A collision involving a commercial truck can leave you with significant injuries, requiring extensive medical treatment and forcing you out of work for an extended period. When this occurs, it’s crucial that you work with an experienced Beverly Hills personal injury lawyer to seek the compensation needed for your medical bills, lost wages, and other losses.
Contact Dordick Law Corporation at (310) 736-2866 for a free consultation with a compassionate and skilled truck accident lawyer in Beverly Hills. We’re committed to helping people like you maximize their compensation by thoroughly investigating their cases, providing comprehensive legal support, and negotiating with insurance companies for fair compensation.
Truck Accident Cases We Handle in Beverly Hills
Our team handles various truck accident cases in Beverly Hills, California, from rear-end collisions and jackknife accidents to tire blowouts and cargo spills.
Rear-End Collisions
Rear-end collisions typically occur in heavy traffic or at intersections where cars are stopped. Some of the most common causes of these accidents are truck driver inattentiveness, misjudging the distance required to stop, and mechanical failures.
Head-On Collisions
Head-on collisions usually involve the truck crossing the dividing line between lanes due to distracted, intoxicated, or fatigued driving. These accidents often involve fatal injuries, requiring family members to seek compensation through wrongful death lawsuits.
Underride Accidents
An underride accident occurs when a smaller vehicle goes under a truck’s trailer. These accidents can happen if a truck driver fails to yield the right-of-way to oncoming traffic when turning left and can result in severe and often fatal head trauma to victims.
Jackknife Accidents
A jackknife accident occurs when a truck’s trailer swings out alongside its cab due to heavy braking or slippery conditions. These accidents can cause massive pileups, making it essential that you have legal representation to seek the compensation you need for your injuries.
Rollover Accidents
A rollover accident occurs when a truck ends up on its side. These accidents can result from jackknifing, turning at high speeds, or cargo shifting in transit that causes the truck to become unbalanced. When a truck rolls over, it can crush smaller vehicles nearby.
Tire Blowouts
Tire blowouts are often caused by worn tires, tire pressures that are too high, and damaged roads, including large potholes. The debris caused by the blowout can strike other vehicles, and the truck itself may lose control and cause a severe collision.
Wide-Turn Accidents
Wide-turn accidents occur when a large truck swings out wide before making a tight turn. This is usually done for right turns on narrow streets, but may also be necessary for some left turns. If a truck driver doesn’t properly signal their turn and check their mirrors, they could collide with another vehicle when swinging out or cutting back in to make the turn.
Cargo Spill Accidents
Cargo spill accidents occur when the cargo on the back of a flatbed trailer falls off and strikes another vehicle or lands on the road, or when a tanker truck is in an accident and spills the contents of its tank onto the road. Falling objects can pose a serious danger to other motorists, and fluids or gases leaking from tanker trucks can create hazardous situations.
Truck Accident Statistics
According to data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), approximately 175,000 vehicles are involved in truck accidents nationwide each year, resulting in around 75,000 injuries and 5,000 fatalities. Due to the severe nature of the injuries suffered in truck accidents, it’s crucial for victims and their families to seek legal counsel for help recovering the compensation they need.
Many truck accidents leave victims with permanent injuries, requiring that the compensation sought through lawsuits consider their long-term medical needs and the impact their injuries will have on the rest of their lives.
Truck Accident Case Example
In one truck accident case, Dordick Law Corporation secured a $36.12 million arbitration verdict for our client, whose stopped vehicle was struck by a big rig on the side of the highway. Our client had to stop their vehicle on the side of I-580, where a large truck slammed into their vehicle from behind.
The truck driver claimed they were cut off by a motorcycle, resulting in the driver having to swerve to avoid a collision. However, they struck our client in the process, causing catastrophic injuries that left him paraplegic.
Through a thorough investigation, our team was able to identify the liable parties, prove how the accident occurred, and secure the compensation our client needed for his permanent injuries.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below, we’ve answered some of the most frequently asked questions about Beverly Hills truck accident cases. If you have further questions, our lawyers will be happy to answer them for you during your initial consultation or at any time while your case is in progress.
What compensation can I recover after a truck accident in Beverly Hills?
After a Beverly Hills truck accident, victims can seek compensation in the form of economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages refer to the compensation sought for your tangible losses, including medical bills, lost wages, loss of future earning potential, and property damage. Non-economic damages refer to the compensation sought for your intangible losses, including pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and your injuries’ impact on your ability to perform routine tasks.
To maximize your compensation, it’s vital that you work with a lawyer who can accurately assess both your economic and non-economic losses and determine a fair value for them. Not only must your lawyer determine the value of your past and future losses so you don’t run out of money to cover your expenses.
Who could be liable for my truck accident injuries?
Various parties could be liable for your Beverly Hills truck accident injuries. Some of the parties most commonly found liable in these cases include:
- Truck drivers whose actions contributed to the accident
- Trucking companies that negligently hired or improperly trained drivers
- Cargo loaders that failed to secure the truck’s cargo properly
- Truck manufacturers or maintenance providers that contributed to mechanical failures through manufacturing defects or poor maintenance
- Other motorists whose actions contributed to the accident, such as someone who cut off the truck
- Government entities that are responsible for maintaining the roads
Identifying all liable parties is essential for maximizing your compensation, as the insurance policy limits of individual parties could cap the compensation you can receive from each of them. To do this, truck accident lawyers use various forms of evidence, including accident scene photographs, traffic camera footage, eyewitness statements, expert testimony, and medical records.
Why are truck accident cases more complex than other motor vehicle accident cases?
Truck accident cases are often more complex than other motor vehicle accident cases for several key reasons:
- Injury Severity – Because truck accidents frequently lead to more severe injuries, victims require more extensive medical treatment and are out of work for longer, resulting in higher damages and more evidence to comb through when building a strong case.
- Multiple Parties – Truck accidents often involve multiple victims who must split insurance payouts, and lawyers must identify and file lawsuits against multiple liable parties. The more parties involved in an accident, the more complex it will naturally be.
- Federal Laws – Beyond state laws, truck accidents require lawyers to have an intimate understanding of federal trucking regulations, including hours of service regulations and cargo securement rules.
- Large Insurance Payouts – Depending on the truck’s weight and cargo, it must have liability coverage ranging from $300,000 to $5,000,000. Due to the potential for significant payouts, trucking insurance companies employ teams of highly skilled lawyers to fight back against all claims.
How long do I have to file a truck accident lawsuit in California?
Under California’s statute of limitations for personal injury cases, truck accident victims have two years to file lawsuits against the parties responsible for their injuries. You must file your lawsuit within this period or risk the courts blocking you from recovering the compensation you need.
In cases of wrongful death, victims’ families also have two years to file lawsuits against the responsible parties.
What happens if I am partly at fault for the truck accident?
California follows a pure comparative negligence rule for personal injury cases, including those arising from truck accidents. Under pure comparative negligence, a plaintiff’s trial award can be reduced by their degree of fault for the accident that harmed them. For example, if the jury found you to be 20 percent at fault for the accident because you were speeding, you could only recover 80 percent of your damages.
While this rule only explicitly applies to trial awards, insurance companies also look to it when determining settlement amounts. If the insurance company believes a jury would find you partly at fault for the accident, it will adjust its settlement offers accordingly.
A skilled lawyer can gather evidence to minimize your degree of fault and maximize your compensation.
Contact Our Beverly Hills Truck Accident Lawyers
If you suffered injuries in a truck accident in Beverly Hills, contact Dordick Law Corporation at (310) 736-2866 for a free consultation with one of our knowledgeable and caring personal injury lawyers. We’ll review your case, walk you through the options for seeking compensation, and help you understand your rights.
