Texas Truck Accidents Surge: Lone Star State Leads Nation in Fatal Truck & 18-Wheeler Crashes

Undefeated Texas Truck Accident Lawyers

No state in the nation has a bigger truck accident problem than Texas.

In fact, according to final federal data for 2024, the Lone Star State continues to lead the country in truck and 18-wheeler fatalities, and by a wide margin.

Fatal Texas Truck Accidents by the Numbers

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 699 commercial trucks were involved in fatal traffic crashes in Texas in 2024, accounting for 13.4 percent of the national total. Of the 720 people tragically killed in those crashes:

511 were occupants of other vehicles, including drivers and passengers in cars, SUVs, and pickups.
73 were pedestrians or cyclists
136 were occupants of the trucks themselves

To put that in perspective, Texas recorded nearly twice as many fatal truck and 18-wheeler crashes as the second-place state, California, which logged 386 fatal commercial trucking accidents in 2024. Other states rounding out the top 10 included.

Florida: 342
North Carolina: 194
Georgia: 189
Ohio: 173
Tennessee: 170
Pennsylvania: 162
Arizona: 154
Indiana: 145

Why 18-Wheelers and Other Big Rigs Make Texas Roads So Dangerous

According to the NHTSA, 70 percent of people killed in commercial truck crashes nationwide in 2024 were occupants of other vehicles. Why is it so dangerous to operate a motor vehicle around an 18-wheeler or other big rig?

A fully loaded commercial truck can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, roughly 20 times the weight of an average passenger car. That means braking distances are dramatically longer as well — a loaded 18-wheeler traveling at 65 miles per hour can take nearly two football fields to come to a complete stop. When a big rig can’t stop in time, any vehicle in front has nowhere to go and almost no time to react. As a result, rear-end impacts from large 18-wheelers, semi-trucks, and tractor-trailers occur three times more frequently than rear-end impacts from other vehicle types.

And because these wrecks typically occur at highway speeds, the damage is typically not limited to the initial impact. In fact, according to the NHTSA, 80 percent of the fatal commercial commecial truck crashes reported nationwide in 2024 involved multi-vehicle collisions, meaning even one trucker’s failure to stop in time can set off a chain reaction that extends to other vehicles well beyond the first point of impact.

Texas also has more road miles than any other state in the country, and it is the primary gateway for cross-border commercial freight, with thousands of big rigs crossing daily through ports of entry in Laredo, El Paso, and other border cities. The Lone Star State also boasts two of the busiest commercial trucking corridors in the United States: I-35 runs 500 miles from Laredo through San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas-Fort Worth, while I-10 carries transcontinental freight from El Paso through San Antonio and Houston.

Commercial trucks, particularly tankers and other oilfield trucks, are also common on the thousands of rural roads that crisscross the Permian Basin and other energy-producing regions, including many that are in poor repair, lack median barriers, or have limited shoulder space. Add in a high volume of heavy truck traffic, and it’s not surprising that more than 50 percent of all Texas traffic fatalities in 2024 occurred on rural roadways throughout the state.

What’s Causing Fatal Trucking Crashes in Texas?

Truck and 18-wheeler crashes can occur for any number of reasons. But in our experience, the vast majority are entirely preventable and often result from factors within the control of the trucking company and its driver, including:

Speed: According to the NHTSA, speeding was a contributing factor in 8 percent of fatal truck crashes reported nationwide in 2024. For a vehicle weighing up to 80,000 pounds, excess speed doesn’t just raise the odds of a crash. It multiplies the destructive force of impact in ways that smaller vehicles simply cannot absorb.
Driver inattention and distraction: Texting while driving and other distractions contributed to fatal truck crashes at nearly twice the rate of other vehicle types. Long-haul routes can stretch for hundreds of miles without a significant change in scenery or road conditions. Considering the extra stopping time required of a big rig, even a few seconds of inaction on the part of a truck can be fatal for someone in an adjacent lane.
Fatigue: Federal hours-of-service regulations are intended to limit how long a commercial driver can remain behind the wheel without rest, but truckers often ignore these rules to meet the unrealistic delivery schedules imposed by trucking companies. Fatigue slows reaction time, impairs judgment, and in the worst cases, causes drivers to fall asleep at the wheel.
Negligent hiring and retention: According to the NHTSA, 19.3 percent of commercial truck drivers in fatal crashes had been involved in prior wrecks, the second-highest rate of any vehicle type.

Protecting Your Rights After a Texas Truck Accident

It’s been our experience that the largest carriers have legal and insurance response teams that can be on the scene of a truck or 18-wheeler collision within hours to document evidence, download data from the truck’s electronic systems, and begin building a defense, all while injured victims are still in the emergency room.

If you’re going to recover the maximum compensation for all your injuries and losses, you also need to act as quickly as possible.

Call 911. Even if the crash seems minor, get law enforcement and EMTs to the scene. A police report creates an official record of what happened, where it happened, and who was involved. That report is one of the first things an attorney and an insurer will want, and the absence of that documentation can complicate your claim.
Get medical attention immediately. Some of the most serious injuries from a Texas truck accident, including traumatic brain injury, spinal damage, and internal bleeding, are not immediately apparent. Getting evaluated right away creates a medical record connecting your condition to the crash. Waiting gives insurers grounds to argue your injuries weren’t caused by the crash, or weren’t serious enough to warrant prompt care.
Document the scene. If you are physically able, take photos of the vehicles, the road, any skid marks, traffic signs, and debris before anything is moved. Get the truck driver’s name, carrier name, license plate, and insurance information. Get contact information from any witnesses.
Be careful who you talk to. After a Texas truck accident, limit what you say and to whom. Don’t discuss the details of the crash with anyone other than law enforcement at the scene and, later, your attorney. When speaking to witnesses or first responders, stick to the facts; don’t speculate about fault.
Stay off social media. Anything you post after a crash, photos, check-ins, comments about how you are feeling, can be used against you. A single post can be taken out of context to contradict your injury claims and seriously damage your case.
Don’t speak to the trucking company’s insurer without a lawyer. The adjuster’s job is to close your claim for as little money as possible. You’re not required to give a recorded statement, and doing so without legal representation is always a mistake.
Follow your doctor’s treatment plan. Keep every appointment, fill every prescription, and follow every recommendation your medical team makes. Gaps in treatment give insurers ammunition to argue your injuries weren’t as serious as you claim.
Track everything. Keep records of every bill, every prescription, every expense related to the crash. Document missed work. Write down how your injuries are affecting your daily life, and keep adding to that record as your physical recovery progresses.
Don’t accept the first settlement offer. You’re likely to receive an offer from the insurance company before you actually know the true extent of your injuries or the implications for your life. Once you agree and sign a release, you can’t go back, even if your condition turns out to be far more serious than it initially appeared.

How Our Texas Truck Accident Lawyers Can Help

Our Texas truck accident lawyers have successfully represented thousands of crash victims against the largest trucking and transportation companies in the world. We understand how insurers operate after a serious accident, and we know what it takes to win against their high-powered legal teams, in and out of the courtroom.

From the moment you hire us, we’ll begin working to prove how the crash occurred, who was to blame, and how it could have been avoided.

Identify Every Party to Blame

The trucker is rarely the only one at fault after a serious crash. Under Texas law, and in many cases, multiple parties can be found liable for a truck or 18-wheeler accident, including:

The trucking company, for negligent hiring, training, or supervision, or for pressuring drivers to violate federal hours-of-service rules
The company that owned or leased the truck, for failing to inspect or maintain it properly
The freight broker or logistics company, for selecting an unsafe carrier
The cargo loading company, for improperly secured, overloaded, or shifting cargo
The maintenance contractor, for failing to repair or service critical vehicle systems
The parts manufacturer, for defective components that contributed to the crash

Transportation companies are often deliberately structured to limit their legal exposure. The driver may work for one entity, another may own the truck, and a third may control the cargo. We know how to cut through that structure and pursue every party that caused or contributed to our clients’ injuries, as well as all available insurance coverage.

Preserve Critical Evidence

After a Texas truck accident, physical evidence, surveillance footage, and even the truck’s black box data, which records speed, braking, and GPS location in the seconds before impact, won’t last forever. Without a preservation order, driver logs, maintenance records, hiring files, internal safety audits, and company communications can be destroyed within a matter of weeks or months.

As soon as we’re hired, our attorneys act immediately to identify and preserve critical evidence:

Sending preservation letters for all relevant evidence.
Deploy investigators and accident reconstruction experts to the scene while the physical evidence is still there.
Secure dashcam footage, traffic camera recordings, and video from nearby businesses before they are automatically overwritten.
Subpoena cell phone records to determine whether the driver was texting, calling, or using data in the moments before the crash — evidence that can be decisive in establishing negligence, and in some cases, grounds for punitive damages.

Leverage the Evidence to Build a Winning Case

Having the right evidence isn’t enough. You need attorneys who know how to use it. Our team works with leading accident reconstruction specialists who can demonstrate precisely how the crash occurred and what the truck driver should have done differently. We consult medical experts who document the nature and severity of our clients’ injuries, what their recovery will look like, and estimate the cost of future care and lost earning potential. We retain vocational and economic experts who calculate lost earnings and the full financial toll of the crash over a lifetime — leaving the insurance company with no credible grounds to dispute the numbers.

We also know that the human costs of a serious truck or 18-wheeler crash go beyond what any medical record can capture. We work closely with our clients to document how their injuries have affected their daily lives, their relationships, and their ability to participate in activities they once enjoyed. That evidence — pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life — is just as real and just as compensable as any medical bill.

Knowledge of Federal Trucking Regulations

Commercial truck drivers and carriers operate under a detailed body of regulations enforced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, covering everything from hours-of-service and drug testing to vehicle inspections and cargo securement. When those rules are violated and someone is hurt, those violations become powerful evidence of negligence. We know which records to subpoena, what violations to look for, and how to use what we find — including patterns of safety violations carriers tried to conceal — to hold every responsible party fully accountable.

Undefeated at Trial

We prepare every Texas truck accident case as if it is going to court. That means working with our experts to build a complete damage model that accounts for every economic and non-economic loss. When we walk into a negotiation, the insurance company has a clear choice: pay what the case is worth, or face us in court, where we remain undefeated and have repeatedly recovered some of the largest truck accident verdicts in Texas history.

After a serious crash, trucking companies don’t waste time. They send adjusters and investigators to the scene while you are still in the emergency room, with one goal: to build a narrative that limits their exposure, regardless of what that means for you and your family. They will look for ways to discredit your injuries, monitor your social media for anything that can be taken out of context, drag out the process, and point fingers at anyone but themselves.

Our undefeated truck accident lawyers know their playbook inside and out. And we know how to counter their tactics and recover the compensation our clients need to rebuild their lives.

Undefeated Texas 18-Wheeler Accident Lawyers: Call 1-888-603-3636

Our Undefeated Texas Truck Accident Lawyers have won billions for thousands of crash victims and their families, and have a long history of securing record-breaking verdicts and settlements on their behalf, including:

If you or a loved one were hurt because of a reckless truck or 18-wheeler driver or a negligent trucking company, call 1-888-603-3636, use the “chat” button on our homepage, or click here to send us a confidential email through our Contact Us form.

All consultations are free, and you won’t owe us a dime unless we win your case.