Glendale Truck Accident Lawyers

Truck Accidents in Southern California

As a significant traffic hub for transporting goods, Southern California's roads and highways are filled with commercial trucks. These range from 18-wheelers to tankers, box trucks, flatbeds, garbage trucks, dump trucks, tow trucks, concrete mixers, refrigerated trucks, utility trucks, and delivery vans. 

Among the above, the most dangerous type of truck in accidents is 18-wheelers, although any truck can cause enormous damage to smaller vehicles in a crash. 

Truck accidents can include: 

• Rear-end collisions: When trucks fail to stop in time, leading to catastrophic impacts with vehicles ahead.
• Underride accidents: Occur when smaller vehicles slide under the truck's trailer, often resulting in severe injuries or fatalities.
• Jackknife accidents: The trailer swings out and forms an acute angle with the cab, often blocking or rolling onto nearby lanes.
• Rollovers: These occur when a truck loses balance and tips over, potentially crushing nearby vehicles.
• Blind spot accidents: When cars are in a truck's blind spot, the truck may change lanes or turn into a vehicle, causing a collision.

What Are The Common Causes Of Truck Accidents?

Truck accidents in Glendale, CA can occur for a variety of reasons, many of which are preventable.

• Driver Fatigue: Due to their frequently demanding schedules and lengthy workdays, truck drivers can become exhausted and have slower reaction times. Rest periods are mandated by federal legislation, however they are occasionally disregarded, creating hazardous driving situations.
• Distracted Driving: This is any activity that diverts a driver's focus from the road, such as talking on the phone, eating, or fiddling with the radio. Driving huge commercial vehicles can be very harmful when one is not paying attention.
• Poor Vehicle Maintenance: To keep trucks safe to drive, they need to have regular maintenance and inspections. If neglected, damaged tires, malfunctioning brakes, and other mechanical issues can cause disastrous collisions.
• Overloading or Improperly Loaded Cargo: Unbalanced or overloaded cargo can make a truck harder to manage, which raises the possibility of rollover accidents and makes it more difficult for the driver to move the truck safely.
• Weather and Road Hazards: In addition to posing additional problems, rain, fog, and badly maintained roads call for a higher level of expertise and prudence.
• Speeding and Aggressive Driving: Tailgating and making dangerous lane changes are two prevalent driving behaviors that lead to truck accidents. Due to their massive size and weight, even small mistakes might have devastating effects.

Common Injuries in Truck Accidents

Victims of truck accidents may suffer from a wide range of injuries, which can be catastrophic or even fatal. These can range from brain injuries involving mild concussions to severe brain damage, spinal cord injuries, multiple broken bones, internal injuries, such as internal bleeding and organ damage, lacerations due to shattered glass and metal debris, and burns due to fires. 

In the worst cases, truck accident victims can die on impact or later due to their injuries. In these cases, wrongful death claims may be filed on behalf of family survivors. 

Why Are Truck Accident Claims More Complex?

Due to various factors, truck accident claims are inherently more complex than standard car accident claims. These complexities arise from the nature of the accidents and the regulatory and operational framework surrounding the trucking industry. Understanding these factors is crucial for anyone involved in a truck accident claim.

• Multiple parties involved: Unlike car accidents, which typically involve the drivers of the vehicles, truck accidents can implicate several parties, including the truck driver, trucking company, truck manufacturer, and even cargo loaders. Determining liability requires a thorough investigation into the roles and responsibilities of each party.
• Regulatory compliance issues: The trucking industry is subject to extensive federal and state regulations, including hours of service for drivers, maintenance and inspection requirements, and load securement rules. Violations of these regulations can contribute to accidents, making it essential to examine compliance in the event of a claim.
• Severe injuries and higher claims: Given the massive force involved in truck accidents, injuries tend to be more severe, if not catastrophic. This leads to more significant claims for medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. The high stakes mean insurance carriers have a strong incentive to minimize payouts, complicating the claims process.
• Complex evidence and documentation: Truck accidents often require analyzing logbooks, electronic logging devices (ELDs), maintenance records, and black box data to reconstruct the events leading up to the collision. This technical evidence can be challenging to obtain and interpret.
• Expert testimony: Due to the technical nature of trucking operations and the injuries involved, expert witnesses are frequently necessary to explain how the accident occurred and its impact on the victim’s life. These experts can include accident reconstruction specialists, medical professionals, and trucking industry experts.
• Jurisdictional issues: Trucking companies often operate in multiple states, leading to potential jurisdictional complexities in filing a claim. The location of the company’s headquarters, the accident site, and the residency of involved parties can all influence where a lawsuit can be filed.

These factors make truck accident claims challenging, requiring detailed knowledge and experience to navigate effectively. Victims seeking compensation need to be prepared for a protracted battle that involves intricate legal, medical, and regulatory issues.