Bay Area Truck Accidents
Trucking Accident in Bay Area
It is estimated that each year about 5,000 people are killed and more than 100,000 injured in crashes involving large trucks. The significant difference in the size and weight of big rig trucks and passenger cars usually results in catastrophic injuries to the occupants of a passenger car involved in a truck collision. The larger a truck is, the more difficult it is to control, the longer it takes to stop, and the more dangerous it is to other drivers.
Large trucks account for over 9% of all fatal crashes. Many truck accidents can be attributed to commercial drivers who are fatigued, yet continue to operate on public highways. Although trucking companies and truck drivers have a duty to operate their trucks safely, they can cause severe injury accidents because of unsafe driving loads, inadequate trailer lighting and markings, defective equipment, unsafe tires, defective brakes and poorly trained drivers. Big rig trucks can force smaller vehicles off the road, squeeze bicyclists and passenger cars when making wide turns. They often follow too close, resulting in unsafe braking distances.
If you are involved in a tractor trailer accident, one of our attorneys can help you maximize your trucking accident settlement in the Bay Area.
Bay Area Truck Accident Law Firm
Our attorneys have extensive experience in fully investigating big rig truck accidents. We are familiar with the federal regulations and complex commercial insurance issues that are unique to truck accidents. The movement of a semi truck across the United States can involve many potential defendants, each of whom is a potential source of insurance coverage. Since many trucking companies immediately undertake an investigation after an accident, it is important that you contact an experienced truck accident lawyer as soon as possible if you are involved in an accident in order to preserve evidence, locate all possible sources of insurance and prepare your case.
As your Bay Area truck accident lawyers, Van Blois & Associates will use their extensive experience in big rig cases to work for you. The firm has proven results and knows how to work with leading truck experts to prove the dynamics of your truck accident case. We will seek a trucking accident settlement in the Bay Area for you and are ready to take your case to trial should that become necessary. If you are seeking a Bay Area truck accident lawyer, please contact us today.
Examples of our successes:
Negligent driver training -- $6,501,684 jury trial verdict
A mother traveling with her 21 year old daughter and grandchildren at night to her home in Brentwood, California on Interstate 5 after visiting Disneyland, swerved to avoid a big rig tractor-trailer stopped on the freeway and went off the road and overturned, causing the death of the mother and traumatic brain injury to the daughter. The accident occurred at the Button Willow exit near Bakersfield, California. When the police arrived, the big rig truck was stopped completely on the shoulder with all of its running lights activated. The investigating police prepared a report that blamed the mother for the accident. We undertook extensive investigation and located eyewitnesses who testified that before the accident the truck had made an emergency stop partially in the slow lane on the freeway and did not have its emergency flashers or running lights on. Prior to the arrival of the police, the truck driver moved the truck to the shoulder and activated its lights. We proved that the truck driver had not been properly trained and was inexperienced. He had hooked up the air brakes incorrectly which caused him to have to make the emergency stop on the freeway. A Stockton jury awarded the traumatically brain injured daughter $4,651,684 and $1,850,000 was obtained for the death of the mother.
Negligently Maintained Truck -- $3,500,000 settlement
A school yearbook photographer traveling on Highway 29 near Napa, California on his way to take school photographs of high school students received a severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) when a large truck turned left directly in front of him. The truck driver claimed there were no oncoming vehicles when he started his turn and that our client was speeding. We promptly investigated the case and were able to prove the truck was poorly maintained and had a dirty windshield that obscured the truck driver's vision. The settlement funds have been used to help our client become self-sufficient and independent.
Unsafe left turn -- $2,000,000 settlement
We represented a 12-year-old boy who was a seat-belted passenger in a Ford F-150 pick up truck operated by his father that was in the process of passing a slow moving Peterbuilt tractor pulling an empty box van trailer on a city street in Stockton, California. The big rig truck driver suddenly turned left to enter a driveway and collided with the pick up causing it to ricochet over a curb and overturn crushing the roof over the boy. The truck driver and his co-worker claimed a left turn signal had been made and the pick up had not started to pass when the left turn was commenced. The defendants claimed the pick up truck was speeding and caused the accident. The Stockton police believed the big rig truck driver and concluded that our client's father was the cause of the collision. We undertook an extensive investigation and our experts reconstructed the accident. We proved that the truck driver was inexperienced, had not signaled a left turn and never looked to see if a vehicle was passing. We proved that the truck driver failed to connect one of the brake air lines and therefore could not activate the trailer brakes which caused the big rig to jack knife. The boy received a traumatic brain injury that has left him with cognitive impairment, although the defendants claimed he was minimally impaired. The case settled for two million dollars just before the start of trial.
No reflective markings on flatbed -- $2,580,000 settlement
We represented the families of two workers who were killed on their way to work at night at the Defense Depot in Tracy, California, when their Honda Civic went under a big rig trailer making a left turn across Eleventh Street at a dark intersection in Tracy. The semi-trailer did not have retro-reflective markings and had inadequate lighting. The truck driver had to wait for traffic to clear and had stopped with his trailer blocking the street. The truck driver had limited insurance coverage and we proved the shipping company and other parties shared responsibility for the accident. This was a tragic underride accident that can occur at night when semi-trucks do not have appropriate lighting and reflective markings.
Fatigued Truck Driver Causes Death -- $605,000
A Nevada City, California senior citizen on his way to Arizona at night traveling on US 95, a two lane highway in Nye County, Nevada, was instantly killed in a head on collision with a 1998 Peterbuilt tractor and a three axle flatbed trailer. The Nevada truck driver claimed the passenger car swerved in front of his big rig and the collision occurred near the centerline of the highway. We proved that the truck driver was extremely fatigued and drifted into the opposite lane. The decedent was survived by four independent adult children.
Failure to Stop in Fog -- $865,000
We represented the parents of a 33 year old man in a wrongful death case caused by a collision with a Peterbilt semi truck in Lathrop, California. The big rig truck ran a stop sign in the fog and collided with the automobile the decedent was driving. The decedent had no children, was not married, and did not support his parents. Although the parents lived out of state and had little physical contact with their adult son, we were able to prove the continuing love and affection they had for their son and achieved a satisfactory settlement.
Speeding big rig truck causes multi-vehicle accident -- $900,000
During rush hour on Interstate 880 in downtown Oakland, California, a speeding big rig truck driver crashed into an AC Transit bus and passenger car, causing a vehicle to collide with a truck traveling in the opposite direction operated by our client. Our client suffered a knee injury and is unable to perform all of his job duties. We contended that the truck driver and the AC Transit bus driver were negligent. The settlement compensated our client for past and future wage lost and for pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life.
Eighteen wheel tractor trailer crashes into van in Arizona -- $1,641,416
A mother traveling with her 11 year old daughter on Interstate 40 near Seligman, Arizona was killed when an eighteen wheel tractor-trailer traveling at 70 mph crashed into the rear of her van. The 11 year old was thrown 40 feet into a field and suffered a traumatic brain injury, fractured clavicle and a L-4 compression fracture. Her fracture eventually healed, but she was left with cognitive residual deficits. A judgment after a trial resulted in an award of $1,641,416 for the 11 year old. Part of the funds were used to purchase a tax free annuity for her with guaranteed payments of $3,272,530.
Truck driver blocks highway in dense fog causing a fatality -- $700,000
After delivering his load to a Toys-R-Us warehouse in Stockton, California, on February 22, 2002, a truck driver for Swift Transportation Co. drove his 2001 Freightliner tractor, pulling a 53 foot long trailer in the early morning dense fog so he could drive to a rest stop. He pulled out onto busy Charter Way (State Route 4) into heavy traffic and completely blocked the westbound lane. A 29 year old Hispanic father driving his 6 year old daughter to school could not see that his lane was completely blocked in the fog in time to stop. The father was killed and his daughter was injured when their vehicle went under the trailer. The investigating police officers blamed the deceased father for the accident, stating he was driving too fast in the fog. Our experts reconstructed the accident to show the accident was unavoidable at a lower speed because the trailer completely blocked the road. We argued that the truck driver never attempted to determine the extent of visibility in the fog and should have waited for the fog to clear.
