Trucks often cause backups on local streets and highways around the city, posing a significant hazard to other drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians. Collisions with semi-trucks often cause severe, and sometimes fatal, injuries.
That said, truck drivers must operate their vehicles safely to protect others. However, when they fail to do so, an Oakland truck accident lawyer can hold them accountable.
Speak with a local attorney as soon as possible after an accident. With a skilled professional working on your behalf, you could receive appropriate compensation for your injury-related losses.
Truck Accidents Often Cause Severe Injuries
Tractor trailers can weigh as much as 20 times the weight of an average passenger vehicle. Even smaller trucks like delivery vans, garbage trucks, and dump trucks still far outweigh cars, SUVs, passenger vans, and pickup trucks. This size difference means that any contact between a semi and a passenger vehicle will likely cause significant damage to the smaller vehicle and its occupants. Furthermore, when a truck hits a motorcycle rider, bicyclist, or pedestrian, the subsequent injuries could be fatal.
Every crash is different: a victim’s injuries often depend on the impact site and how fast the vehicles were traveling when the collision occurred. A hardworking attorney in Oakland represents truck crash victims who suffer the following injuries:
- Soft tissue injuries to the limbs, neck, and back
- Bone fractures
- Traumatic amputations
- Crushing injuries to the torso
- Damage to the internal organs
- Concussions and moderate-to-severe brain injuries
- Spinal cord damage
A non-fatal truck accident might lead to severe and disfiguring facial injuries, requiring plastic surgery, and causing blindness. These injuries could also require long-term hospitalization and extended disruption to the accident victim’s life. Additionally, a tractor-trailer collision can cause permanent damage, leading to significant impairment or disability. In these situations, the trucking company and third parties could be liable for the victims’ injuries’ physical, emotional, and economic costs.
Who Bears Liability for a Truck Wreck?
Semi drivers are responsible for operating their vehicles with the utmost care to protect others on the road. When a truck accident occurs, the trucker’s negligence could be the leading cause. In most cases, the driver’s employer is responsible for their negligence. Therefore, trucking companies are almost always potentially liable parties in crash claims.
When government-owned or operated trucks like garbage trucks and vehicles used in street maintenance are involved in an accident, the agency that owns or operates the vehicle could be liable. However, if a private entity working on a government contract owns the semi, the owner might be responsible.
An Oakland attorney can investigate the accident to identify other potentially liable parties. Depending on the circumstances, other involved drivers, vehicle manufacturers, and maintenance contractors could share responsibility for a tractor-trailer accident.
Limited Timeframe for Legal Action
The statute of limitations for most personal injury actions in California is two years. That said, an injured adult who does not file a lawsuit within two years of the incident loses the right to have a court hear their claim. However, when a truck accident victim is a minor during their injury, they have until two years after their 18th birthday to file a lawsuit unless their parent or guardian files the suit on their behalf. In the latter case, the two-year time limit applies.
If the state or the City of Oakland might be liable, California Government Code §911.2 requires the injured person to file a notice of claim within six months of the incident. The government agency then has 45 days to process the claim. If the agency rejects it or makes an inadequate offer, the claimant must file a lawsuit against the agency within six months.
Unfortunately, the statute of limitations violations could defeat an otherwise viable claim. However, contacting an Oakland attorney soon after an incident can preserve the claimant’s right to sue all potentially responsible parties.
Rely on an Oakland Attorney to Pursue a Truck Accident Claim
Pursuing a truck accident claim can be complex since they often involve multiple responsible parties. In addition, the powerful trucking industry often has teams of professionals trying to shield them from responsibility. When you need compensation for your losses, you need an Oakland truck accident lawyer fighting for you.
You might require months to heal from the injuries you sustained in a truck accident, but your time to take legal action is short. Call today to speak with a diligent attorney.
