigned the driving as a duty. That is why identifying the motor carrier, and preserving what it holds, matters so early.

How responsibility divides is statutory. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.003(a) has the trier of fact assign a whole-number percentage of responsibility to each claimant, defendant, settling person and designated responsible third party. Section 33.001 bars a claimant whose own percentage is greater than 50 percent, § 33.012(a) reduces a non-barred claimant's damages by that percentage, and § 33.013(a) makes a liable defendant responsible only for its own percentage, subject to the exceptions in (b).

What you can do

1. Get medical care and keep every record and itemized bill, even if the injuries seem minor at first.

2. Request the officer's crash report from the investigating agency. It records the vehicles, the carrier and the insurance information.

3. Photograph the vehicles, the scene and any visible injuries before repairs, and keep the tow and storage paperwork.

4. Notify your own auto insurer promptly and in writing. Under Tex. Ins. Code § 1952.152 personal injury protection must be provided unless the named insured rejects it in writing, and § 1952.155(a) makes those benefits payable without regard to the fault or nonfault of the named insured or recipient and without regard to any collateral source.

5. Ask a Texas attorney promptly about asking the trucking company to preserve its records — driver logs, telematics and maintenance files — and about who besides the driver may be responsible.

6. Do not give a recorded statement to the trucking company's insurer, and do not sign a release, before a lawyer reviews it.

*Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts — how the collision happened and what the crash report shows — is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.*

⏱ Time limits apply. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a) allows two years from the day the cause of action accrues for personal injury and property damage; § 16.003(b) allows two years for an action for injury resulting in death, and states that the cause of action accrues on the death of the injured person. Which applies and when the period started depends on your facts, so have a Texas attorney review the dates rather than counting from a page like this.