If you or a loved one sustained injuries in an accident with a semi-truck or 18-wheeler, Omega Law Group Accident & Injury Attorneys and our team of Los Angeles truck accident lawyers may help you obtain the compensation you deserve.
Large trucks constantly move, driving from city to city or cross-country carrying cargo. Truck companies should choose drivers carefully based on their driving ability, and drivers must follow specific rules and regulations. However, drivers sometimes fall short and fail to live up to their duties, leading to severe accidents.
With decades of combined legal experience, our Los Angeles personal injury lawyers have recovered millions of dollars on behalf of our clients in California. Let us fight for you.
When to Call a Los Angeles Truck Accident Lawyer
You should contact an attorney immediately after any trucking accident resulting in property damage, injuries, or death. Getting help quickly can improve your chances of securing compensation for all types of damages after a collision.
You have the right to hold commercial truck drivers liable for your losses when you can prove that negligence contributed to your accident. Our team stands ready to help with a personal injury lawsuit or insurance claim after this kind of collision.
We can explain how the truck accident lawsuit process works and provide the advice you need each step of the way.
Steps to Take After a Truck Crash in Los Angeles
In the aftermath of a commercial vehicle accident, the professionals recommend that you:
Report the Collision
You should notify the police after any truck crash that causes injuries, property damage, or death. The police can file an official report about your collision. Police reports can establish the facts about the accident and help your attorney build your claim.
Get Medical Care
You should seek prompt medical attention for any injuries caused by your collision, including spinal cord injuries (SCIs), concussions, or broken bones. Seeking medical treatment right away establishes that the accident directly caused your injuries.
Gather Information
You may have a chance to gather evidence immediately after a trucking accident. For example, you may take pictures of your injuries, get contact information from eyewitnesses, and write down everything you remember about the crash.
Talk to a Lawyer
Working with a Los Angeles truck accident lawyer can boost your chances of securing fair financial compensation from the at-fault party after a truck crash.
Suppose you’re contending with severe injuries, like traumatic brain injuries or broken bones. In that case, a lawyer will stay on top of your investigation without forcing you to return to an accident scene.
Our legal team has access to an extensive professional network to use when building your claim. We may call in expert witnesses whose testimony can explain why you deserve compensation.
Have you been involved
in a truck wreck?
Our truck accident lawyers in Los Angeles are here to help.
(310) 526-8383
The Sooner You Get in Touch With a Truck Accident Lawyer, the Better
Getting help immediately from legal professionals can strengthen your claim. Contacting a lawyer right away means you won’t have to deal with the insurance company alone. Your lawyer can handle all legal communications and help you avoid attempts by the insurance company to deny or undervalue your claim.
Additionally, getting help quickly allows your lawyer to collect relevant evidence, like information on the truck’s data recorder, before the trucking company can destroy it. It’s vitally important that you discuss your legal options and get professional help right away.
Our truck accident law firm doesn’t make you commit to legal action right off the bat. We want you to get to know our team before we take your commercial truck accident claim to civil court. You can set up a FREE case evaluation with our personal injury attorneys to learn more about our services.
We Help With the Challenges Associated With Truck Crash Claims
Personal injury cases involving large commercial vehicle accidents often become complicated. Fortunately, you can contact us for professional assistance throughout all steps of the legal process.
You may face challenges when identifying the liable party because responsibility for these collisions may fall on the trucking company, the trucker, maintenance workers, other motorists, or additional parties who contribute to a crash.
Additionally, large trucking companies have the resources to fight claims. It’s extremely important that you have a legal professional on your side who can level the playing field, dealing with the trucking and insurance companies that could deny your request for compensation.
Injured in a truck crash?
Our truck accident lawyers in Los Angeles are here to help.
(310) 526-8383
Holding the Responsible Party Accountable
Who is liable in a commercial truck accident? In many cases, the trucking company needs to cover your losses. However, we can identify unexpected parties that may bear the blame for your auto accident.
Possible liable parties in a truck accident lawsuit include:
- The truck driver
- Truck companies and trucking agencies
- The truck manufacturer
- The truck mechanic
- A trucking company’s packing crew
All of these parties owe you a duty of care when preparing a truck and hitting the road. If your Los Angeles truck accident lawyer can prove that these parties or any others put you in harm’s way, you can hold them financially accountable for the losses you endured.
Many people often assume that they can’t do more than file an insurance claim after a semi-truck crash; however, we can pursue your right to legal action with compassion. We will meet with you in the days following your accident to outline your right to civil action before discussing how you’d like to proceed with your recovery.
Hurt in a
truck accident?
(310) 526-8383
Contracts and Your Right to Hold a Negligent Party Accountable for Your Losses
Evidence represents the foundation on which we build truck accident litigation. That’s why our qualified truck accident attorneys in Los Angeles prioritize investigating your losses. We need to meet California’s burden of proof if we want to fight for your right to a rig accident settlement in civil court.
That said, we also must consider the contracts that may play a role in your case. For example, both company employees and independent contractors can drive commercial vehicles.
Accidents With Independent Contractors
If you are in a traffic accident with an independent contractor, you may not have the right to sue the trucking company for your property damage or other expenses. The independent contractor’s contract does not place that driver under the corporation’s protection.
Accidents With Trucking Company Employees
Matters change if you get into a semi-truck accident with an employee. Employees working through commercial companies often benefit from protection from the company’s legal team and insurance company.
You may have the right to sue a company for financial support after a crash with an employee.
Our experienced truck accident lawyers can help you assess the role contracts may play in your efforts to hold drivers accountable for your losses.
Proving a Trucking Company Liable
To get the compensation you deserve for your injury or other damages, we may need to prove that the trucking company was negligent and at fault for the accident. We may need to show that the trucking company engaged in improper hiring practices or inadequate vehicle maintenance and repair procedures.
We must collect any proof of negligence related to the truck accident as soon as possible, as evidence could get lost over time. Lack of evidence can complicate your case when it goes to court.
Common Causes of Truck Crashes
Truck accidents can occur for many different reasons. Examples of common causes include:
Fatigued Driving
Truck drivers who neglect to take breaks during long driving shifts endanger themselves, their cargo, and other motorists. Trucking companies must provide ample opportunities for truckers to rest before it gets dangerous on the roads, or else truck driver fatigue may put you and your loved ones at risk.
Unfortunately, if an accident results from fatigued driving, the case can become more complex. Trucking companies may send their own investigators to the scene to throw an investigation into driver fatigue into question. Likewise, an insurance company’s claims adjusters may come to the scene.
Reckless Driving
Truckers may engage in speeding and other forms of reckless driving, resulting in an accident. Sometimes, they change lanes without checking their blind spots.
You may avoid this type of crash by paying attention to the actions of truckers and staying out of their blind spots.
Distracted Driving
Many motorists succumb to different types of distracted driving while behind the wheel. They can become distracted by cell phones, the radio, food, drink, and their passengers.
Avoiding distractions while operating a vehicle can reduce the chances of this type of truck accident.
Recovering Compensation in a Truck Injury Suit
The size and weight of today’s trucks can cause passenger vehicle drivers to fall victim to catastrophic accidents. Those accidents tend to get worse if a truck carries heavy-duty cargo.
The losses you sustain in these accidents can leave you with a mountain of bills, not to mention life-changing injuries. In the face of those expenses, you can demand compensation for the economic and non-economic losses you sustained due to a truck driver’s negligence. How do you calculate the value of your case?
Our team of experienced truck accident lawyers in Los Angeles can help you gather the evidence you need to establish your right to economic and non-economic damages following a traffic accident. We aim to recover damages that can cover the following losses:
- Emergency room bills
- Hospital bills
- Medical expenses
- Recovery expenses, including physical therapy
- Rehabilitation, including pain management and medications
- Lost wages
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium, if applicable
You can count on our team to elaborate on your right to include certain losses in a commercial vehicle accident claim during a free case evaluation. We have a reputation for securing maximum compensation and invite you to review our case results to see examples of our work.
Punitive Damages and Truck Accident Injury Claims
Some judges opt to award punitive damages to truck-related accident survivors like you in the face of gross negligence or roadway recklessness.
You may not include a request for punitive damages in the personal injury lawsuit you submit for consideration. Instead, it is up to a judge to determine whether or not your case warrants the inclusion of this support.
Finding Evidence to Establish Your Right to Loss Recovery
You can’t complete a truck accident compensation claim if you don’t have evidence proving your right to economic support. Fortunately, trucking accident victims like you can often use the same proof that established liability for your losses to determine those losses’ value.
Our team can sit down with you while investigating your case to outline what forms of evidence may best prove your right to a reasonable settlement. We try to ensure you get a fair settlement for your losses, often by considering losses you may not have heard of before.
The evidence we use to prove your right to these various forms of support can take different forms. For example, we can use a combination of medical invoices and doctors’ opinions to tie your recent injuries to a truck wreck. Other forms of evidence that we could use in our calculations include the following:
- Property damage and repair invoices
- Vehicle rentals
- Pay stubs from before and after your accident
- Legal precedent establishing the value of non-economic damages
Our team has a record of success in helping survivors like you win maximum compensation for common types of truck accidents. Let’s work together to hold negligent drivers accountable for your post-accident financial stress.
We Can Help After a Fatal Truck Accident
If a recent truck accident resulted in your loved one’s wrongful death, you can contact a Los Angeles wrongful death lawyer for legal representation. Our team can spearhead a wrongful death claim on your account.
These claims can allow you to demand the loss-based damages you need to recover from a loved one’s unexpected passing. We can compassionately review your situation and assist your family during this challenging time.
We know that filing a legal claim cannot bring back a loved one, but it can bring your family closure by allowing you to hold the liable party accountable.
Factors That Impact the Compensation You Receive
Multiple factors may influence the compensation you receive after a truck crash. In many cases, the funds available will depend on the extent of your losses and your lawyer’s ability to connect your expenses directly to your collision.
Additionally, the method you select to resolve your claim may influence the funds you receive after a head-on, rear-end, side-impact, or rollover accident involving a large commercial vehicle.
Finally, your level of responsibility for a collision may impact the amount of compensation you receive after your motor vehicle accident. We can provide information about the average settlement for a truck accident and your specific losses.
What to Expect After You File a Truck Accident Claim
Say you choose to move forward with a personal injury claim after a devastating truck accident. Knowing what to expect from the civil process is difficult if you’ve never interacted with the legal system before.
This process does not allow you to force a liable party to endure criminal consequences for their misconduct. Only the state can take law-breaking truck drivers and related parties to criminal court. Instead, the civil court system in Southern California allows you to determine how you demand fair compensation from the party deemed liable for your losses.
You can approach a conversation about your truck accident settlement from several angles. You can count on our Los Angeles truck accident lawyers to prioritize your right to the most possible accident compensation.
Negotiating for a Fair Settlement
You do not commit to a trial the moment you send a personal injury claim to a civil judge. If you choose, you can meet with a liable party out of court to discuss your right to accident compensation.
Settlement negotiations tend to resolve more quickly than arbitration, bench trials, and jury trials. That said, they involve a lot of groundwork from your lawyer. Our team may meet face-to-face with the party responsible for your losses and their representatives.
Managing these conversations can prove challenging for even the most level-headed of survivors, particularly if a negligent party acts disrespectfully during your discussions. That’s why having an attorney in the room with you is in your best interest. Our law firm can help mediate these conversations while emphasizing your right to comprehensive financial support.
Discovery and the Trial Process
Unfortunately, truck accident settlement negotiations don’t work for everyone. Sometimes, a liable party may refuse to meet with you. Other times, a liable party may refuse to recognize losses that you think are essential to your recovery. Your lawyer may have to move into discovery and prepare for a civil trial in those cases.
Discovery looks a lot like a truck accident investigation, except it allows the prosecution and defense to share the information they’ve found about the negligence that led to your accident. After both parties conclude discovery, our lawyers can prepare their opening statements and take your case before a judge and jury.
How Long Does the Trial Process Take?
The civil trial process tends to take a considerable amount of time to resolve. However, the rules established by the court system ensure that a jury of your peers can bring an objective eye to your case. Moreover, a judge can punish a liable party if said party refuses to acknowledge your case’s value or otherwise behaves inappropriately.
You can discuss which courses of action suit your truck accident recovery during your FREE truck accident case evaluation.
You Have Limited Time to File a Truck Crash Claim
What is the statute of limitations for a truck accident claim? All of California’s personal injury cases must abide by its statute of limitations. California Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 limits your actionable time to two years.
Therefore, truck accident victims like you have two years from the day your accident takes place to bring together the evidence they need to meet California’s burden of proof. If you miss your deadline, Southern California’s civil courts may deny your attempt to demand a settlement for your losses.
Fortunately, there are experienced truck accident attorneys in Los Angeles who can help you make the most out of the two-year filing period you must contend with. Our firm can take the reins and ensure you can recover from your injuries without compromising your right to a personal injury claim.
Our Los Angeles Truck Accident Lawyers Are Ready to Help
No matter what type of injuries you have suffered in a recent commercial truck accident, you can rely on our team to help with your injury claim. Not only can you hold the liable party accountable legally, but you can also recover compensation.
Omega Law Group works on a contingency fee basis to ensure you do not have to worry about your bills while recovering from a semi-truck accident in Southern California.
Don’t let the statute of limitations on your case expire. Contact our Los Angeles truck accident lawyers today to learn more about your right to fair compensation.
