Monterey Truck Accident Lawyers
Monterey is on California’s central coast and has many must-see attractions. Two examples include the Monterey Jazz Festival and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. To visit these attractions, many drivers take the Monterey-Salina Highway or California State Route 1.
Both of these roadways see heavy tractor-trailer and commercial truck traffic daily. However, with additional vehicles comes the possibility of severe truck accidents and injuries.
Although monetary compensation can never fully compensate an accident victim for their pain, suffering, or inconvenience after a truck crash, it can help to bring about a sense of closure and justice, better enabling the accident victim to move on with their life.
The experienced and compassionate Monterey truck accident attorneys at Silva Injury Law understand the severe injuries and pain that often result from truck driver negligence on local roadways.
If you or someone you care about suffered injuries in a recent truck accident, our legal team can evaluate your claim and determine whether you can recover monetary compensation. We can negotiate with insurance company adjusters and, if necessary, pursue a favorable result through litigation in court.
Please contact our office today for a free case evaluation and legal consultation with an experienced Monterey truck accident lawyer.
Common Types Of Truck Accidents
Truck accidents resulting from driver negligence and error can happen in several ways. One common type of truck crash is a head-on collision. These are arguably the most destructive type of truck accident because when two vehicles strike one another at 60 miles per hour or greater, it is almost like a single vehicle striking a stationary object at 120 miles per hour. Also, in most instances, head-on truck accidents cause fatal injuries.
In contrast, a rear-end truck accident happens when a truck’s front portion or tractor-trailer hits another vehicle’s rear. These accidents frequently occur when truck drivers negligently tailgate other drivers—or follow them too closely. If an abrupt traffic back-up occurs, the truck driver may not have sufficient time or space to stop their truck quickly, resulting in a rear-end crash.
Similarly, a truck underride accident happens when a vehicle with a low center of gravity strikes a larger vehicle and continues moving forward. When that happens, the vehicle in the back slips under the vehicle in front, causing serious property damage and physical injuries.
Next, a truck jackknife happens when the tractor and trailer portions of a large truck fold inward, resembling the shape of a jackknife. These accidents may happen when truck drivers speed—especially around sharp curves. Whenever a truck jackknife accident happens, a full-scale highway back-up may occur that involves numerous vehicles and injures many drivers and passengers.
Finally, truck rollover accidents happen when a large truck speeds down a hill or around a sharp curve, and the tractor or trailer portions of the vehicle completely overturn. As a result, several other vehicles in the vicinity might be crushed, and the occupants may suffer serious injuries, some of which are fatal.
In cases where a driver or passenger suffers fatal injuries in a truck accident, their surviving family members may be eligible to file a wrongful death claim or a lawsuit in the court system.
If the wrongful death claimant can satisfy the legal elements of their claim, they can recover compensation for burial and funeral expenses, future lost earnings that the decedent would have made had they survived, and loss of the deceased individual’s companionship, comfort, and care.
If you or a person you care about sustained injuries in a recent truck crash, you should have a Monterey truck accident attorney on your side from the beginning of your case until the very end. The skilled legal team at Silva Injury Law can assist you during every step of the claims-filing and negotiation processes and work to recover the favorable damages that you deserve.
What Are Some Common Truck Accident Causes In Monterey?
Truck accidents typically happen when truck drivers and trucking companies are negligent in some way. First, many crashes happen when drivers engage in substance abuse. Alcohol, in particular, can affect truck drivers’ mindsets, limit their concentration, and delay their reaction time, preventing them from operating their trucks carefully and safely.
Some truck drivers also resort to substance abuse, including amphetamines, to stay awake for long hours. Unfortunately, these substances sometimes have the opposite effect and make truck drivers sleepy while on the road, causing their trucks to hit another vehicle.
Truck crashes may also happen when people drive while fatigued. Trucking companies often incentivize their drivers financially to operate their trucks for long hours—and without taking frequent breaks. However, this often causes fatigue, severely limiting a driver’s concentration and ability to focus on the road. A tired truck driver might also fall completely asleep at the wheel, causing them to lose control of their truck and strike one or more other vehicles.
In addition, some truck accidents happen because truck drivers and trucking companies do not load cargo onto a truck properly. When that occurs, the truck’s center of gravity may become offset, causing a severe rollover accident. When truck drivers and trucking companies violate other state and federal motor carrier regulations, serious accidents can happen for which they and their insurance companies may be responsible.
Next, some truck accidents happen because of tire blowouts. Truck drivers are responsible for performing a pre-trip inspection to ensure that their tires have the proper pressure. The tire may strike another vehicle when a blowout occurs, causing serious accidents and injuries.
Finally, some truck accidents occur when people drive over the speed limit. When a driver operates their vehicle too fast for traffic and weather conditions, they may lose control of their truck and cause it to strike one or more other vehicles, leading to severe injuries.
You have legal options if you or someone you love suffered injuries in a Monterey truck accident resulting from driver carelessness or recklessness. The truck accident attorneys at Silva Injury Law can discuss the circumstances of your truck accident with you and your legal options for moving forward. Your lawyer can also help you during settlement negotiations and pursue the fair damages you deserve to recover in your case.
Serious Injuries From Truck Accidents?
A large commercial truck violently striking a smaller passenger vehicle, motorcycle, or bicycle can cause devastating and deadly injuries. This is especially true when accidents are forceful and occur at high rates of speed.
When a large commercial truck hits a smaller vehicle, the occupant’s body may move around inside the vehicle or strike something in the vehicle, like the headrest, steering wheel, or window.
Some common truck accident injuries include neck and back whiplash injuries, traumatic head and brain injuries, internal injuries (including broken bones and rib fractures), spinal cord injuries, paralysis injuries, and internal organ damage.
To ensure that your injuries do not worsen, you should seek medical treatment on the same day as your accident. You should seek this treatment even if you are unsure about the extent of your injuries. This is because symptoms of many injuries, including soft tissue damage and traumatic head injuries, do not always appear immediately. Therefore, a relatively minor injury can worsen if you wait too long to seek medical treatment.
If you go to a hospital emergency room right after your truck accident, a medical provider can take X-rays and other imaging studies to diagnose your condition. They can then recommend follow-up medical care at a surgery center or physical therapy facility.
In the meantime, the Monterey truck accident attorneys at Silva Injury Law can begin gathering your medical treatment records and bills and preparing to submit a settlement demand package to the insurance company handling your claim.
How To Successfully Prove Your Truck Accident Case
To successfully prove your truck accident claim or lawsuit, you, as the accident victim, have the sole legal burden of proof. The at-fault truck driver or the trucking company involved does not need to prove anything in the case.
First, you must demonstrate that the truck driver violated a motor carrier regulation or traffic law, and then, as a result, your truck crash occurred. Next, you must demonstrate that you sustained at least one physical injury in your truck accident and that your injury directly resulted from the truck accident.
If you can establish these legal elements, you should recover various monetary damages, depending on the circumstances surrounding your accident and the injuries you suffered.
Proving your case might seem simple enough, especially if you feel sure the truck driver was to blame. However, trucking companies and their insurance companies will fight liability and expect proof of liability.
This can involve analyzing, gathering, and presenting complex evidence, including:
- Black box data from the truck
- Dashcam footage
- Witness testimony
- Police reports for the insurance company to review
- Citations or criminal convictions against the driver stemming from the crash
- Driver employment records
- Maintenance records for the truck
- Time logs for the driver
This is technical evidence, and the trucking company might fail to preserve it when you delay. Contact our truck accident lawyers at Silva Injury Law so we can begin building your case today.
What Monetary Compensation Can I Recover From A Truck Accident Claim Or Lawsuit?
Victims of serious truck accidents may recover several types of personal injury compensation. The total monetary damage award you receive in your case via settlement or litigation will depend upon various factors, including the type of truck accident that occurs, the speeds of the vehicles involved, the extent of your injuries, and the total cost of your related medical treatment.
Other potential factors that influence the final damage award include whether or not you had to miss work time following your accident and whether or not you suffered a permanent injury in your accident.
Truck accident victims who can legally establish the elements of their claim or lawsuit can recover monetary damages for their related:
- Medical treatment
- Anticipated medical care, if they suffered a permanent injury
- Lost earnings
- Loss of earning capacity
- Inconvenience
- Mental distress
- Emotional anguish
- Permanent disability or disfigurement
- Pain and suffering (past and future)
- Loss of spousal companionship
- Loss of life enjoyment
- Loss of the ability to use a body part
Moreover, if you lost a family member in a truck accident that resulted from a truck driver or trucking company’s negligence, you can pursue and recover various wrongful death damages.
A knowledgeable Monterey truck accident lawyer at Silva Injury Law can help you determine the monetary compensation you may be eligible to recover in your case via settlement or litigation. If the insurance company does not offer you the fair damages you need, our legal team can file a lawsuit and, if necessary, take your case to a jury trial or binding arbitration hearing.
Speak With A Compassionate And Experienced Truck Accident Lawyer Today
In a Monterey truck accident claim, time is always of the essence. Accident victims only have a limited time to file lawsuits seeking monetary recovery for their injuries. If they file a lawsuit after the deadline expires, they forfeit their right to recover monetary compensation in their case. Therefore, you should act immediately and retain a personal injury lawyer to represent you throughout your truck accident case.
The legal team at Silva Injury Law can assist you during every stage of your case, including filing a claim with the at-fault truck driver or trucking company’s insurer, negotiating with the adjuster, and, if necessary, taking your case to a jury trial or binding arbitration proceeding. Our legal team can be by your side each step of the way, aggressively advocating for your legal interests and pursuing maximum monetary compensation for your injuries and other losses.
For a free case evaluation and legal consultation with a skilled Monterey truck accident attorney, please call us at (209) 308-8924 or contact us online today. Reach out to a personal injury lawyer.