A truck accident can bring in the truck driver, the trucking company and several insurance companies.
We offer a free consultation about the accident at (800) 863-5312.
Article summary
Key things to know
- Carriers of covered commercial trucks must keep a qualification file for each driver they employ and repair and maintenance records for a truck they control for 30 consecutive days or more.
- A Texas personal injury lawsuit after a truck accident has a statutory filing deadline, and the table below gives it.
- The San Marcos city charter adds its own written notice rule for injury claims against the city.
- Texas assigns fault by percentage, and a claimant’s damages drop by the claimant’s own share.
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Rear-ended by a big rig in San Marcos?
Crash report numbers and the carrier name on the cab door help us identify the trucking company and ask for its records.
What a San Marcos truck accident attorney does
A San Marcos truck accident attorney investigates the commercial truck accident and identifies each liable party. The attorney handles the legal claim with insurance companies. A law firm’s legal team can send a letter asking the trucking company to preserve the truck, the electronic logs, the maintenance records and the driver file.
Federal rules generally prohibit driving while fatigue or illness makes it unsafe, and duty records can help show how long a truck driver had been on duty before the accident. Federal rules set minimum retention periods for certain trucking records, and do not ensure that key evidence remains available.
Insurance adjusters often ask for recorded statements, and an insurer sometimes tries to shift blame onto the injured person. A truck accident attorney answers for the client, gathers evidence and compares any offer with the medical bills.
Commercial vehicle crash figures for Hays County
TxDOT counted 232 crashes involving a commercial motor vehicle in Hays County in 2025. Two were fatal crashes, and nine people had a suspected serious injury.
Officers select the CMV indicator on the crash report, so the count is not limited to tractor-trailers and does not establish fault. The City of San Marcos says it lies in Hays, Caldwell, Guadalupe and Comal Counties, so the Hays figure is not a citywide count.
TxDOT’s city table counted 1,472 reportable crashes in San Marcos in 2025, including 9 fatal crashes with 9 deaths. It covers every kind of vehicle and has no truck column.
TxDOT’s construction sheet for the Interstate 35 project at SH 123 reported more than 155,000 vehicles a day on that segment. The state’s 2023 freight plan lists Interstate 35 among the Texas interstates with many truck-involved crashes, which are not necessarily caused by a truck driver.
NHTSA reports that 70 percent of the people killed in large truck crashes in the United States in 2024 were in other vehicles. Texas had more large trucks in fatal crashes that year than any other state, 699.
Why commercial truck accident cases involve multiple parties
Truck accident cases involve more parties than most car accident claims. With multiple parties, several negligent parties and several insurance companies may stand behind one crash. A trucking company can answer for an employee driver’s negligence within the scope of employment and for its own negligence, such as poor maintenance. An attorney can investigate a manufacturer’s defective truck part as a contributor to the crash.
Federal rules require cargo to be properly distributed and adequately secured so it does not shift and affect a truck’s stability. Which cargo company or party is held liable for unsafe loading depends on who loaded and inspected the cargo and whose negligence caused the crash.
FMCSA says a fully loaded tractor-trailer can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, and that weight increases the risk of severe injuries in a crash between a large truck and a passenger vehicle. FMCSA says large trucks have large blind spots and may move left before a right turn. Federal safety rules generally cover a truck hauling property in interstate commerce at a weight or weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more. Semi truck accidents and 18-wheeler crashes can bring federal trucking regulations into the case.
Those rules set the records a San Marcos truck accident lawyer asks for in every truck accident case. For a truck driver covered by the federal hours-of-service rule, the general limit is 11 hours of driving within 14 consecutive hours after coming on duty following 10 consecutive hours off duty. Texas intrastate rules differ. Carriers must keep the records of duty status and supporting documents that federal rules require for at least six months from receipt.
After a covered fatal truck accident, carriers must test surviving covered drivers as soon as practicable. Testing attempts stop after 8 hours for alcohol and 32 hours for drugs. A for-hire carrier hauling general freight between states in a truck rated 10,001 pounds or more must carry at least $750,000 in liability coverage. That minimum says nothing about what any claim is worth.
Regulatory violations do not prove fault on their own, and causation and the Texas evidence rules still apply.
A truck accident lawyer checks for speeding and distracted driving by a negligent driver, and reviews the carrier’s safety records. A Texas jury assigns a percentage of responsibility to each person the law lets it consider, such as a settling person or a designated responsible third party. That split is how fault is determined under the Texas truck accident rules that govern a San Marcos crash.
Truck accident injuries and damages in San Marcos
Survivors of a crash with commercial trucks can face severe injuries. They include traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, internal injuries and broken bones.
A personal injury claim can seek compensation after a truck accident. Texas law sorts the losses into economic damages and non-economic damages. A truck accident attorney can calculate damages from medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering.
- Medical expenses to date and future medical care
- Lost wages, plus lost earning capacity if work is affected
- Physical pain and mental anguish
- Vehicle repair and other property damage
Texas limits recoverable medical expenses to the amounts paid or incurred. Punitive damages, called exemplary damages in Texas, need clear and convincing proof of fraud, malice or gross negligence. Compensation varies with injury severity and the full extent of lasting limits.
A wrongful death claim after a fatal truck accident belongs to the surviving spouse, children and parents, and any one of them can bring the wrongful death claim. The injured person’s own claim survives to the estate, and a San Marcos wrongful death lawyer can explain who files.
Filing deadlines
Questions about how much time you have?
Deadlines for a San Marcos truck accident claim
| Claim | General deadline | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Personal injury lawsuit | Two years after the claim accrues. | Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.003(a) |
| Wrongful death lawsuit | Two years after the death. | Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.003(b) |
| Injury claim against the City of San Marcos | Generally, written notice to the city manager or the person performing the city clerk’s duties within 90 days after the injury. | San Marcos City Charter, Section 12.06 (now 13.04) |
Exceptions to the San Marcos notice period exist, so ask a lawyer about the dates.
Six district courts sit at the Government Center in San Marcos, and Hays County also has three statutory county courts at law. Hays and Caldwell Counties belong to the Austin Division of the Western District of Texas, and Comal and Guadalupe Counties to the San Antonio Division. The other parties, jurisdiction and venue rules place the case in state court, in another county or in federal court. A San Marcos truck accident attorney can say which deadline applies to your truck accident case.
Steps after semi truck accidents in San Marcos
- Get medical care. Tell the doctor about the truck accident.
- Call the police. The accident report should name the truck driver and the motor carrier.
- Photograph everything. Capture the accident scene, the trailer, any USDOT number and witness contact information.
- Save your records. Keep medical bills, repair estimates and proof of missed work.
- Talk to us first. Do this before you give an adjuster a statement about the accident.
When you are ready
Talk through the next step.
Free consultation with our San Marcos truck accident lawyers
Zinda Law Group is a personal injury law firm, and a lawyer from our law firm will explain the trucking industry rules and the legal process after your accident. The free case evaluation form takes the details online.
The law firm takes San Marcos car accident and motorcycle accident claims for clients in the city. Its personal injury team can review the other claims from the same San Marcos crash.
Our firm works on a contingency fee basis, so there is no out-of-pocket cost to secure the legal representation you need. That’s our No Win, No Fee Guarantee.
Founder and CEO
John C. (Jack) Zinda
Jack founded Zinda Law Group and focuses his practice on catastrophic personal injury, 18-wheeler accidents and wrongful death.
