Work Zone Crashes

Work zones are necessary for Texas to have safe and well-maintained roads. Unfortunately, when not properly managed, work zones can be dangerous locations that risk workers and drivers alike. If you get involved in a work zone crash in Texas, it is important to recognize your right to hold someone accountable. To understand your legal rights and options after a work zone crash, contact the Austin car accident lawyers at FVF Law to schedule your free consultation.

What Is a Work Zone Crash?

A work zone crash is a traffic accident that occurs in or around a designated construction zone. Roadside work zones are areas where maintenance, repairs, or construction are taking place on a public roadway, often to improve the structural integrity and safety of the road. Work zones should be properly marked with lights, signs, cones, and barriers. They should be properly designed and maintained to optimize the safety of everyone involved.

How Common Are Work Zone Accidents?

Work zone accidents are much more common than most people realize. According to the Federal Highway Administration, 891 people died in fatal work zone accidents in 2022. The majority of the victims were drivers and vehicle occupants (742), while 145 people were bicyclists and pedestrians. An additional 37,701 people were injured in work zone collisions in 2022.

What Can Cause a Work Zone Accident?

Work zone accidents, injuries, and deaths can generally be prevented when everyone involved behaves safely and in accordance with the law. A construction company, for example, must adhere to regulations set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to ensure the reasonable safety of work zones and workers.

Motor vehicle drivers must obey Texas’s traffic laws and roadway rules, including following any instruction signs posted in a construction zone. Negligence, or the failure to exercise reasonable care, can result in serious and fatal work zone collisions.

Common causes of these accidents include:

• Distracted drivers
• Speeding
• Inadequate warning signage
• Equipment or workers too close to the road
• Confusing detours
• Construction vehicle movement
• Narrowed lanes
• A lack of bicycle and pedestrian lanes

If an investigation of a work zone accident in Texas finds that one or more parties should have done more to prevent the crash, those parties can be held liable, or financially responsible, for an injured victim’s losses.

How to Pursue Compensation for Your Work Zone Crash

If you or a loved one gets hurt in a work zone crash in Texas, the construction company, a contractor, a business, a driver, or another party may be liable for your losses. In Texas, the law allows an injured accident victim to file a claim against the at-fault party in pursuit of financial compensation.

A successful work zone accident case could result in compensation for many of your economic and noneconomic losses, such as past and future medical bills, lost wages, property damage repairs, pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and wrongful death damages (after a fatal accident).

If you wish to pursue financial compensation by holding a negligent party accountable for your work zone accident, start the process by contacting an experienced Austin personal injury lawyer. A lawyer can review your case to help you understand your legal rights and options, which may include filing a car insurance claim, workers’ compensation claim, or personal injury lawsuit.

To schedule a free review of your specific case, contact FVF Law Firm at (512) 640-2146. Our team of attorneys has more than 100 years of combined legal experience.