Articles Tagged with California Truck Accident Attorney

Big Rig Rollover Occurs on Donner Pass

A big rig rollover accident west of Truckee caused serious injuries on December 19. The collision occurred around 8:30 a.m. at the Donner Pass rest area on Interstate 80, blocking all the traffic lanes. The tractor had become dislocated from the trailer and overturned onto the driver’s side, according to the California Highway Patrol (CHP)

Fatal Truck Accident on I-5 in Encinitas

The California Highway Patrol reported a fatal truck accident on I-5 close to Moonlight Beach in Encinitas on the morning of Monday, April 10, 2023. The big rig crash took place at approximately 10:45 a.m. on southbound Interstate 5 in the vicinity of Encinitas Boulevard, officials said.

Fatal Accident Reported at the I-5/CA 170 Interchange

A big rig crash with a van in Sun Valley recently caused two fatalities. The accident occurred along southbound Interstate 5, where it connects with California 170, shortly after 5:00 a.m. when the big rig crashed with a disabled van stuck in the lanes, according to the incident log by the California Highway Patrol (CHP). A fire resulted from the collision, and firefighters were called to the scene to extinguish the blazing van. 

Merging Accident on the Ventura Freeway Causes Fatality and Serious Injuries

A big rig accident involving another vehicle resulted in the death of an infant in the Valley Village area of Los Angeles on January 16. The collision occurred along the Ventura Freeway near Tujunga Avenue at about 1:25 p.m. According to the police report by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) the infant was with a man and woman in a Land Rover going north on U.S. Route 101. 

Drivers And Their Employers Are Responsible for Problems with Truck Loads from Start to Finish

Semi tractor-trailer rigs are big, awkward, challenging-to-operate vehicles. Even when empty, a typical tractor and trailer together weigh about 35,000 pounds and are more than 70 feet long, about 8.5 feet wide, and 13.5 feet tall. It’s easy to understand why it takes a considerable amount of training and experience for a truck driver to learn to safely drive one of these big rigs. Another significant challenge is the weight and distribution of a load being carried inside the trailer. That load can be up to about 45,000 pounds, and it’s sitting perched on top of a trailer that typically weighs less than a quarter of that amount, resulting in a tall vehicle with a high center of gravity that can be prone to tipping over when turning at high speed or experiencing lateral forces such as from high winds. And if part of that 20+ tons of load is unbalanced or suddenly shifts, it can quickly result in disastrous trucking accidents that can cause serious property damage, injuries, and even deaths. That’s why federal law holds truck drivers and their employers responsible for the proper distribution, balance, and securement of their cargo from start of trip to finish. When trucking accidents may have occurred due to improperly loaded cargo, a skilled personal injury attorney will know to review the details of the cargo’s loading and securement and compare these facts to the regulatory requirements to look for important discrepancies upon which a personal injury claim or lawsuit may hinge.

A Wide Variety of Possible Parties to Truck Accident Litigation

Personal injury claims and lawsuits resulting from “typical” traffic accidents between passenger cars will often have only a single named defendant — the person who was the negligent driver who caused the accident and who was likely also the owner of the vehicle they were operating. Sometimes a second defendant may be named if the negligent driver was operating someone else’s vehicle, or if the negligent driver was in a work vehicle and on-the-job. Due to the nature of the freight and shipping business, however, truck accident litigation may involve several different potential defendants — each with one or more liability insurance companies — who need to be carefully sorted through and evaluated in order to bring the truck accident personal injury claim to a successful resolution. A skilled and experienced personal injury attorney will understand the necessity of doing this as a basic service for clients in truck accident cases.

Categories of Documentary Evidence Relevant to All Truck Accident Lawsuits and Claims

Whenever the insurers for the negligent parties in a truck accident personal injury claim fail to fairly resolve the claim for an appropriate amount of compensation, it may become necessary to file suit and proceed into litigation. After the defendants have been served with the truck accident lawsuits, the next stage of litigation is “discovery,” in which the parties exchange formal requests for exchange of evidence — written questions and answers called “interrogatories,” requests for production of documents, subpoenas to third parties for relevant testimony and evidence, etc.

Failure to Correctly Hire, Train, and Supervise Drivers is Common Cause of Truck Accidents

The most common cause of all motor vehicle accidents — and often a contributing factor even if not the primary cause — is driver error. People are imperfect, and whether through mistake, inexperience, fatigue, simple negligence, or intentional recklessness, motor vehicle drivers are the first place to look when trying to figure out why an accident occurred. While mechanical failure, roadway problems, or other issues sometimes cause traffic accidents, these factors are relatively rare compared to driver error. Truck drivers are professionals who spend much more time behind the wheel than average drivers — we would assume they have the training and experience needed to avoid many common mistakes. But they still make mistakes, which points to one of the most common reasons for truck company liability — the failure to properly hire, train, and supervise their drivers.

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