The Most Common Injuries in Texas Truck Accidents
The Most Common Injuries in Texas Truck Accidents
Texas recorded 39,393 commercial motor vehicle crashes in 2024, including 546 fatal crashes, 608 deaths, and 1,601 suspected serious injuries, according to TxDOT. Because of the sheer size difference between a commercial truck and a passenger vehicle, the injuries in these crashes tend to be more severe, and more life-altering, than in an ordinary car accident.
Traumatic brain injuries
The force of a truck collision can cause a victim’s head to strike the steering wheel, window, or airbag hard enough to cause a concussion or a more serious traumatic brain injury (TBI). TBIs can produce headaches, memory loss, and cognitive or personality changes that last long after the physical wounds heal, and severe cases can require lifelong care.
Spinal cord and back injuries
Spinal cord damage can cause partial or complete paralysis, depending on where along the spine the injury occurs. Even less severe back injuries can cause chronic pain that limits a victim’s ability to work or return to normal activity for months or years.
Fractures and crush injuries
Broken bones are common in truck accidents, and the force involved often means more complex fractures than a typical car accident produces — sometimes requiring surgical repair with plates, screws, or rods, and extended physical therapy. Crush injuries, where a limb is trapped or compressed, can also lead to nerve damage or amputation.
Internal injuries
Internal bleeding and organ damage aren’t always immediately obvious, which is exactly why medical evaluation after any truck accident matters even if you feel fine at the scene. Left untreated, internal injuries can become life-threatening within hours.
Whiplash and soft-tissue injuries
The sudden force of a truck impact can jerk the head and neck well beyond what a typical rear-end car accident produces. Whiplash is often dismissed as minor, but it can cause lasting pain, stiffness, and headaches that require ongoing physical therapy.
Why documenting the injury’s full extent matters for your claim
Truck accident cases with severe injuries typically require input from treating physicians and, for future-care needs, a life care planner or medical expert who can project what treatment will actually cost over time. Settling before that full picture is documented is one of the most common ways truck accident victims end up under-compensated for injuries that turn out to be more serious, or more permanent, than they first appeared.
Injured in a Texas truck accident?
Whatever the injury, it’s worth having it evaluated by both a doctor and an attorney before accepting any settlement offer. Call the Traub Law Office at (512) 246-9191 or contact us online for a free consultation.
About Andrew Traub
