Newport Beach Truck Accident Lawyer
If you sustained injuries in a truck accident that resulted from a truck driver or trucking company’s negligence, you have legal options that you may consider. Specifically, you can file a personal injury claim with the responsible truck driver’s insurance company—or file a lawsuit in court.
Hire skilled legal representation to receive a fair monetary value for your truck accident claim or lawsuit. Our Newport Beach truck accident attorneys can protect you from insurance and trucking companies that take advantage of accident victims.
Why Choose Bentley & More LLP for Your Semi Truck Accident Claim?
The knowledgeable Newport Beach truck accident attorneys at Bentley & More LLP are ready to assist you with every aspect of your semi truck accident claim or lawsuit. Our legal team has recovered millions of dollars in compensation for truck accident victims. We understand how to properly and efficiently negotiate and litigate truck accident cases to a favorable resolution.
Our legal team can first meet with you to determine your eligibility for filing a personal injury claim. If you are eligible to move forward, we can assist you with filing your claim and negotiating a fair settlement with the truck driver or trucking company’s insurer. If that does not work, we can file a personal injury lawsuit on your behalf and work to recover the monetary compensation you deserve through litigation.
Our law firm primarily handles catastrophic truck accident claims. However, we have positive working relationships with other local law firms and refer cases out regularly through co-counsel arrangements. For a free case evaluation and legal consultation with a Newport Beach truck accident lawyer, please call us for more information.
Potential Truck Driver Negligence
Trucking accidents in the Newport Beach area typically result from truck driver negligence. When truck drivers try to take shortcuts and drive recklessly or carelessly, they are more likely to cause accidents with smaller vehicles. Unfortunately, many of those accidents lead to debilitating injuries that require ongoing medical treatment and lead to permanent pain.
Some of the most common negligent truck operations that may lead to a trucking accident include:
Distracted driving. A driver is distracted when they fail to watch the road. A truck driver may become distracted when they listen to loud music in the cab of their vehicle, adjust the radio volume, program a GPS navigation device, or fiddle with an electronic device, such as a cell phone or tablet, while driving. When a truck driver takes their focus off the road, they may not see a vehicle in their side view mirrors or directly in front of them. This can lead to an accident involving serious injuries.
Speeding. Truck accidents may also occur when a driver exceeds the posted speed limit. They may not slow down in time to avoid a crash, especially if they are following another vehicle too closely on a busy roadway. A speeding truck driver may also lose control of their vehicle quickly—especially if they speed in inclement weather conditions, such as heavy rain.
Failing to use side view mirrors properly. Since most large semi trucks have long trailers, they must use their side-view mirrors to see traffic behind them. When semi-truck drivers do not adjust their mirrors correctly or fail to use them while driving, they are more likely to cause a severe accident with another vehicle.
Impaired Driving
Driving under the influence (DUI). Some truck accidents happen because drivers consume alcohol or drugs. Passenger vehicle drivers are legally under the influence if they have a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of at least 0.08 percent. On the other hand, commercial truck drivers must obey stricter legal standards. This is because truck drivers operate large, dangerous vehicles for financial gain.
Alcohol can negatively affect a truck driver’s ability to drive safely. For example, it may cause a driver to become dizzy or lose concentration. Alcohol may also delay a driver’s reflexes and limit their reaction time, preventing them from stopping their truck in time to avoid a crash.
Truck accidents may also happen when drivers are under the influence of drugs, including stimulants. Some drivers resort to these drugs to try and keep themselves awake for long hours. However, these drugs sometimes make drivers sleepy and prevent them from operating their vehicles safely. If a truck driver falls asleep at the wheel, their large vehicle may swerve out of control and cause multiple accidents with other vehicles.
Trucking Industry Regulations
Violating state and federal motor carrier regulations. Truck accidents also happen when truck drivers fail to follow state and federal motor carrier regulations. The primary purpose of these regulations is to keep other roadway drivers safe and prevent accidents from occurring. Some of the most common motor carrier violations that lead to truck accidents include weight limit violations, improperly loading cargo onto a trailer, and failing to secure cargo properly.
When a driver violates weight limits or does not load cargo onto a tractor-trailer properly, the truck’s center of gravity may become offset, causing it to tip over while in motion. Alternatively, if the truck driver fails to properly secure cargo onto a trailer, the cargo may slide off the truck, hitting an oncoming vehicle and causing a severe accident.
Truck accidents can also result from defective truck parts or improper work that a repair shop performs on a tractor or trailer. In these cases, a truck manufacturer or maintenance facility may be liable.
If you suffered injuries in an accident that resulted from one or more of these types of negligence, you might take legal action against the at-fault party. An experienced truck accident attorney at our Newport Beach law office can help you take the appropriate legal action in your case. Our truck accident lawyers work to recover the monetary compensation you deserve for your injuries.
Can I Hold a Trucking Company Responsible for an Accident?
In addition to negligent truck drivers, the trucking companies that employ these drivers can also be liable for semi-truck accidents and injuries. First, if a truck driver is on the job and acting within the scope of their employment, you can hold the trucking company liable for the accident.
In addition, if a trucking company negligently hired or retained a problem truck driver or knew about the truck driver’s poor driving record or history of moving violations, the trucking company can be responsible for any accidents or injuries that the problem driver causes.
The experienced Newport Beach truck accident attorneys at Bentley & More LLP can help you determine if you have a viable cause of action against a trucking company in your case. We can ascertain all potentially responsible parties involved and name them as defendants in your case.
Types of Commercial Truck Accidents
When truck drivers and trucking companies are negligent, several types of accidents may happen.
Some of the most common truck accidents that occur on roadways in the Newport Beach area include:
- Rear-end crashes
- Sideswipe accidents on a busy, multi-lane roadway
- Head-on collision
- Rollover accidents
- Jackknife accidents
- T-bone or broadside accidents
Of these various truck accidents, head-on collisions are arguably the most serious—especially if the vehicles are traveling at high speeds. Moreover, head-on truck collisions are the most likely to cause permanent injuries or fatalities.
Common Injuries in a Truck Crash
When a negligent truck driver hits a smaller passenger vehicle, the passenger vehicle’s occupants may sustain debilitating injuries. Some of the most common injuries that truck accident victims suffer include:
- Internal organ injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord damage
- Paralysis
- Cuts and abrasions
- Bruises
- Permanent disfigurement
- Crush injuries
- Soft tissue contusions
- Broken bones
- Rib fractures
What Factors Influence a Truck Crash?
Various factors influence the nature and extent of the injuries. Those factors may include:
- The speeds of the respective vehicles
- The number of vehicles involved in the crash
- The force of the collision from the large truck
- The way the accident victim’s body moves inside their vehicle during the crash
- Whether the accident victim’s body makes contact with something inside their vehicle, like the door frame, dashboard, window, steering wheel, or headrest
While some truck accident injuries are relatively minor, others leave accident victims with permanent complications. For example, a severely injured truck accident victim may need to reside at a nursing home or assisted living facility for the rest of their life.
Alternatively, truck accident victims may experience ongoing pain and symptoms every day going forward. To establish that a particular injury is permanent, a medical expert will typically need to state, by a reasonable degree of medical probability, that the injury will likely cause ongoing symptoms and complications for the rest of the accident victim’s life.
While you focus on recovering from your injuries, our team can begin to gather your medical treatment records, medical bills, lost income documentation, police reports, witness statements, and other documents to use as evidence in your personal injury case. An experienced truck accident lawyer can help you prove the necessary legal elements of your claim or lawsuit to recover the monetary compensation you deserve.
Recovering Monetary Damages for Truck Accident Injuries
Truck accident victims in Newport Beach may recover monetary damages through their claim or lawsuit. The extent of an accident victim’s monetary recovery will usually depend upon the severity of their accident-related injuries, the extent and cost of their medical treatment, and whether or not they sustained permanent injuries or impairments in their truck accident.
Accident victims may recover the compensation they need through settlement or litigation.
Some common types of monetary recovery for Newport Beach truck accident victims include compensation for:
- Related medical expenses, including the cost of doctor visits, hospital stays, physical therapy, and medical procedures (such as surgeries)
- Lost earnings
- Loss of earning capacity
- Past and future pain, suffering, and inconvenience related to the accident
- Mental distress
- Loss of the ability to use a body part
- Permanent disfigurement
- Loss of life enjoyment
- Loss of spousal companionship and consortium
Our legal team can assess which damages you may recover in your case. We can help you take the necessary steps to secure the maximum compensation for your injuries and losses.
Call a Newport Beach Truck Accident Attorney about Your Legal Matter Today
Greg Bentley & Keith More, Truck Accident Lawyers
If a negligent trucker injured you, you need experienced legal counsel advocating for you every step of the way. At truck accident law firm Bentley & More LLP, our skilled lawyers have the knowledge and experience necessary to maximize the monetary recovery you receive for your truck accident injuries. Reach out to a Newport Beach personal injury lawyer.
We can help you file a claim with the at-fault driver or trucking company’s insurer and negotiate favorable settlement compensation on your behalf. If the insurance company does not offer you fair monetary damages, we can file a lawsuit, litigate your case in court, and aggressively advocate for you in all legal proceedings—including your jury trial or binding arbitration hearing.
Our goal is to maximize your monetary recovery, whether through settlement or litigation. For a free case evaluation and legal consultation with a Newport Beach truck accident attorney, please call us at (949) 870-3800 or contact us online to learn more.
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Bentley & More LLP – Newport Beach Office
4931 Birch Street
Newport Beach, CA 92660
Phone: (949) 870-3800