Around Byron, truck accidents can result in serious injuries. Truck drivers and their companies may be held responsible for the accident, but you may not know who to hold accountable. It can also be difficult to calculate your losses since they include all your medical expenses, lost wages and non-economic damages. 

Taking action against negligent truckers and their companies is one of our top priorities as Byron truck accident lawyers. Since drivers have to take Highway 4 to get to Stockton or points east, they are all too familiar with the dangers of sharing the roadway with a big rig. However, an accident with another vehicle isn’t always avoidable, especially if the other driver is negligent. If you are injured in a crash involving a big commercial vehicle, one of our truck accident lawyers can assist you in getting the compensation you deserve. 

Injuries caused by a big rig accident can be physically and psychologically traumatic. For more than three decades, the truck accident lawyers in Byron who work for AutoAccident.com have successfully recovered compensation for many people who were injured, whether their trauma was caused by negligent truck drivers or their employers. If you have any questions regarding your case, we’ll be happy to answer them as well as review your claim and tell you about options to recover damages during a free confidential consultation.

Accident claims dealing with big trucks are more complex than those involving passenger vehicles alone. As big rigs and their drivers are subject to both state and federal regulations regarding their driving hours and rest breaks, violations of these rules are common causes of accidents. A trucking company and its drivers are required to carry large insurance policies, but insurers are unlikely to want to be fair when it comes to paying out a claim. 

You can negotiate with the insurance company or take the case to court with the help of a Byron truck accident attorney, something the insurance company is hesitant to do given the bad publicity. By using a lawyer to handle a personal injury claim, it has been shown that clients generally obtain two to three times the amount of compensation they would have recovered on their own. Over the years, we have successfully handled many truck accident cases to get our clients the maximum compensation possible. 

Anytime a collision occurs between a big commercial vehicle such as a tractor-trailer and a passenger car, those inside the smaller vehicle often suffer severe injuries. The dimensions of tractor-trailers and other big trucks are much greater than those of passenger cars, and they can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. The greater size of these vehicles makes maneuvering harder, leading to accidents. The following are some examples of the types of collisions that occur in an accident involving a big rig:

• Excess speed: Nearly half of all tractor-trailer rollover accidents involve speeding. If the trucker is speeding, the big rig’s center of gravity may cause it to rollover. Another possible cause is when the driver makes an emergency maneuver, has a tire blowout or makes other sudden moves.
• Jackknife and braking accidents: When a tractor pulling a trailer is going slower than the cargo container, it can cause a jackknife accident. Consequently, the trailer slides to one side in a jackknife shape. Speeding, using the wrong brakes, going down a hill too fast and adverse weather conditions can cause this type of accident.
• Blind spots: Blind spots are common in passenger cars, but on tractor-trailers and other large commercial vehicles they tend to be much wider and larger. When another vehicle is too close to a big rig, the driver can’t see it. Blind spots are much larger on the sides of trailers and tankers. The truck driver may cause a serious accident if he changes lanes and is unaware of another vehicle next to him.
• Underride/override collisions: The ground clearance of big commercial vehicles is often higher than most passenger cars. This can lead to underride or override accidents. When a truck driver speeds, a smaller vehicle can be run over by the truck, causing serious injuries or even death. There is a possibility that smaller vehicles can pass underneath a big rig if it suddenly stops or if the trailer slides to one side. There are often fatalities in these accidents.
• Wide turns: According to the Federal Highway Administration, semi trucks are usually 53 feet long without the tractor, which can extend the length to 70 or 80 feet. Due to this, semis have a wide turn radius when turning around corners, which can result in intruding on adjacent lanes. A truck accident can occur in this situation if there is a vehicle in the spot.
• Poorly packed cargo: An unbalanced or overloaded trailer can shift suddenly, resulting in a truck rolling over, a jackknife collision or the driver losing control. A truck accident attorney in Byron can check records of the load on who packed it and hold them responsible if this was the cause of the accident injuries to the client. 

All personal injury accidents have to be investigated to compile the evidence to support a client’s claim to recover compensation. Because an accident with a commercial vehicle can involve not just the driver but the company that employs them, potential traffic, state and federal violations, lack of maintenance and other problems, these areas all have to be checked. If you have been involved in a truck accident with a big rig, a Byron truck accident lawyer can investigate the crash and determine why it occurred, as well as show where fault lies and how compensation can be recovered. 

In order to narrow down the guilty party/parties, we first make a list of all those who may be found liable in the accident. It is our investigators’ responsibility to gather the necessary evidence. The following are some of the investigative techniques they use:

• A truck accident investigator goes straight to the scene to gather evidence, including taking pictures of the crash site and vehicles.
• To determine whether state or federal regulations were violated or falsified, the logbooks or Electronic Logging Device (ELD) are examined.
• In order to determine whether the police report about the accident was filled out accurately, investigators check it for errors. It is important to take this step because mistakes could negatively affect a client’s compensation claim. 
• A truck collision investigation involves accident reconstruction, which maps how the vehicles were positioned before the crash, how the collision happened and where the trucks were placed afterward.
• The truck accident may have been captured on video by nearby business or traffic surveillance cameras. In addition to being used with the insurer and in court, this type of evidence provides strong support for a client’s claim.
• We check the driver’s and company’s records to see if they have any traffic convictions, negligence citations or have had maintenance issues in the past.

Please watch the following video presented by truck accident attorney Ed Smith:

AutoAccident.com’s truck accident lawyers in Byron can help you obtain the compensation you deserve when your injuries were caused by a collision with a big rig’s negligent driver, the company that employs them or some other entity. Contact us at (925) 428-5220 or (800) 404-5400 for free and friendly advice. Online contact is also available. For additional information about how we have assisted others, check out our Verdicts and Settlements page.

Photo attribution: Image by Markus Spiske from Pixabay

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