What Are The Common Causes Of Commercial Vehicle Accidents In California?

The common causes go back to negligence. In most cases, the truck driver has needlessly endangered other people by not following either the California Vehicle Code or the federal rules regarding trucking. Maybe it was a lack of sleep because they’ve been on the road for too many hours consecutively, meaning they didn’t get the required rest break. When somebody is tired, the error rate in driving is almost as high as when somebody has been drinking.

In addition, they may have failed to do the initial inspection of their vehicle, of the truck and the trailer, before driving. For example, that can lead to the driver not knowing their blinker is out, so nobody is warned when they change a lane. This is made worse by their truck having a massive blind spot. Overall, the two most significant factors are lack of sleep and distraction.

What Are Some Of The Injuries You See Resulting From Commercial Vehicle Accidents In Southern California?

We see everything from death to brain injuries, paralysis, loss of limbs, and broken backs—and they are usually very severe. The severity is much higher in a trucking collision because you have an 80,000-pound vehicle crushing down on your Prius. When you look at the physics of it, you have an 80,000-pound semi versus a 4,500-pound car. Then you throw in the factors of momentum, speed, and direction so that the forces exerted on the smaller vehicle are astronomical compared to just a personal vehicle crash, say a Prius-to-Prius collision.

Because trucks are so large and vehicles have gotten very good at crumpling, a lot of force ends up still getting transferred directly to the individual. Even at a very low speed, a five- to ten-mile-an-hour collision between two cars may not lead to very significant visible damage to the vehicle but could still injure somebody. Whereas a five- to ten-mile-an-hour collision between a truck and a Prius would lead to visible damage to the car that might make you think they were going much faster. Again, any energy that’s not absorbed by the vehicle ends up in the individual.

In short, commercial vehicle accidents can be absolutely devastating. Often, the trucks just crash over the vehicle, so there’s very little chance of survival for the person in the car.

Who Is Potentially Liable For Injuries Suffered In A Commercial Vehicle Accident In California?

In conclusion, there are multiple avenues of recovery. There could be multiple responsible parties: you have the truck driver, obviously; you have the owner of the truck; and you may have the company that contracted or hired the truck. There may not be liability in some circumstances, but still, be recovery possible from the insurance on the trailer. So, there could be a separate insurance company that’s just covering the trailer. Liability will run to the driver, the truck owner, and often, the company that hired the truck to make the delivery.

For more information on Causes of Trucking Accidents in Southern CA, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (855) 675-2901 today.