Riverside Truck Accident Injury Attorneys
The Riverside truck accident lawyers at Ochoa & Calderon have years of experience helping injured clients recover the damages they are owed after negligent defendants cause them and their families harm. We help accident victims get the medical care they need and the compensation they deserve after crashes involving eighteen-wheelers, tractor-trailers, semi-trailers, delivery vans, and other large truck wrecks in Southern California. If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident with a large truck in Southern California, our Riverside personal injury legal team is ready to help.
Thousands of Large Trucks Crash in California Every Year
We may not hear about them as much, but large truck crashes are far from uncommon. Given the sheer size of the vehicles, when truck crashes do happen, they tend to be catastrophic. Moreover, when trucks crash with passenger cars, the drivers and passengers in the autos are likely to suffer much more severe injuries as a result.
In California, there are nearly 3,000 injury crashes involving large trucks every year. Somewhere between 200 and 300 drivers are killed in California truck accidents annually. Most of those accidents happen in Southern California, mainly in Los Angeles County. Regardless of whether the accident was caused by a defective truck, a negligent driver, or a cost-cutting delivery company, if you or someone you love was involved in a large truck accident, the dedicated truck accident lawyers at Ochoa & Calderón can help you recover the compensation you deserve.
Why Do Truck Accidents Happen?
Truck accidents can happen for any number of reasons, but like with other traffic accidents, they are almost always caused by someone’s mistake. The negligent party might be the truck driver, it might be the freight company that employs the truck, it might even be the truck manufacturer. Accidents simply do not happen in a vacuum. At Ochoa & Calderón, we know how to properly investigate truck accidents and determine what happened and who was to blame. We’ll help you seek compensation after a large truck accident caused by, for example:
Driver error. Truck drivers are on the road for dozens of hours each week. Like any other driver, they make mistakes. Driver mistakes might occur because of driver distraction, because of intoxication by way of alcohol or drugs, through speeding and other aggressive maneuvers, or other forms of driver negligence. Truckers are at especially high risk of distraction or intoxication because the long hours on the road can easily become monotonous.
Driver fatigue. Federal law regulates how many hours a trucker can drive in a given day, in a given week, and between rest breaks. These “hours of service” regulations are meant to reduce trucker fatigue, a common danger given the long, punishing hours behind the wheel. Unfortunately, many truckers ignore those regulations in order to get more deliveries done faster–often with encouragement, or at least a blind eye, from their employers. Fatigued or drowsy truck drivers cause catastrophic accidents.
Poor truck maintenance and inadequate safety features. Freight companies are responsible for maintaining their fleet of trucks, as are individual large truck owners. They are required to install updated safety features and make sure everything is working properly. When freight companies and truck owners cut corners to save money, defective trucks are allowed to get on the road and endanger other motorists.
Truck loading issues. Different types of trucks and trailers have weight limits. They also have to be loaded with special consideration to balance and to have the haul properly secured. Overloaded trucks, imbalanced loads, and unsecured loads can all lead to a serious large truck crash.
Call a Zealous Riverside Truck Accident Lawyer Today
If you’ve been hurt in a Riverside truck or car accident or otherwise suffered personal injury in Southern California resulting from another person’s negligence, call Ochoa & Calderón for a free consultation on your claims. We only charge a fee after we are successful in recovering compensation for you. No recovery, no fee.
