Los Angeles Truck Accident Lawyer
Since the late 1970s, DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo has helped clients receive the maximum possible compensation after truck accidents. Injuries can be very difficult to deal with and hard on the family of the injured person. As you may sadly now already know, trucking injuries can be even more tragic due to the immense size and rapid speed of trucks. Another factor that multiplies the danger that trucks can pose to cars and pedestrians alike is the heavy loads that they carry. A Los Angeles truck accident lawyer at our firm knows all of the factors of a truck accident and can get you the compensation you deserve. We have represented the entire scope of injuries from trucking accidents which include everything from wrongful deaths and burn injuries to whiplash injuries and broken bones. We work hard every day to remain the best LA trucking accident injury attorneys. Our firm is ready to begin representing you in and out of court so you can focus on healing and on your family. Our quality and ethical reputation throughout Los Angeles speaks for itself: We are experienced and successful truck accident attorneys who work tirelessly to protect the rights of their clients.
How to File a Truck Accident Lawsuit Claim
You are most likely thinking about how to bring a semi truck legal cause of action and/or how to file a workers’ compensation claim for a tractor trailer or moving truck catastrophic injury. We answer our phones twenty-four hours of the day so you can call us anytime at (213) 416-2472. It is important for you to get at least some legal guidance before proceeding with a shipping truck, refrigeration truck, or big rig truck injury accident case. We will discuss your claim during your free consultation:
- Options and advice for how you may be able to do-it-yourself.
- What might be involved in suing another party and filing your legal claim(s) for workers’ comp and/or third party personal injury.
- Prudent answers to your questions regarding how we could help you navigate the legal system during this challenging time.
- Potential litigation issues including: law and motion, expert witness depositions, investigation, pleadings, written discovery, types of causes of action, lay witness depositions, legal evidentiary standards of proof and legal requirements, potential special and general damages including: temporary disability benefits, medical treatment, bodily injury, loss of earnings, and other damages and benefits you are entitled to recover.
- How we could make your case simple, efficient and successful.
Our Los Angeles County truck accidents lawyers are ready to use their experience to take the load and stress of a lawsuit off of your shoulders. We have been doing this since 1979 so we want to offer you the peace of mind that you will be in good hands. If after meeting with us and discussing the numerous important and critical steps and costs that are needed to file, investigate, negotiate, litigate, and potentially take your trucking injury case to trial, please know that we will always be here for you. We sure hope this webpage helps you learn more about injury law and that you get to your maximum medical improvement as quickly as it is possible.
Call Our Firm Right Away
Los Angeles Work Injury Lawyers
The Law Firm of DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo
Los Angeles County, CA
(213) 416-2472
You deserve the best attorneys in LA who have the knowhow, staff, ability, and training to get you the maximum compensation you can legally get. The Better Business Bureau consistently gives us their highest award of an A+. You will be able to rest assured that we will work very hard throughout your case. We are ready to start your trucking and hauling work injury, workers’ compensation, and personal injury case so contact our firm today at (213) 416-2472. We will conduct a case evaluation to look into the merits of your case. The initial meeting is free and we’ll work on a contingency basis after that where you will not have to pay our firm anything unless we win your case. One of your concerns should be to not get victimized again by not getting all the monetary compensation that you deserve.
LA Trucker Workers’ Compensation
It is the law to cover all employees (including truck driveres) with workers’ compensation insurance. It provides assistance when an employee gets injured on the job. Workers’ compensation laws also protect the rights of the injured employee. This is important as you probably know the history of how hurt employees used to be treated. One of the protections is that employers cannot penalize or fire employees for filing a workers’ compensation claim. As with any insurance, workers’ comp insurance does have limits. It also does not allow for monetary damages for pain and suffering and other damages allowed by personal injury law. The work comp insurance held by your employer might provide money to you and your family for income, medical benefits, disability, medical expenses, permanent disability compensation, death benefits, and vocational rehabilitation, when the injury, accident or circumstances warrant such payments. See the information below regarding “adding third parties” for more info on maximizing your compensation and benefits. If you have been injured while on the job, contact our Los Angeles workers comp attorneys today.
We Promise to Give You the Complete Answers you Need to Make Decisions
Schedule your free initial consultation soon so that you can talk about your job injury with our experienced Los Angeles County workman comp attorneys. We will answer all of your questions including if you are wondering just how SDI (State Disability Insurance) works, what the workmen comp benefits may end up being specifically for you and your family, and how much a work compensation attorney costs or how much a work injury lawyer costs? Regarding that, the good news is that you will not have to pay us anything unless we win your trucking accident case. In addition, we will make sure you feel confident and up-to-date throughout the case as our firm strongly believes in educating the client.
The Third Party who is at Fault, Too
For trucking accidents, third parties are people, companies, contractors, manufacturers, factories, repair shops, traffic engineers, road designers or government entities that are also responsible for part of your trucker workplace injury other than just your employer. By adding the third party, you could be able to receive compensation and benefits beyond that which is provided by the work compensation set of laws for California. If you are filing a workers’ compensation case but you want to recoup your complete lost income and damages for pain and suffering, our trucking accident law firm and our injury investigators will need to prove that a third party like that of a road or highway construction firm, truck mechanic, truck manufacturer, part manufacturer, truck repair shop, or others has a share in the fault for the trucking accident.
Third Party Cases will be Coordinated with the W.C. Claim
Please contact one of our local Los Angeles workers’ comp accident lawyers today using the phone number at the top of the page to discuss your injury and your legal options. This may be especially crucial if your case might have an additional third party (like a defective product manufacturer or it was caused in part by a faulty road or freeway design) as it needs to be coordinated and handled correctly since there could be two or more cases for the one truck accident injury. Our experienced truck accident injury lawyers and staff have handled cases like these since the late 1970s and, if your case has merit, we will be able to handle your case.
OSHA and Truck Accident Injuries
One of the goals for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (osha.gov) is to set laws and regulations in place that help to keep all work environments as safe and as healthful as they can be. Their influence reaches far and wide. This even includes the working environment of truckers: the warehouses, freeways, rest stops, truck yards, storage sheds and their mobile workplace of the truck, 18-wheeler, tanker, big rig, semi-truck, tractor trailer, 16-wheeler, and all other types and brands of trucks. OSHA states that “Every day in this country, more than fourteen workers lose their lives in preventable workplace tragedies.” Due to that distressing statistic, OSHA continues to get tighter and tighter on road safety, truck driving rules, freeway safety, and driving conditions so that less people get hurt. OSHA actually even has a part of its laws that are devoted to trucking drivers and the trucking industry in general.
OSHA Enforces Safety Regulations to Try to Keep Employees Safe
OSHA will investigate accidents, injuries and safety code violations by interviewing witnesses and employees, conducting site inspections, checking driving logs, reviewing maintenance records and by conducting other investigations. They also make sure to keep the identities of all truckers or employees who contact their office regarding OSHA violations, unsafe working conditions, defective parts, unsafe work hours, and potential truck accident risks anonymous, if the employee requests it.
LA Trucking Accident Injuries
Most of the potential results of truck accidents can be very traumatic. Contusions, blindness, back injury, ligament sprains, brain injury, burns, concussions, broken bones, coma, being crushed, muscle strains, heavy bleeding, becoming deformed, neck injury, amputation, lacerations, whiplash, cuts, and death are all potential outcomes of trucking accidents. The truck accident injury attorneys of DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo have 30+ years of experience assisting truckers or those hit by a truck with their legal injury cases for all the above injuries and more. We will stay by your side throughout the legal journey. If you do not have your own doctor or medical plan for your truck highway accident, truck unloading accident, truck loading accident, truck load shift accident, or truck road accident, we can help find a local one that will be able to give you the comprehensive and timely treatment that you legally deserve.
How Trucking Accidents Occur
Truckers can be scheduled to drive for many hours on end throughout all times of the day and night and in the full variety of weather conditions from sunny and dry to cold and windy. They encounter many types of challenges and dangers. Sometimes just backing into the driveway of the warehouse is not an easy task. A main reason truck accidents cause so many injuries and deaths each year is that trucks can be forty times heavier than the car, motorcycle or van it collides with on the highway or road or in the parking lot. Over 70 percent of truck accident injury victims were not truckers or truck passengers. Trucking accidents can happen in many ways including illegal lane change, rear-ender, unsafe lane change, rollover, driver on drugs, improper loading, out of control downhill, improperly secured load, spill, poor repair or maintenance of the truck or car who started the accident, an intoxicated driver (DUI), a drunk driver, overworked driver, negligent hiring, drugged driver, air-brake failure, illegal loads, driver on his cell phone, another driver hit the truck, load too heavy, driver fell asleep at the wheel, run-off-road collision, and animal collision. It is important that the trucking company you work for always keeps up on the maintenance of your truck as that helps avoid some trucking accidents.
Additional Truck Accident Causes
Some more types of causes of trucking accidents that occur in Los Angeles include collision with a pole or stop light, head-on collision, hit a pedestrian, collision with a median or barrier, swerved off road, swerved into a car, hit a deer, side collision, speeding, jack brake failure, under the influence driver, load shift, brake failure, low building clearance, jack-knife, side swiped a car, poor road design, hit road debris, equipment failure, sleep deprivation, poor eyesight or poor reflexes, blind spot accident, a car got hit while it was in the way of the wide turn, poor road condition, driver eating or calling, too much downhill speed, poor road construction, inexperienced U-Haul driver, low warehouse clearance, low bridge clearance, trucker texting, or a distracted trucker on a cell phone while driving. Trucking accident injuries can be serious and fatal so let us help you protect your rights and recover as much as possible.
How the Trucking Companies Respond to a Truck Accident
Each trucking company and manufacturer has decades of legal experience as the defender in countless truck accident injury cases so they invariably have a department of attorneys ready to do what it takes to win the case and minimize or negate the compensation payout. As discussed elsewhere on this page, the trucking companies have the whole routine down as to how to immediately start building their case from the moment the accident happens.
Our Legal Help Could Assist You in getting the Max Compensation
We fully believe that you need our legal assistance to receive the maximum legal compensation for your truck accident injury. Trucking companies have been accused of tying up the legal process so that individuals representing themselves cannot sustain the cost of the legal effort. They have also been known to not enforce their trucker rules and regulations on their employees, falsify the truck maintenance records, alter their truckers’ driving logs, and lose critical records like the black box, computer records, receipts, driving logs and more.
Trucking Companies Start Building their Legal Case within One Hour
When a trucker is part of any type of accident, they are sure to radio it to their dispatcher. The dispatcher then contacts the trucking company’s attorneys and investigative team so they get to the trucking accident site usually within an hour of the tragic event. Sometimes they are there even faster than the ambulance, tow trucks, police, or fire trucks. Their team immediately starts to prepare and build the case and they have been known to sometimes even hide, destroy, modify or falsify the evidence. If the large company you will be up against in court is legally defending their case so quickly after the accident, shouldn’t you have a team of lawyers working the case soon, too?
We Could Fight the Insurance Companies on Your Behalf
Call us as soon as you can as we can help you preserve the evidence and protect your side of the case. It is important that you are proactive when facing the above and hire some of the best Los Angeles truck accident attorneys around. We are ready to start working the case, investigating the accident and representing you.
What to do Following a Truck Accident
After any truck accident, it is a great idea to remain as calm and focused as you can. It is true that decisions that are made following a truck accident may affect your case, your health, and your recovery. Be sure to get a hold of some of your friends for help (after you call 911 and you secure the accident evidence). It is important to get immediate medical attention as many types of accident injuries, such as whiplash injuries, neck injuries, some broken bones, and back injuries, do not have immediate pain or symptoms but they do need quick treatment and medical attention.
Document and Photograph the Scene
Be sure to retain and protect as much evidence from the accident scene as is possible including taking pictures with your own camera or cell phone, writing down the info for all other people involved including witnesses, writing your records of what happened, and protecting your vehicle that was involved in the crash. Our trained staff will want to investigate the vehicle right away.
The Possible Compensations That Could Be Awarded to You
The California state law is setup to protect the rights of people that get injured due to the fault of another company, person, or corporation. The types of compensation that you might be entitled to could include payment for your life-care, medical bills, property damage, loss of current and future wages, punitive damages, changes to your lifestyle, pain and suffering, and more. We can discuss with you during the free consultation whether or not your case and circumstances warrant those compensations. We will also discuss what we feel is the potential monetary amount that could be coming to you if your case has merit and we win in court.
Government’s Oversight and Liability
All levels of government have laws that are designed to try to make trucking and driving as safe as possible. For the trucking industry, the government agencies have many size, route, weight, driver training and design regulations and restrictions. In terms of whose rules truckers have to follow, it depends on where they are at the moment. When the truckers are driving on the National Network of US and state highways (that are considered interstate freeways), they come under federal regulations. When those same truckers are driving onto intrastate highways and freeways, they come under the state’s rules.
Other Measures Meant to Protect Citizens
To protect bridges and overpasses, there is the Federal Bridge Gross Weight Formula. Weigh stations are also an important way that our government enforces its trucking regulations. In addition, the government continues to pass laws that require trucks to add sensors, safety features, quality improvements, warning lights, and secondary safety features.
CalTRANS & Safety
Caltrans manages more than fifty thousand miles of CA highways and works with local agencies to connect the boulevards, frontage roads, local streets, avenues, and roads to the highway’s tunnels, offramps, bridges, overpasses, onramps, and interchanges. CalTRANS has been involved in the high speed flow of trucks, semi-trucks, cars, vans, motorcycles, SUVs and commerce in this state for over a century.
Road Conditions Might Also Cause Trucking & Car Accidents
Additional causes for car, motorcycle, SUV and trucking accidents on our streets and highways are poor road conditions, ineffective curve or downhill/uphill designs, defective road designs, bad parking lot or unloading dock layouts, a lack of a center divider or guard rails, and unmaintained roads and highways. Additionally, poor water flow and water drainage can cause slippery conditions, puddles, loose gravel, and other very unsafe conditions that are prone to accidents. Caltrans, DMV or local government agencies may be liable if it is proven that their traffic control devices are negligent or not properly designed or installed such as reflectors, road paint, stop signs, warning signage, traffic lights, traffic signage, and detours. We can help you investigate your truck accident to see if a government agency was partially at fault.
Limiting Continuous Driving Hours with Government Hours of Service Rules
Since some of the most tragic causes for truck accidents are sleepy, overworked or exhausted truck drivers, the federal and state governments regulate the amount of hours a trucker can drive within a certain set period of time. Another factor is that a driver who is overworked or tired is more likely to take uppers or other drugs to try to stay awake. A trucker is required to keep a log book or an electronic on-board recorder to track their driving hours, out-of-cab time, breaks, and duties. The current hours of service rules revolve around a max of 11 hours of driving in a 14 hour window which is then supposed to be followed by a 10 hour period of the trucker resting (thus totaling 24 hours). Truckers are also required to get a commercial driver’s license to be able to operate a truck in the US, which is discussed below.
Governments Oversee Design and Construction
Governments have direct oversight over the construction projects of all road and traffic projects including bridge, underpass, street, intersection, parking garage, development, overpass, boulevard, offramp, onramp, and freeway projects. Additionally, they plan the flow of traffic and control it using reflectors, lanes, warning signs, signals, and other signage. This oversight can create a duty and responsibility of the building, safety, permit and/or planning division of any municipalities, state and federal governments. Most agencies have a building and planning division that oversees commercial and residential construction projects. We have been working with cases involving government entities since 1979 and we will be sure to investigate that potential part of your accident.
US and CA Commercial Licenses
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has a set of minimum standards that each of the 50 states needs to meet or exceed for their state’s commercial licenses. Class A, Class B or Class C commercial licenses are needed when one is driving a vehicle depending on the either the capacity to hold a certain number of passengers or a certain amount of load or cargo. Further tests and certifications are needed for drivers of semi trailers, tank trucks, school buses, and trucks with hazardous materials.
Distracted Car & Truck Drivers Cause Many Accidents
The Department of Transportation and CalTrans are working hard to find ways to try to prevent trucking accidents and trucking injuries because of the increasing number of distracted drivers. Texting, eating, cell phones, drinking, using the in-car GPS or map routing device, smoking, and loud music all have contributed to truck and car accidents in the last year.
Major California Truck Routes
California has some of the country’s biggest airports, farms, ports, manufacturers, refineries, factories, and stores that constantly need to ship their raw materials, supplies, products, produce, and merchandise all across the state and country. Some of the major truck routes in California where trucking accidents happen are: Interstate Highway 19 (I-19), Interstate Highway 10 (I-10), Interstate Highway 5 (I-5), Interstate Highway 805 (I-805), Interstate Highway 80 (I-80), Interstate Highway 8 (I-8), Interstate Highway 215 (I-215), Interstate Highway 14 (I-14), Interstate Highway 405 (I-405), Interstate Highway 905 (I-905), Interstate Highway 395 (I-395), Interstate Highway 60 (I-60), Interstate Highway 15 (I-15), Interstate Highway 99 (I-99), Interstate Highway 40 (I-40), and Interstate Highway 710 (I-710). LAX and the Los Angeles port are two other reasons why so many trucks are constantly on LA freeways twenty-four hours a day. Every single month, many thousands of trucks, big rigs, tractor trailers, semi-trucks, and 18 wheelers use our highways to move goods throughout our state.
Types of Trucks & Tractor Trailers
Since 1979, our firm has helped thousands of clients who have suffered all types of work injuries and personal injuries. We are proud to say that a rather large number of those clients have been injured truck accident victims who we’ve been able to help rebuild their lives through a positive settlement or trial verdict. The major types and brands of trucks and tractor trailers that are on the road today include Ford truck, GMC truck, motorhome, Renault Magnum truck, Dodge truck, platform truck, box truck, Penworth, big rig, Kenworth, refrigeration truck, 18 wheeler, open truck, cab over, double trailer, Peterbilt, Mack, Western Star, garbage truck, crane truck, flat bed, semi-trailer, semi-truck, live stock truck, Bobtail, construction trucks, cement truck, car/vehicle transport, tractor, tanker, tractor trailer, Colet, grocery truck, retail truck, dump trailers, enclosed truck, three axel truck, Pierce truck, and cement mixer.
Additional Trucks that are on California Roads Today
More types of trucks and tractor trailers include GINAF, Leyland, Freightliner, Sterling, multi-stop truck, mobile crane truck, Chevrolet truck, dump truck, Daimler truck, truck-mounted crane, fire truck, pickup truck, recreational vehicle (RV), MAN truck, heavy hauler, log carrier, Crane Carrier Corporation, horse trailer, ballast tractor, bottler truck, DAF truck, Tata Motors, Hyundai truck, pic trailer, plant trailer, oil tanker, dog truck, Hino Truck, panel truck, Isuzu truck, tow truck, Oshkosh, UD Nissan truck, and full-sized pickup trucks. Some of the other most dangerous trucks and vans on the streets today are moving van, moving trucks and rental trucks as the drivers usually do not have the same experience as professional truckers. Examples of rental trucks are Ryder, U-Haul, Budget, Penske, and Hertz. All of the above types and brands of trucks are useful for what they were designed to do and accomplish but it is crucial that you are always on alert for truck defects or product defects as they can cause truck accidents as well.
Contact Our Firm for Quality Help
We believe that every person who has been injured deserves the right to speak with an attorney about their case, their legal options and to find out if their case has merit. We will be honest with you throughout all parts of the trial. We are well known throughout Los Angeles, Ventura, Bakersfield, Orange County, San Diego, Riverside, Long Beach, San Bernardino, and San Francisco/Oakland as top trucking accident attorneys who know how to help you. We offer a free initial consultation and case evaluation for all injured truckers and injured drivers. Even after the initial no-cost meeting, we will work for you on a contingency basis where you won’t owe us anything unless we win your case. The Los Angeles trucking accident lawyers at DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo are willing to have the meeting at your home or hospital room if you are unable to come to our office.
We are available and ready to meet with you Monday – Friday during the hours of 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM and we can also setup appointments in the evenings and on Saturdays and Sundays. Many throughout LA consider us to be the best trucking accident attorneys around.
Law Firm of DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo
Los Angeles, California ~ (213) 416-2472
