Ventura Truck Accident Lawyers

Auto accidents happen every day. Many of these are minor crashes between personal vehicles. However, a significant percentage of auto accidents lead to serious injuries and fatalities. This is especially true when commercial vehicles are involved. Semi-trucks can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. When an 18-wheeler collides with another care, the effects are devastating. If you were injured in a truck crash, or your relative was the victim of a fatal accident, contact our Ventura truck accident attorneys at Harris Personal Injury Lawyers today. We know truck accidents need to be handled promptly. We immediately investigate the crash and take steps to preserve evidence. We recommend filing a truck accident lawsuit right away, and we may cast a wide net, filing against several potentially liable parties. Whether we ultimately pursue a verdict at trial or an insurance settlement, we will fight for you to receive full and fair compensation for your injuries or loss. We are proud to have helped more than 5,000 clients win more than $300 million in settlements and court rulings.

We Handle Claims Involving All Types of Trucks

At Harris Personal Injury Lawyers, we handle personal injury and wrongful death claims involving all types of commercial trucks and vehicles, including:

• Semis/18-wheelers
• Truck-trailer combinations
• Flatbeds
• Tankers
• Cement mixers
• Utility vehicles
• Box trucks
• Moving trucks
• Dump trucks
• Garbage trucks
• Livestock carriers
• Hazardous materials (Hazmat) vehicles
• Passenger buses

You may not be confident regarding whether the other vehicle involved in your crash was a commercial vehicle. If it was a large truck or bus, call our Ventura truck accident attorneys right away. We will investigate the crash, determine whether the other vehicle was a commercial vehicle, and identify the regulations that apply to that vehicle.

We Investigate Potential Regulatory Violations

Commercial trucks are highly regulated by the Federal Motor Career Safety Administration (FMCSA). Truck drivers and motor carriers (the trucking companies) are required to adhere to many rules, including when and how to perform inspections, maintenance, hours and service, and maximum length, height, and weight of different types of trucks. Our truck accident lawyers in Ventura conduct thorough independent investigations into our client’s truck accidents, and we pay particularly close attention to whether any FMCSA regulations were violated. One or more violations may be connected to the underlying cause of the crash. Also, a history of regulatory violations may support a claim that the truck driver or company is routinely negligent.

Common Causes of Truck Accidents in Ventura

Truck wrecks happen for all sorts of reasons. However, some of the most common causes of crashes involve:

• Fatigued or drowsy driving
• Drunk driving
• Drugged driving
• Distracted driving
• Speeding
• Unsafe lane changes
• Failing to check blind spots
• Wide turns
• Truck defects
• Negligent maintenance
• Unsecured or poorly secured cargo

Preserving Evidence in a Truck Accident

One of the reasons it is important to talk with a Ventura truck accident lawyer is that there is a great deal of evidence available in a truck crash that is controlled by the truck driver, trucking company, truck maintenance provider, and other parties. If you do not take steps to preserve this evidence, it may be lost or destroyed. At Harris Personal Injury Lawyers, we send all relevant parties an evidence preservation letter informing these parties of your claim and the need for them to preserve any potential evidence related to the crash. This does not guarantee that evidence will not be lost, but it does allow us to pursue legal remedies if a party willfully fails to preserve relevant evidence. We then file a lawsuit against the other parties so we can obtain this evidence through discovery. We may ask to see the truck driver’s employment and driving records, the truck driver’s log, the trucking company's maintenance records, the company’s history of crashes, and the truck’s “black box” data. The truck’s black box is an electronic data recorder, which can offer significant insight into what was happening in the moments leading up to the crash. It also can help us calculate how long the trucker had been operating the vehicle in the previous hours and days, which may demonstrate an hour of service violation.

Truck Accident Compensation

Through a truck accident claim, we will fight for you to receive compensation for your:

• Medical Expenses
• Lost Wages
• Property Damage
• Pain and Suffering
• Emotional Distress
• Disfigurement
• Physical Limitation
• Reduced Earning Capacity
• Reduced Quality of Life

Call 1-800-GO-HARRIS to Talk With a Truck Crash Lawyer in Ventura

At Harris Personal Injury Lawyers, we know how frightening a truck accident crash is, and we know that the aftermath is not much better. When you are suffering from injuries and worried about the medical bills and lost wages, it can be difficult to handle and insurance claim on your own. We are here to take this task off your plate. We will handle the insurance claim process and litigation on your behalf.