Truck Accident Lawyer

Truck Accident Attorney

What is the Time Limit To File a Truck Accident Claim

The state of California sets an amount of time you have to file a personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault party. This time limit is called a statute of limitations, failure to file a claim within this time limit means your right to recover compensation for your injuries will be lost. In California, the time limit to file a personal injury claim is two years from the date of the injury.

If you are filing a claim for property damage only after a truck accident in California, you have three years from the date of your collision to bring a claim against the at-fault party. If you wish to hold the government responsible, such as for a pothole or another road defect, you must file a claim within six months of the truck accident. There could be other exceptions to the rule that also change your time limit to file. It is important to contact an attorney right away.

If you don’t file a lawsuit within your time limit, you may give up your right to seek financial compensation for a truck accident in Los Angeles forever. With only a few exceptions, the courts do not give extensions or second chances.

A truck accident attorney from our law firm will be able to determine if you have a valid case and make sure you don’t lose your right to compensation.

Most Common Causes of Truck Accidents

Car accidents are complex events, and there are several elements that can influence the occurrence of a crash. The trucking industry comes with many elements and issues that can increase the risk of an accident. Most truck accidents come down to human error or negligence. Negligence means that a driver or another party did not use enough care, resulting in injuries or deaths to others. Some common causes of truck crashes include:

Drowsy driving. Driver fatigue is an especially common problem in the trucking industry due to issues such as sleep apnea, tight schedules, long hours on the road and broken hours-of-service regulations.
Alcohol and drug use by the truck driver. The maximum blood alcohol content (BAC) level for commercial drivers in California is 0.04 percent – half of the amount of a noncommercial driver.
Distracted drivers. Distracted driving is as much an issue in commercial trucking as it is for standard vehicle drivers. If a truck driver tries to pass the time by texting, checking emails, watching videos, reading a book or engaging in other activities, he or she could cause an accident.
Lack of driver experience. Operating a big rig requires special training and experience. Hiring an inexperienced or incompetent truck driver increases the risk of a crash.
Failure to obey traffic rules. Traffic rules are in place to decrease the risk of collisions. Breaking a traffic rule, such as a truck driver running a red light, increases the odds of a crash.
Speeding. Speeding can refer to driving over the speed limit as well as driving too fast for conditions, such as in dangerous weather. Speeding is common in trucking due to the pressures of the job and tight deadlines.
Improperly loaded cargo. If a trucking company, cargo company or cargo loader fails to abide by the rules of cargo securement, it can lead to an imbalanced truck and a rollover accident, or a lost cargo load in transit.
Defective parts or poor truck maintenance. A trucking company or maintenance crew could be responsible for a crash caused by poor fleet maintenance, such as bad brakes, tire blowouts or part malfunctions.

One or more parties could be responsible for causing a trucking accident. If you or a loved one suffered injuries and other damages in a trucking accident caused by negligence, schedule a free consultation with our truck accident lawyer in Los Angeles. We can carefully investigate your accident to determine cause and fault.

Truck Accidents

While any vehicle-related accident can cause serious pain and injury, cases involving large trucks such as semi-trailer’s tend to be especially dangerous given their disproportionate size and weight. Drivers and passengers involved in accidents with these vehicles tend to suffer more serious and permanent injuries, if not fatal ones.

If you or a loved one were involved in an accident with a truck, retaining the services of an experienced attorney is imperative. Truck drivers are often heavily insured, and more than one party can be held responsible for a truck driver’s negligence. Having an experienced lawyer working with you as soon as possible will help ensure your case is handled carefully and in the most professional manner. Trucking accident claims can be difficult when it comes to identifying the many different lines of insurance – the truck and trailer are often insured by different companies, with either or both potentially being guilty of negligence.

Through our knowledge and experience, we will guide you through the difficulties of truck accident litigation such as gathering evidence from the accident to determine who is at fault and who is liable to pay for your injuries, filing appropriate documents and lawsuits with the courts, and negotiating with insurance companies to get you the highest compensation possible.

Truck drivers, trucking companies and corporations that operate large trucks for the transport of goods in Los Angeles and across state lines have a legal duty to make sure they follow all safety procedures and exercise due care in the operation of these vehicles. Statistics have consistently shown us that when a large, 80,000-pound truck strikes a smaller vehicle, the occupants of the passenger vehicle are the ones who tend to suffer catastrophic or fatal injuries.

The experienced Los Angeles truck accident lawyers at the Vaziri Law Group Personal Injury Attorneys have the knowledge, experience and resources it takes to stand up and fight against these corporations and their insurance companies. We are passionate when it comes to pursuing maximum compensation for our injured clients and their families.

Compensation for Truck Accident Victims

A common question most injured truck accident victims ask is what their claim might be worth. The answer will vary depending on each case and the facts and circumstances surrounding it. The value of a truck accident claim will also likely depend on the nature and severity of your injuries and the level of negligence on the part of other individuals and entities. For example, a victim who has suffered a catastrophic injury such as limb amputation will typically receive a larger settlement than someone who has suffered relatively minor injuries.

Here are some of the damages you can claim as part of your truck accident case:

Medical expenses including cost of future treatment, care and rehabilitation
Lost income and loss of earning capacity
Property damage
Permanent injuries and disabilities
Past and future pain and suffering
Punitive damages

Types of Truck Accidents

The type of truck accident that you were involved in can yield information about fault and causation. If you were injured in a tire blowout accident, for example, this could point to the fault of the tire manufacturer for a defective tire or the trucking company for lack of tire maintenance. The following are common types of truck accidents in Los Angeles, as well as their possible causes:

Rollovers. A truck rollover accident can take place when the truck experiences a problem that makes it off balance, such as a tire blowout or shift in cargo. A truck may also rollover if the truck driver jerks the wheel, slams on the brakes or takes a turn too sharply.
Jackknifes. A jackknife accident is when the trailer of a truck swings out at an angle from the cab. This can lead to loss of truck control and a rollover accident. Jackknifing is often caused by an equipment malfunction, locked wheels or brake failure.
Lane-change accidents. Lane-change accidents are common, as big rigs have large blind spots known as No Zones where the truck driver cannot see vehicles in the surrounding lanes. It is a truck driver’s responsibility to prevent these collisions by switching lanes slowly and carefully.
Underride and override accidents. An underride accident is when a passenger car gets lodged beneath the trailer of a truck. An override accident is a truck riding over the top of a smaller passenger car. Both are possibilities in a rear-end collision.
Lost load accidents. Truck accidents and injuries caused by lost cargo loads are often preventable with proper cargo loading and securement. It is a company’s responsibility to obey federal load securement laws to avoid these accidents.

If you are not sure what caused your truck accident, our attorneys can carefully investigate the crash for signs of causation. We can use expert investigators and accident reconstructionists to piece together how your accident took place. Then, we can help you gather evidence to establish fault and liability.

Who is Responsible for Truck Accidents?

Commercial truck drivers are professionals with special training and special safety regulations governing when and how they may drive. Truckers and trucking companies routinely ignore those laws in order to meet strict delivery deadlines. Sometimes, that leads to truckers piloting ten-ton vehicles on very little sleep or taking drugs to stay awake.

At other times, a trucking company may fail to maintain brakes, tires, lights, and other equipment, putting their own drivers and everyone around them at risk of a serious truck accident. And a few unscrupulous companies knowingly employ cheap but unqualified truck drivers who never earned a commercial driver’s license in the first place.

Federal statistics show that large trucks – like big rigs and 18-wheelers – are only three percent of the vehicles on our roads but are involved in 12 percent of traffic fatalities. Smaller and personal trucks share some of these dangers. They may not weigh 80,000 pounds, but they’re still taller and higher than many of the passenger cars on the road, giving them the potential to crush smaller vehicles in an auto accident.

Statistics show that pickups and other personal trucks are also more than twice as likely as smaller cars to have a fatal rollover accident. And recent-model pickups have seen a slew of recalls and product defects that can put their occupants at grave risk, including defective tires, door latches that don’t work, and improperly secured seat belts. A Los Angeles truck accident lawyer can help you recover compensation from the negligent person or company that caused your accident.

Panish | Shea | Boyle | Ravipudi LLP can provide a comprehensive crash investigation to determine who or what caused your truck accident. If we believe you have grounds to hold a truck driver, truck owner, trucking company, cargo company, truck manufacturer or another party responsible, we can take care of the claims filing process on your behalf.

Compensation Los Angeles Truck Accident Victims Can Recover

Truck accident victims can recover economic damages and non-economic damages with the help of an experienced truck accident attorney. Economic damages are out-of-pocket costs and losses that have a specific dollar value, such as medical bills and property damage repairs. Noneconomic damages are the intangible losses suffered in the truck accident, such as emotional distress.

Damages that can be included in a settlement are:

Medical expenses
Lost wages
Property damage
Future medical treatment
Loss of future earning capacity
Loss of companionship for the wrongful death of a loved one
Funeral and burial expenses
Pain and suffering
Punitive damages
Emotional trauma

It is important to come up with a complete list of your losses when seeking financial compensation for a truck accident in Los Angeles. This includes your existing losses as well as your latent foreseeable costs. Otherwise, you may accept a smaller settlement from an insurance company than you deserve.