If you or a family member was recently involved in an accident with an 18-wheeler, tractor-trailer, cement truck, or other big truck, you may be coping with pain, impairment, medical expenses, and a long recovery. Even worse, fatal truck accidents may have family members dealing with incomparable grief because of the tragic loss of a loved one.
Our nation’s commercial truck drivers have a responsibility to handle their trucks safely and competently. These drivers are required to have a commercial driver’s license (CDL) that requires additional training and testing. But all too often, truck accidents are caused by truck drivers and trucking companies who violate the rules they are required by law to follow.
At Golden State Accident Lawyers, you will speak with an experienced San Francisco truck accident lawyer, who will listen to you and help by answering your questions and discussing your legal rights. After an initial consultation, and if we decide to work together on your case, our lawyers and staff will work aggressively to obtain justice for you and your family.
San Francisco Truck Accident Injury Claims
A truck is a large motor vehicle used for transporting goods, materials, or people. Examples include delivery trucks, cement trucks, garbage trucks, dump trucks, box trucks, tanker trucks, flatbed trucks, tractor trailers, and school or public buses.
Trucks are involved in accidents with passenger vehicles every day on California roads, and the damage and destruction caused by these trucking accidents are often catastrophic. Truck accident injury claims can be very technical and extremely challenging to win, which is why it is important to have an attorney on your side that has the skills, knowledge, and relevant experience needed to handle such claims.
When truck accidents result in serious injury or death, the liable trucking and insurance companies go to great lengths to minimize or completely sidestep liability for potentially millions of dollars in damages. Our San Francisco truck accident lawyers will work aggressively to discover what, why, and how the accident happened, and to hold the liable trucking and insurance company financially accountable for your injuries and financial losses. In our experience, we have found that truck accidents often occur due to the following reasons.
Common Causes of Truck Accidents in San Francisco
The loss of lives and property resulting from fatal truck accidents with other drivers is often significantly greater than those resulting from car accidents. Due to the size and weight of large trucks, along with the weight of their cargo, they can cause significant damage to passenger cars and lead to serious injuries and severe consequences for passenger car drivers. The three most common causes of truck accidents in San Francisco are:
1. Fatigued Drivers
To limit driver fatigue, state and federal laws limit the number of hours that truck drivers can drive per day, and how many consecutive days a driver can work. However, drivers are usually paid for each mile they drive, which gives them the incentive to drive beyond the number of hours allowed under the law.
So that they can keep driving and earn extra money, drivers often falsify their logbooks to appear as if they have driven fewer hours than they actually have. Truck companies often encourage this behavior or turn a blind eye to it, because it keeps their trucks on the road longer and thereby increases their profits.
2. Inexperienced and Undertrained Drivers
Currently, the demand for truck drivers is greater than the number of available qualified drivers. As a result, trucking companies often rush to hire drivers and put them on the road without adequate training, and on occasion, without performing basic background checks to ensure the truck driver has a safe driving record free from known issues such as reckless or distracted driving.
3. Poor Maintenance Can Cause Truck Accidents
Trucking companies have a duty to regularly maintain all aspects of their vehicles. Long hauls can put a significant amount of strain on vehicles and can result in faulty equipment if not properly maintained. Many truck accidents are caused by improper maintenance that results in unsafe tires, defective brakes, and other serious safety issues.
Regardless of the cause, it is important to get an experienced truck accident attorney involved as soon as possible after being injured in an accident with a truck. The trucking company will immediately begin to perform its own investigation and to create a narrative of the accident that limits your ability to recover compensation for your injuries and losses.
