Truck Accident Lawyer in California

Start with safety and medical care, then protect the evidence. A truck crash can involve the driver, the trucking company and other businesses, and some of the most important records belong to the trucking company, not to you. These steps help in the first days, in order.

1. 1

   Call 911 and get medical care.

   If anyone is hurt, call 911. See a doctor even if you feel okay, because some symptoms, such as those of a concussion, may not appear for hours or days. Keep every medical record and bill.

   Source: CDC: Symptoms of Mild TBI and Concussion (opens in a new tab)

2. 2

   Write down the truck's details.

   Note the trucking company's name, the truck and trailer numbers, the license plates and any USDOT number on the cab. Take photos of the vehicles, the scene, skid marks and any cargo on the road.

3. 3

   Get witness names and the report number.

   Ask anyone who saw the crash for their name and phone number, and get the report number from the officer at the scene.

4. 4

   Move quickly on the trucking company's records.

   Federal rules require interstate trucking companies to keep drivers' hours-of-service records for at least six months. A lawyer can send a letter early asking the company to preserve its driver logs, maintenance records and the truck's electronic data.

   Source: 49 C.F.R. §395.8 (opens in a new tab)

5. 5

   Be careful with insurance companies.

   The trucking company's insurance company may call soon after the crash. You don't have to give them a recorded statement or sign anything. You can say no and talk to a lawyer first.

The usual reporting rules apply too: a crash that injures someone or causes more than $1,000 in property damage must be reported to the DMV within 10 days (Vehicle Code §16000 (opens in a new tab)). Our car accident page explains the other reports.

We help drivers, passengers, pedestrians and cyclists hurt in crashes with commercial vehicles, including:

• Big rigs and semi-trucks

  Tractor-trailers on freeways, highways and city streets.

• Delivery trucks and vans

  Box trucks, package delivery vans and other local delivery vehicles.

• Construction and dump trucks

  Heavy trucks at work sites and on local roads.

• City and county trucks

  City-run garbage trucks and other public vehicles. A six-month claim deadline applies.

• Wide turns and blind spots

  Trucks that swing wide at a corner or change lanes into a car the driver didn't see.

• Rear-end and underride crashes

  A truck that can't stop in time, or a car that slides under a trailer.

• Jackknife and rollover crashes

  When a driver loses control and the truck blocks several lanes.

• Spilled or falling cargo

  Loads that weren't secured and fell, spilled or shifted on the road.

Truck drivers and trucking companies must follow extra safety rules on top of the normal rules of the road, covering speed, following distance, time behind the wheel, maintenance and cargo. When one of those rules is broken, the violation causes the kind of harm the rule was meant to prevent, and the injured person is someone the rule was meant to protect, California law presumes the driver or company was careless. They can try to rebut that presumption (Evidence Code §669 (opens in a new tab)). These rules matter in truck accident claims:

• Speeding

  Trucks with three or more axles, and trucks pulling a trailer, have a 55 mph limit on California highways.

  Source: Vehicle Code §22406 (opens in a new tab)

• Following too closely

  Every driver must keep a reasonable distance. Outside business and residential districts, on roads with one lane in their direction, these trucks must stay at least 300 feet behind another vehicle subject to the 55 mph limit.

  Sources: Vehicle Code §21703 (opens in a new tab); Vehicle Code §21704 (opens in a new tab)

• Driver fatigue

  Federal rules for interstate truck drivers generally allow up to 11 hours of driving after 10 hours off duty, no driving past the 14th hour after coming on duty, and a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving.

  Source: 49 C.F.R. §395.3 (opens in a new tab)

• Poor maintenance

  Trucking companies must regularly inspect, repair and maintain their trucks and keep safety parts, like steering, wheels and axles, in proper working order.

  Source: 49 C.F.R. §396.3 (opens in a new tab)

• Unsecured cargo

  Cargo must be secured so it can't fall or spill from the truck, or shift enough to make it unstable.

  Source: 49 C.F.R. §393.100 (opens in a new tab)

• Alcohol

  It's illegal to drive a commercial vehicle with a blood alcohol level of 0.04% or more, half the 0.08% limit for most drivers.

  Source: Vehicle Code §23152 (opens in a new tab)

A claim can cover the losses the crash caused you. California law sorts them into economic losses, which are bills and lost income you can document, and non-economic losses, like pain and emotional distress. Future needs, like ongoing care, can be part of a claim too. What a claim is worth depends on its facts, and no lawyer can honestly promise a result. A claim may include:

Truck cases follow the same basic California injury rules as car accidents, with one big difference: more than one party may be responsible. These are the rules that tend to matter most. Each has exceptions, and the right answer depends on your facts, so treat this as a starting point, not legal advice.

More than one party may be responsible

A business is generally responsible for the carelessness of its drivers and other agents while they're doing the company's work (Civil Code §2338 (opens in a new tab)). Others may share responsibility too, like a company that loaded the cargo or maintained the truck, because everyone is responsible for their own carelessness (Civil Code §1714 (opens in a new tab)). When several parties are at fault, each one generally pays only its own share of non-economic losses, like pain and suffering (Civil Code §1431.2 (opens in a new tab)), so finding everyone responsible matters.

Deadlines to file

The deadline to file a lawsuit for injuries is generally two years (Code of Civil Procedure §335.1 (opens in a new tab)), and three years for damage to your vehicle (Code of Civil Procedure §338 (opens in a new tab)). If a California city or county truck was involved, a written claim is generally due to that agency within six months (Government Code §911.2 (opens in a new tab)). Claims against federal agencies follow different rules.

If you were partly at fault

California uses pure comparative fault. You may still recover if you were partly at fault, but your damages are reduced by your share (CACI No. 405 (opens in a new tab); Li v. Yellow Cab Co.). Trucking companies may argue a car was in the truck's blind spot or cut in front of it. Photos, witnesses and the truck's own records can help show what really happened.

If you didn't have insurance

If you were driving without the insurance California requires, the law generally bars you from recovering non-economic losses, like pain and suffering, though you can still claim economic losses (Civil Code §3333.4 (opens in a new tab)). Our car accident page explains this rule and its exception.