San Francisco sees some of the heaviest trucking traffic in the state of California because of all the shipping in and out of the Bay. As a result, San Francisco residents are highly familiar with trucking accidents. These crashes occur quite regularly and are nothing new – but have you ever been personally involved in a truck accident? That changes everything.
The Matiasic Firm has focused a great deal on representing victims of trucking accidents in California, particularly in the San Francisco area. We are familiar with the many causes of truck accidents and can help you establish liability for your accident. With our help, you could maximize your compensation for a trucking accident claim. Consult a California trucking accident lawyer right away if you've been injured by a negligent truck driver, trucking company, or both.
FIVE COMMON CAUSES OF TRUCKING ACCIDENTS
Trucking companies are responsible for ensuring that their drivers are properly trained and qualified before allowing them to hit the road. With the assistance of a truck accident lawyer, you can obtain evidence to prove that the driver who hit you was too inexperienced to be operating a commercial truck and that their inexperience resulted in your damages.
Truck drivers are responsible for the safe operation of their vehicles. Commercial trucks are huge – often weighing up to 80,000 pounds when loaded to federal capacity – and should be handled with care and patience. Aggressive truck drivers place the lives of other motorists at risk, since they cannot react as quickly as drivers in smaller vehicles in case something goes wrong. When a truck driver rides follows too closely, cuts someone off, speeds, or drives aggressively in any way, they are more likely to cause an accident and should be held responsible.
It is common knowledge that big rigs have huge blind spots. Truck drivers who allow themselves to get distracted – whether that is by talking on the phone, texting while driving, eating, or adjusting the radio – could make a preventable mistake. Distracted truck drivers can rear-end another vehicle, sideswipe someone when changing lanes, run a red light and T-bone someone else, and much more.
Truck drivers are required to put in long hours behind the wheel in order to make their deadlines, but they are also governed by federal trucking regulations. These are known as the Hours-of-Service (HOS) Regulations. Truck drivers may not, under any circumstance, drive for more than 14 hours after at least 10 consecutive hours of off-duty rest. In addition, a driver may not drive more than 8 hours straight after taking a rest break of an off-duty or sleeper-berth break of at least 30 minutes. Tired drivers can be too drowsy to react properly on the road, or they may fall asleep at the wheel, both of which can result in a serious accident.
As mentioned before, 18-wheelers are extremely large, heavy, and difficult to maneuver. One way to ensure the safety of the driver and of other motorists on the road is to maintain the commercial truck. Failure to maintain a big rig could result in tire blowouts, brake failure, engine problems, transmission problems, and other mechanical issues that may result in a trucking accident.
CONSULT A TRUCK ACCIDENT LAWYER IN CALIFORNIA
Have you been injured in an accident because of one or more of the issues mentioned above? Speak with a California truck accident attorney from The Matiasic Firm! We can help you obtain and preserve evidence in order to establish liability and recover the compensation that you deserve. Call today at (888) 847-7097 to contact a lawyer!