The incidents of truck accidents is on the rise as more and more large trucks take to the streets all across the United States. Though big rigs are responsible for a mere 3 percent of motor vehicle accidents that cause injuries, the devastation is significantly high due to the massive weight and size of these trucks.
Unfortunately, along the crowded streets of Santa Ana, accidents involving commercial vehicles create a complicated scenario in which both the driver and owner of the truck are involved. The strength of your case will include investigating the truck, load, and the trailer and presentatiing the evidence in your case in a clear and concise manner.
The trucking industry is controlled by federal regulations that establish a set of standards and can determine the responsible party in a given trucking accident. Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations contains most applicable regulations. Fortunately, by working with a firm like the Duque Law Group you can put years of expertise in your corner to understand your rights under the law.
There is a large number of potential responsible parties in any truck accident. These include: the driver, the owner, whoever leased the truck from the owner, the manufacturer of the vehicle or any parts, shippers and loaders, etc.
In past years, trucking companies have tried to evade liability for accidents by distancing themselves from the drivers, equipment, and vehicles. They have the necessary permits to operate the vehicles, but they often do not own the actual equipment used to haul the wares in the truck. They also hire drivers as independent contractors rather than employees, thereby allowing them to shift the responsibility over to the people who owned the truck and who were driving them.
However, federal regulations have fortunately made it so that any company who owns a trucking permit is liable for any accident that involves a truck with its name or placard on the vehicle.
Accident victims historically had to rely on witness statements and police reports to understand the specifics of an accident. Now, data from high tech devices and information from government agencies are also available for greater understanding.
The most frequent causes of truck accidents are driver error, mechanical failures, bad road or weather conditions, and traffic signal failures.
According to FMCSA, driver error (driver’s action or failure to take action) accounts for approximately 88% of trucking accidents. The most frequent way that this happens is through driver fatigue and sleep deprivation.
The second biggest contributor to truck accidents is mechanical and equipment malfunction. These can be design errors in the vehicles, manufacturing mistakes, or some other issue that interferes with the truck running smoothly. The majority of mechanical causes of these accidents are a result of a failure to maintain the equipment properly. These can include the following: jackknifing of a truck which is caused by the depowering or removing of the front brakes, failure of the brakes as a result of inadequate adjustments, blowouts of the tires because of wear and tear, truck rollover because of improper securing of the load distribution, defective steering, transmission failure, incorrect trailer attachment, defective lighting on the rears or sides of vehicles, and many more.
Truck accidents can be quite confusing because there are so many individuals involved. It can be quite difficult to navigate through the events and responsible parties without the help of someone who is knowledgeable and skilled with trucking law. If you have been injured in a truck accident in the state of California, the Duque Law Group has the expertise and experience to be able to help you figure out who exactly is responsible so that you can proceed with a strong case and get the reparations that you deserve for your suffering. You will want a personal injury attorney to help you in your case after a truck accident, and the Duque Law Group is here to help you.
Contact our Santa Ana Personal Injury Attorney at 1-877-241-9554 to learn more about your legal options. A free consultation is just a phone call away. You can even use our online contact form, and we’ll reply to you quickly.
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