San Francisco Truck Accident Lawyers
For over thirty years, the San Francisco California truck accident attorneys at our law firm of DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo have helped their clients get the medical treatment they needed and be awarded the maximum compensation under the law due to the truck accident injuries they sustained. Trucking accidents have the potential to be even more tragic and harmful than other accidents due to the fast speed and immense weight of trucks. Another factor that can multiply the damage that the truck accident causes is how the heavy the loads are that the truck was carrying since that makes it harder to stop and much easier to jackknife. During our successful legal careers, we have represented and won cases for the entire scope of injuries from trucking accidents including whiplash neck injuries and burn injuries to wrongful death and spinal cord injuries. We promise to always work hard to remain the best San Francisco trucking accident injury attorneys in the Bay Area. Our reputation for quality throughout the nine counties of the Bay Area speaks for itself: We are experienced and successful truck accident lawyers who work tirelessly to protect the rights of their clients and help them recover financially, emotionally and medically.
How to File a Truck Accident Lawsuit Claim
Given this is hopefully your first major vehicle accident, you probably have many questions and concerns about what happens next. You could also be thinking about how to bring a semi truck legal cause of action and/or how to file a workers’ compensation claim for an 18 wheel truck catastrophic injury. We promise to answer our phones twenty-four hours a day so please contact us anytime at (415) 200-0701. It is critical for you to get at least some legal guidance before proceeding with a shipping truck, rental truck, refrigeration truck, or big rig truck injury accident case. We will discuss your claim during your free consultation:
- Options and advice for how you could be able to do-it-yourself.
- Complete answers to your questions regarding how we may be able to help you navigate the legal system during this challenging time.
- Potential litigation issues including: law and motion, expert witness depositions, types of causes of action, pleadings, lay witness depositions, investigation, written discovery, legal evidentiary standards of proof and legal requirements, potential special and general damages including: temporary disability benefits, medical treatment, bodily injury, loss of earnings, and other damages and benefits you are entitled to recover.
- What might be involved in suing another party and filing your legal claim(s) for workers’ comp and/or third party personal injury.
- How we could make your case simple, efficient and successful.
Our San Francisco Oakland Bay Area truck accident injury lawyers are ready to use their experience and knowhow to take the load and stress of this case off of your shoulders if you want. We have been doing this since 1979 so you should feel better knowing that you will be in good hands. If after meeting with us and discussing the numerous important steps and costs that are needed to file, investigate, negotiate, litigate, and potentially take your trucking accident injury case to trial, please know that we will always be here for you. We sure hope this website helps you to learn more about injury law and that you get to your maximum medical improvement in a timely manner.
Contact Our Law Firm Today
Work Injury Attorneys
The Law Firm of DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo
San Francisco, California
(415) 200-0701
Serious trucking accidents can be major life events and the result of your trial could impact your life forever. You deserve the best lawyers in the San Francisco Bay Area who have the ability, experience, staff, knowhow, and training to get you the maximum compensation you can get under the law. The Better Business Bureau has constantly awarded us their highest rating of an A+. We are ready to start your trucking and hauling work injury, workers’ compensation, and personal injury case right away so call our firm at (415) 200-0701. We will conduct a case evaluation to look into the merits of your case and be able to discuss your legal options. The initial consultation and meeting is free and we’ll work for you and your family on a contingency basis after that where you won’t have to pay our firm even a dollar unless we are successful in wining your case. We do not want you to get victimized again by not being awarded all the monetary compensation that you legally deserve.
Bay Area Trucking Accident Injuries
The majority of the possible results of truck accidents can be very traumatic for both the truck driver and the drivers or pedestrians who were also involved. Contusions, ligament sprains, blindness, back injury, lacerations, broken bones, brain injury, muscle strains, burns, concussions, neck injury, amputation, becoming deformed, whiplash, cuts, heavy bleeding, coma, being crushed, and death are all potential outcomes of trucking accidents. The truck accident injury attorneys of DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo have experience assisting truckers or those hit by a truck with their cases for all the aforementioned injuries and many more. We will stand by the side of you and your family throughout the legal process. If you don’t have a doctor or medical plan for your truck highway accident, truck unloading accident, truck load shift accident, truck loading accident, or truck road accident, we can help you find a local one.
SF Trucker Workers’ Compensation
It is definitely the law that all employees (including truckers and those who work on trucks) are covered by workers’ compensation insurance to protect them in the case of an injury. The insurance should provide financial support when an employee gets hurt while working.
Protecting Employee’s Rights While they are Hurt and Unable to Work
Workers’ compensation laws also protect the rights of the injured employee. One of the protections is that employers cannot penalize or fire employees for filing a workers’ compensation claim. As with any insurance, workers’ comp insurance coverage does have limits. It also does not allow for monetary damages for pain and suffering and other damages allowed by personal injury law. The work comp insurance held by your employer might provide financial compensation to you and your family for medical benefits, disability, income, death benefits, permanent disability compensation, medical expenses, and vocational rehabilitation, when the circumstances warrant such payments or benefits. See the information below that is about “adding third parties who are also at fault” for more information on maximizing your workers’ compensation.
We Promise to be Thorough in Our Answers and Advice
You should probably schedule your free initial consultation as soon as you can so that you are able to talk about your job injury with our experienced San Francisco workman comp attorneys. It is actually very important for you to make decisions about your case only when having complete and prudent advice regarding your options and position from seasoned truck accident attorneys like the ones in our firm. We will answer all of your questions including if you are wondering just how SDI (State Disability Insurance) works, what the workmen comp benefits may end up being specifically for you and your family, and how much a work compensation attorney costs or how much a work injury lawyer costs? Regarding that specific question, you will not be asked to pay our firm anything unless we win your trucking accident case. If you lose the case then you will not have paid anything for our time and service.
3rd Parties Who are Also at Fault
For trucking accidents, third parties could be contractors, people, manufacturers, companies, factories, repair shops, road designers, traffic engineers, sub-contractors, part suppliers, government entities or anyone else who is not your employer but had a hand in causing your injury. By adding the third party, you have a chance of receiving compensation and benefits beyond that which is provided by workers’ comp.
Third Party Cases Need to be Coordinated with the Worker’s Compensation Claim
If you believe there may be a third party who is also at fault for the trucking accident, it is even more critical for you to call one of our local San Francisco workers’ comp accident attorneys today at (415) 200-0701. We will discuss your injury, your case circumstances and your legal options. These multiple cases (the workers’ compensation and the third party case) need to be coordinated from the beginning and handled in sync. Our experienced truck accident injury lawyers and staff have handled cases just like these for over thirty years and, if your case has merit, we will be able to handle your set of cases.
O.S.H.A. & Truck Accident Injuries
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (website: OSHA.gov) is determined to set and refine laws, standards and regulations to help keep all work environments in this country as healthful and as injury-free as possible. Their standards for safety get higher every year and their influence reaches far and wide throughout all industries. This even includes the many working environments truckers work in including the freeways, warehouses, rest stops, truck yards, sleeper cabs, storage sheds, loading docks, and their mobile workplace of the truck, semi-truck, 18-wheeler, tractor trailer, big rig, tanker, and all other types and brands of trucks. OSHA states that “Every day in this country, more than fourteen workers lose their lives in preventable workplace tragedies.” Because of that statistic, OSHA continues to get tighter on truck driving rules, freeway safety, road safety, and driving conditions so that hopefully less people get hurt or killed.
OSHA Enforces Safety Regulations to Decrease the Risk of Employee Injury
OSHA investigates accidents, equipment, injuries, and safety code violations by interviewing witnesses, looking at the black box records when available, interviewing employees and management/ownership, checking driving logs, reviewing maintenance records, conducting site inspections, and by conducting other investigations. They also make sure to keep the identities of all truckers or employees who contact their hotline regarding unsafe working conditions, defective parts, unsafe work hours, OSHA violations, and potential truck accident risks anonymous, if the employee requests it.
How Trucking Accidents Happen
Truckers can be scheduled to drive for many hours on end throughout all times of the day and night and in the complete range of weather conditions from sunny and clear to wet and freezing. A common reason truck accidents cause so many injuries and deaths each year is that trucks can even be 40 times heavier than the car, motorcycle, SUV, or van that it collides with on the road or in the parking lot. Over 70 percent of the victims of truck accidents were not actually in the truck. Trucking accidents can happen in many ways including illegal lane change, load too heavy, rear-ender, unsafe lane change, improperly secured load, spill, poor repair or maintenance of the truck, out of control downhill, an intoxicated driver (DUI), a drunk driver, overworked driver, improper loading, air-brake failure, illegal loads, blind spot accident, a car got hit while it was in the way of the wide turn, driver on his cell phone, another driver hit the truck, head-on collision, hit a pedestrian, negligent hiring, drugged driver, driver fell asleep at the wheel, run-off-road collision, rollover, driver on drugs, and animal collision. It is important that the trucking company you work for always perform all of the maintenance requirements for your truck.
Additional Causes for Truck Accident
Some more types of causes of trucking accidents that occur in San Francisco, Oakland and the entire Bay Area include collision with a median or barrier, swerved into a car, hit a deer, collision with a pole or stop light, poor reflexes, under the influence driver, load shift, brake failure, speeding, side collision, swerved off road, jack-knife, side swiped a car, jack brake failure, low building clearance, poor road design, sleep deprivation, hit road debris, equipment failure, driver eating or calling, poor road condition, poor eyesight, negligent road construction, inexperienced U-Haul driver, too much downhill speed, low bridge clearance, trucker texting, low warehouse clearance, or a distracted trucker on a cell phone while driving. Trucking accident injuries can be serious and fatal so let us help you protect your rights and recover as much as legally possible for you.
How the Trucking Companies Responds to Truck Accidents
Each trucking company has a lot of experience as the defender in truck accident injury cases so they invariably have a department of defense attorneys ready to do whatever it takes to minimize or negate the compensation payout to the truck accident victim. As discussed elsewhere, the trucking companies have a whole routine as to how to immediately start building their case’s defense from almost the moment the accident happens.
We Could Assist You in Receiving the Max Monetary Compensation
We know that you need our legal assistance to receive the maximum legal compensation for your truck accident injury. Trucking companies have been accused of many unethical maneuvers to give them an advantage. One example of this is that of tying up the legal process (with lots of motions, etc) so that individuals representing themselves cannot sustain the cost, time or paperwork of the legal effort. They have also been known to falsify their truckers’ driving logs, falsify the truck maintenance records, not enforce their trucker rules and regulations on their employees, and lose critical records like the black box, computer records, receipts, driving logs and other important documents.
Trucking, Moving and Hauling Companies Start Building their Case Right Away
When a truck is involved in any way in any type of accident, the trucker is sure to radio it to the company dispatcher. The dispatcher then contacts the trucking company’s team of defense lawyers so they can get to the trucking accident site possibly even within an hour of the tragic event. Sometimes they are there on the scene of the accident faster than the tow trucks, police, ambulance, or fire trucks. Their team immediately starts to prepare and build the case and they have been known to sometimes even modify, hide, destroy, alter or falsify the evidence or supporting documents. If the large company you will be up against in court is legally defending their case so quickly after the accident, shouldn’t you have a team of lawyers working your side right away as well?
We Know How to Fight the Insurance Companies
Call our firm at (415) 200-0701 as soon as you can as we know how to properly preserve the crucial evidence and protect your side of the case. It is important that you are proactive when facing the above and that you hire some of the best SF Bay Area truck accident attorneys around. We are ready to start investigating the accident and representing you.
Bilingual San Francisco Injury Attorneys
¿Habla Español? Click “en Español” to translate the information about our San Francisco truck and car accident lawyers to Spanish. Call us any time of the day or night at (415) 200-0701 so that our Spanish speaking staff and attorneys will be able to discuss your case, your legal options and what the potential trucking accident case may look like. We will give you a free case evaluation and initial consultation so we can discuss whether your case has merit and what the potential compensation may be.
What to do After the Truck Accident
Following any accident, it is always a good idea to remain as calm and focused as you can. It is true that all of the numerous little decisions that are made directly after a truck accident could affect your case, your potential compensation, your health and your recovery. Be sure to get a hold of some of your friends for help (after you call 911 and you secure the accident evidence). It is important to get immediate medical treatment as many accident injuries, such as some broken bones, neck injuries, whiplash injuries, rib injuries, and back injuries, do not have immediate pain or symptoms but they do need quick treatment and medical attention to allow you to recover as quickly as possible.
Photograph & Document the Site of the Accident
Be sure that you retain as much of the evidence as you can including being sure to take pictures with your own camera or cell phone, write down the info for all other parties involved including the other driver(s) and witnesses, write your own record of what happened while it is fresh in your mind, and protect your vehicle that was involved in the crash. Our trained staff will want to investigate the vehicle and all of the evidence right away.
Possible Compensations That You Could Receive
The types of compensation that you might be entitled to for the truck accident injury could include payment for your life-care, loss of current and future wages, medical bills, property damage, pain and suffering, changes to your lifestyle, punitive damages, and more. We can discuss with you during the free consultation whether or not your case and circumstances warrant those compensations. We will also discuss what we feel is the potential monetary amount that could be coming to you if your case has merit and we win through a court trial or settlement.
Government Oversight And Liability
For the trucking industry, the government has many size, driver training, route, weight, vision, medical and design regulations and restrictions. In terms of which rules truckers have to follow, it just depends on where they are at the moment. When the truckers are driving on the National Network of US and state highways (that are considered interstate freeways), they come under federal regulations. When those same truckers are driving onto intrastate highways and freeways, they come under the state’s rules. Most truckers will admit that keeping track of all that is easier than it sounds here.
Other Measures that are Meant to Protect Drivers and the Public
To protect bridges and overpasses (and prevent possible tragic accidents), there is the Federal Bridge Gross Weight Formula that regulates the amount of weight per axle that can go on a bridge. Weigh stations and the California Highway Patrol (CHP) are also important ways that our government enforces its trucking regulations. In addition, the government continues to pass laws that require trucks, truck builders, part markers and trucking companies to add safety features, quality improvements, secondary safety features, sensors, and warning lights.
CalTRANS & Our Safety
Caltrans manages more than 50,000 miles of highways and bridges and they have been around for over a century. CalTRANS works with local agencies to connect their routes to the frontage roads, local streets, avenues, boulevards, and roads. To avoid accidents with CalTRANS workers, be sure to mind their slogan of “Slow down in the cone zone.”
Unsafe Road Conditions Could Cause Trucking & Car Accidents
Additional causes for motorcycle, SUV, car, and trucking accidents are poor road conditions, ineffective curve angles, defective road designs, a lack of a center divider or guard rails, bad uphill designs, bad parking lot or unloading dock layouts, too much downhill grade, no available runaway truck lane or hill, and unmaintained roads and highways. Additionally, poor water flow and water drainage can cause accidents due to the puddles, loose gravel, slippery conditions, mist, sprays and other very unsafe conditions that it creates. Caltrans or local government agencies may be liable if it is proven that their traffic control devices are negligent or not properly designed or installed such as road paint, reflectors, traffic lights, stop signs, warning signage, traffic signage, and detours. We can help you investigate your truck accident to see if a government agency like CalTRANS, a local municipality or the Department of Transportation was part of the cause and has some fault.
Continuous Driving Hours are Limited with the Hours of Service Rules
A few of the biggest causes for truck accidents are overworked, sleepy, or exhausted truckers so the government regulates the amount of hours a truck driver can operate a truck within a certain period of time. A truck driver is required to keep a log book or an electronic on-board recorder to keep track of their hours of driving, out-of-cab time, breaks, and duties. The current hours of service rules revolve around a max of 11 hours of driving in a 14 hour window which is then supposed to be followed by a 10 hour period of the truck driver resting. Truckers are also required to get a commercial driver’s license to be able to operate a truck within the US. More information about commercial licenses and which ones are necessary is below.
Government Agencies Oversees Design and Construction
Governments probably have direct oversight over the construction projects of most road and traffic projects including bridge, underpass, boulevard, intersection, overpass, offramp, onramp, street, and freeway projects. This oversight can create a duty and responsibility of the building, safety, permit and/or planning division of any municipalities, state and federal governments. Due to that duty, government agencies could be partially at fault for your accident or injury. We have over thirty years of experience working with cases involving government entities and we know what amount of evidence and proof is needed.
United States & California Commercial Licenses
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has a full set of minimum standards that each state needs to meet or exceed for their state commercial license. Visit the DMV website to determine which commercial license you need out of the following: Class A, Class B and Class C. A specific one is needed when you are driving a vehicle with either a capacity that is over a certain number of passengers or if your truck could be loaded beyond the limit. Further tests, training and certifications are needed for drivers of tank trucks, school buses, and trucks with hazardous materials.
Distracted Drivers are Causing Many Accidents
In this age of ever increasing mobile technology, the Department of Transportation and CalTrans are trying to find ways to prevent trucking accidents and trucking injuries that are due to distracted drivers. Smoking, eating, drinking, cell phones, texting, using the in-car GPS or map routing device, and loud music all have contributed to truck accidents injuries and car accident deaths in the last year.
Major California Truck Routes
California has some of the country’s biggest airports, farms, ports, manufacturers, refineries, factories, and stores that constantly need to ship their raw materials, supplies, products, produce, and merchandise all across the state and country. Some of the major truck routes in California where trucking accidents happen are: Interstate Highway 60 (I-60), Interstate Highway 19 (I-19), Interstate Highway 805 (I-805), Interstate Highway 5 (I-5), Interstate Highway 80 (I-80), Interstate Highway 8 (I-8), Interstate Highway 14 (I-14), Interstate Highway 10 (I-10), Interstate Highway 405 (I-405), Interstate Highway 99 (I-99), Interstate Highway 15 (I-15), Interstate Highway 215 (I-215), Interstate Highway 395 (I-395), Interstate Highway 40 (I-40), Interstate Highway 905 (I-905), and Interstate Highway 710 (I-710). Every year, many thousands of trucks, semi-trucks, big rigs, and tractor trailers use our freeways and streets to move goods throughout our state.
Local Bay Area Truck Routes
Some major local freeways that were not mentioned above that are important routes in the Bay Area include Highway 1, Highway 101, Interstate Highway 205, Interstate Highway 580, Interstate Highway 680, Interstate Highway 780, Interstate Highway 880, Interstate Highway 980, Interstate Highway 280, State Route 4, State Route 82, State Route 24, State Route 92, State Route 84, State Route 13, State Route 160, State Route 37, State Route 121, State Route 112, State Route 61, State Route 238, State Route 84, State Route 237 State Route 130 and State Route 29. The major bridges in the Bay Area include the Golden Gate Bridge, Bay Bridge, San Mateo Bridge, Benicia Bridge, Richmond Bridge, Dumbarton Bridge, and the Carquinez Bridge. The Bay Area continues to try and improve traffic by widening freeways, rebuilding bridges, adding new carpool lanes, creating new toll lanes and constructing new toll roads. As always, be cautious when you are driving.
Types of Trucks & Tractor Trailers
Since 1979, our firm has helped thousands of clients who have suffered all types of work injuries and personal injuries. We are proud to say that a rather large number of those clients have been injured by trucks who we’ve been able to help rebuild their lives through a positive settlement or trial verdict. The major types and brands of trucks and tractor trailers that are on the road today include big rig, Kenworth, platform truck, box truck, cab over, GMC truck, Penworth, 18 wheeler, Dodge truck, Ford truck, motorhomes, Renault Magnum truck, semi-truck, Peterbilt, Mack, flat bed, open truck, semi-trailer, refrigeration truck, double trailer, construction trucks, cement truck, car/vehicle transport, live stock truck, Bobtail, retail truck, ballast tractor, bottler truck, three axel truck, Pierce truck, tractor, tanker, tractor trailer, Colet, grocery truck, and cement mixer.
Additional Trucks that are on Bay Area Roads
More types of trucks and tractor trailers include Freightliner, Sterling, dump truck, Daimler truck, multi-stop truck, mobile crane truck, GINAF, Leyland, heavy hauler, log carrier, dump trailers, enclosed truck, Isuzu truck, UD Nissan truck, truck-mounted crane, fire truck, MAN truck, recreational vehicle (RV), tow truck, Oshkosh, Western Star, Chevrolet truck, horse trailer, garbage truck, crane truck, Crane Carrier Corporation, Tata Motors, Hyundai truck, pic trailer, plant trailer, oil tanker, pickup truck, DAF truck, Hino Truck, panel truck, dog truck, and full-sized pickup trucks. All of these types and brands of trucks are useful for what they were designed to do but it is very important that you are always on alert for truck defects or product defects as they can cause truck accidents as well.
Free Initial Consultation & Evaluation
We will be honest and ethical with you throughout the legal journey as we have been for our thousands of clients over the past 30+ years. We are well known throughout San Francisco, California, Oakland, Marin, South Bay, Alameda, the Peninsula, the East Bay, San Jose, Contra Costa County, Berkeley, Orange County, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Long Beach, Riverside, San Luis Obispo, Sacramento, and Northern California as top trucking accident attorneys who know how to help injured people get the compensation they deserve. We offer a free initial consultation and case evaluation for all injured truckers and injured drivers. After the initial no-cost meeting, we will work for you on a contingency basis where you won’t have to pay us anything unless we win your accident case. The San Francisco Bay Area trucking injury attorneys at DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo are willing to have the meeting at your home or hospital room if you are unable to come to our office.
We are available to meet Monday through Friday between 8:30 AM and 5:30 PM and we can also setup appointments on Saturdays, Sundays and in the evening. Many throughout San Francisco consider us to be the best trucking accident attorneys around. We wish you and your family the best and a quick and full recovery.
Law Firm of DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo
San Francisco, California ~ (415) 200-0701
