Our attorneys have been assisting the Riverside community for over 40 years.
Truck incidents represent a unique subset of vehicle accidents. Commercial trucks are large and can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. In comparison, the typical passenger vehicle only weighs around 4,000 pounds.
When trucking industry professionals and other drivers make negligent mistakes, innocent drivers and passengers may suffer catastrophic injuries like traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, or even death.
At DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo in Riverside, we represent truck drivers, passenger vehicle drivers, and others who have suffered injuries as a result of a serious truck accident.
Truck drivers are not always liable for trucking incidents. In the state of California, anyone who contributed to an accident can be held liable for a percentage of the incident. A trucking company may bear responsibility for the accident. In some cases, a third party may be responsible – a parts manufacturer, technician, or roadwork agency may share some or all liability in an injury claim.
The process of proving negligence after a truck accident in Riverside can be challenging. This involves gathering as much evidence as possible at various times after the incident occurs. This evidence-gathering process often begins in the moments after the crash happens. If the scene is relatively safe, crash victims or someone with them can use a cell phone or any other type of camera to take photographs and video of the entire scene.
This includes capturing images and video of:
However, determining liability for a truck crash typically takes more evidence than this, and that is why a skilled Riverside truck accident attorney is such a crucial piece of the puzzle. Gathering additional evidence can be challenging and time-consuming. Other types of evidence that will help establish that ability include:
In many cases, this still may not be enough to prove liability definitively. An attorney may call in various types of accident reconstruction experts and expert witnesses who can assist in establishing liability.
The trucking company has no doubt been the defender in countless truck accident legal proceedings and they probably have a team of experienced defense lawyers ready to do all that it takes for you not to win the case.
When a trucker is involved in an accident, they radio their dispatcher. The dispatcher then gets the trucking company’s lawyers and investigative team to the trucking accident site usually within the hour. Their legal team sometimes gets there faster than even the tow truck, ambulance, police, or fire trucks. They immediately start to defend the case and possibly even destroy, hide, or change the evidence. If the large company you will be up against in court is legally defending their case within an hour of the accident, shouldn’t you be too?
Call us as soon as you can as we can help you preserve the evidence and protect your side of the case. It is important that you are proactive when facing the above and hire some of the best Riverside County truck accident attorneys at our firm as we’ve been representing truck accident victims since the late 1970s.
If the accident already happened and you did not get a Riverside accident lawyer to the scene, it will still be alright as we can take the case from here. Rest assured that most people do not think of calling a lawyer at the time of the accident and we still have a great track record of success handling trucking accident cases.
It is imperative that truck accident victims in Riverside recover complete compensation for their losses. However, it can be confusing to understand what type of compensation is typically available to victims in these cases. At DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo, we work diligently to ensure the clients will cover both special and general damages:
These are often referred to as economic damages, and they revolve around the types of both losses that we can calculate by gathering bills or receipts pertaining to the motorcycle crash and the aftermath. Some of the most common special damages available to Riverside motorcycle crash victims include:
These are sometimes referred to as non-economic losses, and these specific types of damages are often more immeasurable than the economic damages mentioned above. We cannot simply gather up receipts and bills to properly show how a motorcycle accident victim has sustained:
Calculating economic damages involves gathering as many bills and receipts as possible related to the crash and the aftermath of the incident. However, it is important not to finalize any settlement until after a person has finished their medical treatment. Calculating the general damages is harder but is often done by using a “multiplier method.”
Using this method, an attorney will add up all of their client’s economic damages and then multiply that by a set number, typically a number ranging from 2 to 5. For example, suppose a person sustains $50,000 worth of economic damages. Their attorney could use a multiplier of three to reach a non-economic to of $150,000.
Overall, there is no set amount of compensation available to truck accident victims in Riverside. Several factors can influence total compensation amounts, including the severity of the injuries, how long it takes a person to recover, the total level of their pain and suffering, property damage expenses, and whether or not there was any shared fault for the truck crash.
A truck accident attorney at DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo will gladly handle Riverside claims on a contingency fee basis. This means a few things for the victims that we represent. First, we handle all the front and out-of-pocket costs related to truck crashes. The client will not have to worry about this at all. Additionally, we will not collect legal fees until after we successfully win the case and recover compensation for our clients. If we do not win, our clients do not pay us a dime. This type of fee arrangement helps ensure that anyone can hold at-fault trucking companies and drivers accountable for their negligence.
There are various steps that individuals can take after a truck accident occurs in the Riverside area. The reality is that the immediate aftermath of an incident may be chaotic, but following these steps can help individuals preserve the integrity of their claim so they can recover compensation in the weeks and months that follow the incident.
The number one priority for any vehicle accident victim, particularly an individual involved in a truck accident, is seeking medical treatment. If injuries are obvious at the scene of the incident, victims should take an ambulance to the hospital right away. However, even if injuries are not severe, please understand that every truck accident victim in Riverside needs to be evaluated by a doctor the same day the injury occurs. If symptoms do not arise until hours or days after the truck crash, individuals should go to the hospital as soon as they feel any pain or anything out of the ordinary.
Prompt medical care is crucial for a person’s health and well-being, and this will also help when it comes to filing an injury claim and establishing that the injuries were caused by the truck incident.
The police need to come to the scene of all truck accidents that occur in Riverside. Nearly every vehicle accident that occurs in California must be reported to law enforcement anyway, and this helps ensure that there will be an initial police investigation and an accident report to use when filing a claim.
It may not always be possible to gather evidence at the scene of a truck crash. These crash scenes can be chaotic and dangerous, but if individuals can use a phone to take photographs or video surveillance of vehicle damage, injuries, debris and skid marks, traffic and weather conditions, and more, this could really help the overall claim.
Additionally, if there were any eyewitnesses, it is important to write down their contact information in an area where you will not lose it. This information should be given to your attorney so they can obtain witness statements quickly.
A Riverside truck accident lawyer will be your advocate throughout this entire process. These claims are incredibly challenging to move forward with, particularly when going up against aggressive insurance carriers. Your lawyer will handle every aspect of the claim on your behalf, from the evidence-gathering process all the way through to a trial if one becomes necessary.
All truck accident victims should continue medical treatment recommended by their healthcare professionals until the time comes when any additional treatment is unlikely to change their condition. If medical care gets discontinued before a doctor recommends doing so, insurance carriers and legal teams for the other party could point to this discontinuation of care as a reason to offer a lower settlement.
Accidents involving larger commercial trucks often result in major injuries for those inside smaller passenger vehicles. The weight difference between the two types of vehicles means that those inside the smaller vehicle can experience extreme levels of trauma. Some of the most common injuries associated with truck accidents that occur in the Riverside area include:
This is certainly not a complete list of injuries that can occur as a result of a truck accident, and we must also remain cognizant of the fact that these incidents can lead to significant emotional and psychological pain and suffering.
Most truck accidents are entirely preventable, which is why many victims file lawsuits in the aftermath of an incident. Trucking companies are heavily regulated, but strict guidelines do not always prevent human error. Some of the most common reasons for truck accidents include:
Other causes of trucking accidents may include distracted driving, DUI, inadequate training, or failure to brake.
There are times when the trucking company and their insurance carrier push back and try to place some moral blame on other drivers involved. This could certainly change how much compensation receives. California operates under a “pure comparative negligence” system. This means that individuals can still recover compensation even if they are partially at fault for an incident. In California, this system allows injury victims compensation even if they are up to 99% at fault for their injuries. However, compensation amounts would be used depending on their percentage of fault.
For example, if a person sustains significant injuries as a result of a truck crash and accumulates $1 million worth of medical bills, but a jury determines that the crash victim was 30% responsible for the incident due to a busted headlight, then they would receive $700,000 instead of the total $1 million to account for their 30% of the fault.
If you are a trucker or another on-duty employee injured in a trucking accident, you have the right to workers’ compensation benefits under state law. Through workers’ compensation benefits, you may be eligible to receive compensation for all related medical expenses, lost wages, and rehabilitation. If you cannot work, temporary or permanent disability may play a significant role in your ability to move forward after a serious accident.
As an injured commercial driver, you may also have the opportunity to hold a third party accountable for accident injuries. In addition to helping you through the workers’ compensation process, our Riverside workers’ compensation lawyers handle cases against third parties including freight-loading companies, manufacturers, and others.
Truck accidents are complex cases that often involve several liability factors and a variety of injury types. The truck accident attorneys at DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo are comfortable with addressing a truck accident from a number of angles. We have earned a strong reputation for success in the field because of our comprehensive approach to litigation and our commitment to client recovery.
Allow us to help you through your truck accident case so that you can focus on healing. For a free case evaluation, contact our firm in Riverside today.