Trucking Accidents
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San Diego Trucking Accident Attorney
San Diego County boasts a much higher rate of commercial truck activity than most counties in the nation do. The county’s proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border, to the heart of California’s agricultural operations, and its booming economy mean that large commercial trucks hauling agricultural products, natural resources, imports, exports, and wares for use by San Diego residents rumble up and down the county’s freeways and surface streets in staggering numbers on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the density of San Diego traffic generally combined with the unique design factors that make large commercial trucks more prone to crashing than passenger vehicles means that San Diego County also boasts a much higher rate of commercial truck accidents than most counties in the nation experience.
If you have been injured as a result of one of the estimated 500,000 auto accidents involving large trucks that occur in the U.S. annually, know that you don’t have to navigate the legal and financial challenges resulting from that situation alone. Our firm’s legal team is passionate about ensuring that accident injury victims’ rights remain protected as they explore their legal options. When injury victims are entitled to any kind of compensation as a result of the harm they have suffered, our team does everything in its power to secure them the maximum amount owed.
Efficient and Effective Advocacy for Injured Motorists and Truck Operators
Our trusted and dedicated legal team has spent years successfully representing the interests of individuals injured in San Diego County truck accidents. Unlike some other personal injury firms that focus on one “kind” of accident victim or another, our firm chooses to represent both injured truck operators and injured motorists, as we believe that everyone who has suffered as a result of a crash deserves the opportunity to understand and exercise their rights under the law.
Should you choose to become a client, our experienced team will treat your case with the attention, focus, tenacity, and respect that it deserves. Similarly, you and your family will be treated with the utmost respect and consideration. Too often, personal injury firms sacrifice a client-focused approach for one that prioritizes handling as many cases as possible at once. While we pride ourselves on an efficient, effective approach to representation, we refuse to sacrifice the values of providing quality, comprehensive, and client-tailored services when managing each and every one of our cases. When you schedule a free, risk-free, confidential case evaluation with
our legal team, we’ll gladly answer any questions you may have about our approach to attorney-client relationships in addition to any questions you may have about your legal situation.
Why You Will Benefit from Exploring Your Legal Options Now
Truck accident cases tend to be complex. An accident injury victim, whether they drive professionally or not, is often in a position to hold more than one party accountable, pursue more than one legal remedy, and/or deal with more than one insurance provider. Seeking legal guidance as soon as you possibly can may help to ensure that evidence related to your case is preserved promptly, time-sensitive remedies are pursued within their statutes of limitations, and resolutions to your case are achieved before the financial consequences of your accident begin to impact your family’s financial wellbeing in earnest. Waiting to explore your legal options may result in negative consequences that could include being barred from seeking certain remedies and losing out on compensation to which you might otherwise be entitled. Schedule a free consultation with our firm today to better ensure that your rights as an accident victim are protected and your legal options are preserved.
Why Truck Accidents Occur
Large commercial trucks can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. Even the largest SUVs on the market weigh less than 6,000 pounds. Partially due to their imprecise turning capabilities, significant blind spots, and slow braking speeds, large commercial trucks are far more prone to crashing than the average passenger vehicle is. Partially as a result of their size and weight, large commercial trucks tend to cause serious and even catastrophic damage when they crash.
Before our experienced legal team can determine whether an accident victim’s injuries are legally actionable, we must investigate the cause(s) of the crash in question. Some of the most common causes of truck accidents result from negligent, reckless, or intentionally dangerous conduct by one or more parties. However, some of the most common causes of truck accidents – such as slippery road conditions due to weather – are not legally actionable because they are no one’s fault. When investigating the cause(s) of your truck collision, we will thoroughly review all available evidence to objectively assess whether you have a cause of action against one or more parties that may be held legally liable for your injuries. Although we will examine the evidence for uncommon crash causes, chances are good that at least one of the following common causes of truck collisions contributed to your injurious circumstances:
- Aggressive driving
- Dangerous road conditions
- Distracted driving
- Drowsy driving
- Failure to utilize turn signals
- Hazardous lane changing, passing, turning, and/or merging approaches
- Impaired driving – alcohol, illicit drugs, over-the-counter, or prescription drugs
- Inadequate upkeep of trucks and other vehicles
- Insufficient training of truck operators
- Slippery road surfaces
- Speeding - in violation of posted miles per hour limits and/or driving too fast for conditions
- Tire problems and other auto/truck defects
- Traveling in a truck operator’s blind spot(s)
- Unsafe employment practices utilized by trucking companies
- Visibility problems due to weather or fire
- Wild or domestic animal activity
Who Is Legally Liable When Trucks Crash?
If at least one cause of your truck crash is legally actionable, we’ll start crafting a solid legal strategy designed to hold responsible defendants accountable for the harm that they have caused you. It’s important to avoid assuming that you don’t have a cause of action because you were partly – or even mostly – to blame for what happened to you. California is classified as a comparative negligence state. As a result, injury victims who file suit in California are permitted to seek compensation against others who may be held legally liable for their contributions to the harm that a victim has suffered, even if that injury victim was also partially at fault for their injurious circumstances.
Legal liability for a truck crash “boils down” to the provability of three fundamental criteria. First, it must be proven that the defendant – whether that defendant is a person, a corporation, or another legal entity – owed the injury victim a duty of care. In truck accident cases, this standard is usually fairly easy to meet, as all motorists, trucking companies, and corporations that manufacture auto parts owe all travelers a duty of care under the law. Second, it must be proven that the defendant breached their duty of care to the injury victim by acting (or failing to act) in intentionally dangerous, negligent, or reckless ways. Finally, it must be proven that this breach served as a substantial factor in the direct cause of the victim’s injuries.
If more than one party is deemed to be at fault for the harm that the injury victim has suffered, the amount of compensation that each party may be held liable for will be calculated proportionally to their degree of fault. Say that three parties (you, a trucking company, and another driver involved in the crash) are all determined to have been partially liable for the harm you’ve suffered. The responsibility for the harm in question is divided thusly – you are 10 percent at fault, the other driver is 50 percent at fault and the trucking company is 40 percent at fault. The value of your harm is valued at $100,000. Your fault percentage reduces the amount you’re entitled to claim by 10 percent. This means that you can still pursue $50,000 in damages from the other driver and $40,000 in damages from the trucking company.
Were You Traveling for Work When You Crashed?
If you were driving a large commercial truck, or any other vehicle, for work-related purposes when your collision occurred, you may be entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits as a result of your injuries. Being eligible for
workers’ compensation benefits doesn’t necessarily bar you from seeking compensation via the personal injury claims process unless the only party you are planning to sue is your employer. If you’re eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits – which are made available on a no-fault basis – you are legally prohibited from suing your employer for your work-related harm.
If you were driving a large commercial truck, or any other vehicle, for work-related purposes when your collision occurred, you may be entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits as a result of your injuries. Being eligible for workers’ compensation benefits doesn’t necessarily bar you from seeking compensation via the personal injury claims process unless the only party you are planning to sue is your employer. If you’re eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits – which are made available on a no-fault basis – you are legally prohibited from suing your employer for your work-related harm.
Have You Already Been Offered a Settlement?
If your accident happened days, weeks, or months ago, you may have been offered a settlement by one of the parties involved in your crash. If so, don’t sign away your rights to sue in exchange for compensation before an attorney – who only has your interests in mind – has been granted the opportunity to review the terms of the settlement you’ve been offered. You may be entitled to much more compensation than you’ve been offered, in which case, signing away your rights to sue could affect you negatively well into the future.
It may be in your best interests to accept the settlement, if the terms are fair. However, you won’t be able to make an informed decision about accepting or rejecting it until a lawyer has reviewed it.
Contact Our Firm Today for a Free Case Evaluation
Whether you were injured while driving for a living or while traveling for any other reason, chances are good that you have legal options worth pursuing in the wake of your injurious truck accident. After evaluating your circumstances in a confidential, risk-free, no-cost consultation, our experienced and dedicated legal team will give you our objective assessment of both your legal options and the potential compensation value of your case. At that time, you’ll be able to make whatever informed decisions are best for you and your family. Our job isn’t to “sell” you on any particular course of action, but instead to empower you to make the most informed decisions possible. Please connect with us today to schedule a free consultation and to learn about our approach to representation. We look forward to meeting with you.
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