Injured in a Truck Wreck? We Hold Negligent Trucking Companies Accountable. No Fee Unless We Win.
You need more than just a car accident lawyer if you’ve been injured in Orange County. It requires a truck accident attorney who is familiar with the many rules and layers of liability, from the driver to the companies they are employed by.
Our first step is a fast investigation to preserve key evidence like the truck’s “black box” data, driver logbooks, and maintenance records. This is important to establish negligence, whether it’s caused by driver fatigue, an overloaded trailer, or poor maintenance. We make a strong case against all culpable parties and pursue the maximum recovery for your medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. No fee if we don’t win. Call our personal injury lawyers today to get a free consultation.
Why Kohan & Bablove Injury Attorney is the right choice for your Orange County Truck Accident Claim?
The choice of an attorney is critical when you have been injured in a truck accident. You’re facing a formidable trucking business and a formidable legal team. Kohan & Bablove Injury Attorneys have the experience to win these complex claims.
We immediately deploy investigators to preserve critical evidence, including the truck’s “black box” data, driver logs, and maintenance records, before they are lost. We use this quick response time, coupled with our in-depth knowledge of federal and state trucking laws (FMCSA), to identify violations and establish corporate negligence. This is how we have been able to recover millions for truck accident victims. Call us today for a free consultation.
How Dangerous Are Truck Accidents in Orange County?
The numbers tell a sobering story. In 2020, California recorded 427 fatalities from truck-involved accidents and that figure doesn’t capture the thousands more who survived with permanent injuries, long-term disabilities, and lives turned upside down.
Orange County’s road network makes this risk especially real. The I-5, I-405, and SR-55 carry some of the heaviest commercial truck traffic in Southern California. These freeways move goods up and down the coast around the clock, and that constant flow of large vehicles puts every driver sharing the road at risk.
What makes these crashes so devastating isn’t just the speed, it’s the physics. When an 80,000-pound semi-truck hits a 4,000-pound passenger car, the force involved is almost impossible to walk away from without serious injury. Broken bones, spinal cord damage, traumatic brain injuries, and wrongful death are common outcomes.
While many of these vehicle collisions could be avoided with proper responsibility, carelessness is still a major issue. Driver fatigue, distracted driving, poor maintenance, and overloaded cargo are recurring causes, and behind most of them is a company that puts profit ahead of safety. That’s exactly the kind of negligence our attorneys are built to expose.
Truck Accident Cases Are More Complex Than Car Accident Cases
Truck accident cases are far more complex than standard car accident claims. It’s a totally different legal issue, under different laws and with different legal expertise. The first step to protecting your rights after an Orange County truck accident is to understand these differences.
Navigating Complex Federal Trucking Laws (FMCSA)
The trucking industry is regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). These regulations govern nearly every aspect of commercial trucking, including driver hours, inspections, cargo limits, maintenance, and driver qualifications. Violation of any of these rules can be strong evidence of negligence. An experienced truck accident lawyer understands how to obtain driver logs, maintenance records, and post-crash inspection reports to discover these violations and to establish a solid case.
Identifying Multiple Liable Parties
There are numerous layers of responsibility in a truck accident. There are several people who may be responsible for your injuries. These can include:
- The Truck Driver: For direct negligence such as speeding, distracted driving, or fatigue.
- The Trucking Company: If they neglected to hire qualified drivers, failed to train them properly, or were responsible for drivers who were forced to violate safety regulations.
- Cargo Owner/Loader: When the crash was caused by improper loading of the cargo.
- Maintenance Provider: If the accident was caused by mechanical failure due to negligent maintenance.
- Truck Manufacturer: If a part in the truck caused the accident.
A thorough investigation is needed to find every liable party and get you the full compensation you deserve.
Dealing with Aggressive Corporate Insurance Companies
Millions of dollars are sometimes at stake with trucking insurance policies. These carriers dispatch “rapid response teams” of investigators and attorneys to crash scenes quickly. Their goal is to protect the trucking company, not you. They often try to minimize or deny claims before victims understand their rights. They don’t come to help you. To deal with these big companies, you need a personal injury lawyer who can match their tactics with resources and experience.
Who Can Be Held Liable? Understanding Negligence in a Truck Accident
Unlike a typical car accident, determining liability following a truck accident is much more complex. Negligence occurs when a person or company fails to exercise reasonable care, resulting in harm to someone else. In California, a truck accident is a comparative negligence case, which means you can actually be found somewhat at fault for your Orange County truck accident, but still be able to recover, and the amount you will receive will be less than what you would receive if you were not at fault.
The Truck Driver
The truck driver is the most obvious potential defendant. Negligence may involve a driver’s failure to:
- Excessive speed or driving too fast for the road.
- Violation of Federal hours of service regulations, which can lead to driver fatigue.
- Distracted driving (e.g., texting while driving).
- Operating a vehicle while intoxicated or on drugs (DUI).
- Illegal lane changing or large blind spots.
The Trucking Company (Carrier)
The trucking company is frequently liable via:
- Negligent Hiring: When drivers are hired who have a history of DUIs or previous accidents.
- Inadequate Training: Not training drivers properly on safety and federal regulations.
- Poor Maintenance: Skipping maintenance on the fleet, causing brake or tire failures.
- Pressuring Drivers: Coercing drivers to violate the hours of service regulations to meet deadlines.
The Cargo Loader or Shipper
If the trailer was loaded by a third-party company, they may be liable for the crash if their negligence caused the incident, such as overloading the trailer, failing to balance the load, or improperly loading the trailer.
The Truck or Parts Manufacturer
A product liability claim may be filed against the manufacturer if a crash occurred as a result of a defective vehicle part. These can range from
- Brake failure due to a design or manufacturing defect.
- Tire blowouts caused by faulty production.
- Steering system or coupling failures that lead to a sudden loss of control.
It takes a capable personal injury lawyer who has the resources to make big manufacturers accountable in these cases.
We Handle All Types of Truck Accident Cases in Orange County
From mechanical failures to driver fatigue, each cause presents unique challenges in proving negligence. A good Orange County truck accident lawyer should be knowledgeable in dealing with all types of crashes. We understand these catastrophic occurrences and have a successful history of holding parties accountable.
Jackknife Accidents
Jackknife accidents occur when a semi-truck cab and trailer fold in on each other at a 90-degree angle. This frequently occurs when the vehicle is suddenly stopped. These crashes often result in a multi-vehicle collision and severe injuries.
Underride and Override Accidents
An underride accident happens when a smaller car slides underneath a truck’s trailer. The reverse of that is an override accident, which is when the truck runs over a smaller vehicle. Both can be deadly and include determining if necessary underride guards were installed.
Overloaded or Improperly Secured Cargo Accidents
The stability of a semi-truck is heavily dependent on its cargo. If a trailer is overloaded beyond federal weight limits or if the cargo is improperly balanced or secured, cargo can move, leading to a rollover or jackknife. The responsibility of the third-party shipper or cargo loading company may be involved.
Fatigued Driver Accidents
Trucking companies are notorious for forcing drivers to exceed safe limits in order to meet deadlines. Driver fatigue can impair reaction time and judgement in ways similar to alcohol impairment. We analyze driver logs, dispatch logs, and fuel receipts to establish violations and hold the driver and employer responsible.
Drunk or Impaired Driving Accidents
Driving while intoxicated is almost always devastating for a truck driver. We, as your personal injury lawyer, will file a civil lawsuit to get you the compensation you deserve. Punitive damages may be available in drunk driving cases to punish the wrongdoer.
Poor Truck Maintenance Accidents
If trucking companies neglect to perform maintenance, mechanical problems occur. If the brakes are worn out, the tires are bald, or the coupling mechanism is faulty, the accident is the responsibility of the company or maintenance facility that negligently performed the task.
Common Causes of Truck Accidents on Orange County Freeways (I-5, I-405, SR-55)
Commercial trucks are on the road constantly on Orange County’s major freeways—the I-5, I-405, and SR-55 posing a constant danger to all drivers. Catastrophic truck accidents on these routes are rarely simple; they are typically the direct result of preventable negligence.
- Driver Fatigue: One of the most dangerous causes of semi-truck collisions is drowsy driving. Pressure to meet tight deadlines leads many drivers to violate federal hours-of-service rules. Fatigued drivers on the I-10 and I-15 freeways are a common occurrence that our Ontario truck accident lawyers frequently handle. If the truck driver violates these laws, insurance companies should compensate you for your suffering.
- Speeding and Other Reckless Driving Behaviors: Speeding and other reckless driving behaviors are major contributors to truck collisions. When truckers rush to make up time, tailgate, or aggressively change lanes, all drivers are at risk.
- Poor Truck Maintenance and Equipment Failure. Some carriers cut corners on maintenance to increase profits, which could result in brake failure, tire blowout, or steering failure at high speeds. They are not accidents. These are inevitable consequences of profit before safety.
- Distracted Driving In 2021, 140 people were killed in distracted driving accidents in California, a 27.3% significant increase in fatalities from 2020. Distractions such as mobile devices, dispatch equipment, and more can cause drivers to lose focus with deadly consequences.
- Improper Cargo Loading (Failure to Secure a Load): When a trucking company or third-party cargo loading company fails to properly secure a load, cargo can shift and cause a truck to roll over or spill onto the road, resulting in catastrophic injuries and death.
An experienced Orange County truck accident lawyer will be able to discover the evidence that can help in creating a strong and successful case.
Crucial Evidence We Secure in a Truck Accident Investigation
In the immediate aftermath of a truck accident, the trucking company will immediately dispatch its own “rapid response team” to the scene of the truck accident to safeguard its interests. Your legal team needs to respond just as quickly. Our firm has a proven investigative process designed to uncover the truth and establish undeniable proof of negligence.
The Truck’s “Black Box” (ECU/EDR) Data
Nearly all commercial trucks have an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) and Event Data Recorder (EDR), commonly referred to as a “black box.”
It records critical information such as:
- The truck’s speed at impact.
- Whether the brakes were applied (and when).
- Steering angles and RPMs.
- Cruise control status.
This data can directly dispute a driver’s false claims. Since it can be overwritten or destroyed, we immediately send a legal spoliation letter demanding that all data be preserved.
Driver’s Logbooks and Hours-of-Service Records
Federal law has a limit on how many hours a truck driver can be on the road, which is documented in Driver’s Logbooks and Hours-of-Service Records. ELDs are used to log a driver’s hours. These records may be evidence of driver fatigue. Drivers have been known to falsify logs, so we compare them to fuel receipts, toll records, and dispatch communications to identify inconsistencies.
Maintenance and Inspection Records
Trucking companies have a non-negotiable legal duty to ensure their entire fleet is properly maintained and safe for the road. When they fail to do so, catastrophic mechanical failures can occur. We require and examine all maintenance and inspection records for the truck in your accident. These documents can show a history of neglect, known brake problems that were not addressed, or failure to conduct required annual inspections.
Cargo and Weight Manifests
We secure the bill of lading and cargo manifests to find out what was hauled and how much it weighed. This can provide evidence of whether the truck was overloaded or improperly loaded and can prove third-party liability due to the negligence of the shipper or loading company.
The Role of Insurance Companies in Commercial Truck Crashes
Everyone in California is required to have car insurance, and truckers have additional requirements since they drive a commercial vehicle. The purpose of these insurers is to safeguard the company and the trucker against injury claims.
In most cases, insurance companies will do everything they can to prove the trucker wasn’t responsible for the Orange County wreck, or they will put as much fault on you as possible to lower their payout. It is a strategy they employ to safeguard their profits.
This we know from experience. We formerly represented insurance companies. We don’t do it anymore, but we know how they work. We will fight their tactics to get you the compensation you need to move past an Orange County trucking collision you didn’t cause.
Common Injuries Sustained in Orange County Truck Accidents
The sheer physics involved in a collision between a commercial truck and a passenger vehicle is horrifying. When an 80,000-pound semi-truck collides with a 4,000-pound car, the impact generates a tremendous amount of force that can result in serious, permanent, and life-changing injuries. For victims and their families, securing compensation to cover a lifetime of care is not just a legal goal; it is a necessity.
Catastrophic Injuries (Spinal Cord, Traumatic Brain Injury)
- Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI): An injury to the spinal cord may cause partial or total paralysis (paraplegia or quadriplegia). The victim may require lifelong medical treatment, wheelchairs, and significant home modifications.
- Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI): The sudden impact of a truck accident can result in a traumatic brain injury. These injuries, ranging from concussions to serious brain damage, affect the brain’s functioning forever.
Broken Bones and Internal Injuries.
- Broken Bones: The crushing force often results in multiple fractures that require several surgeries, metal rods, plates, and a long rehabilitation period. Many of the victims suffer from chronic pain and permanent mobility restrictions.
- Internal Injuries: If the internal organs, such as the spleen, liver, or kidneys, are seriously injured, it may lead to life-threatening internal bleeding. Injuries may not be apparent at first, and a thorough medical assessment is essential.
Wrongful Death
Tragically, the forces involved in Orange County truck accidents are often not survivable. If a loved one dies as a result of a truck driver’s or trucking company’s negligence, the surviving family members may pursue a wrongful death claim. Compensation can cover:
– Cost of burial and funeral.
– The loss of the future income and financial support of the deceased.
– Loss of love, companionship, guidance, and consortium.
Compensation for 18-Wheeler Wrecks in Orange County
If you are driving safely and are hit by a truck driver, you shouldn’t have to pay for the damages. The expenses incurred by truck accidents can quickly accumulate. You should be paid for all of your losses, including physical, financial, and emotional. Here are some damages you can pursue in a personal injury case for an Orange County semi-truck accident:
- Hospital bills
- Healthcare- related costs, such as medications, physical therapy, and doctor visits
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish (including post-traumatic stress disorder)
- Mental health treatment
- Property damage
- Disfigurement
- Dismemberment
Helping Truck Accident Victims Across Southern California
We are experienced Orange County truck accident lawyers who help truck accident victims throughout Southern California. The major freeways and local court systems are well known to us, and our clients are expertly represented in important cities, including:
If you’ve been injured in a commercial truck collision in any of these areas, our team is ready to fight for you.
Schedule a Free Consultation with Our Orange County Truck Accident Lawyers
Don’t go up against powerful trucking company legal teams alone. Critical evidence can disappear quickly, so don’t wait to protect your rights! Call Kohan & Bablove Injury Attorneys for a free, no-obligation consultation. We will examine your accident and provide you with an honest and transparent evaluation of your legal options. We are a contingency fee firm, meaning that you owe us nothing if we don’t win. Protect your rights and begin building your case.
You can schedule a free, no-obligation legal consultation with an Orange County truck accident attorney at Kohan & Bablove, Injury Attorneys. Call us at 949.506.4511 or fill out the contact form at the bottom of this page.
Address: 20371 Irvine Ave, Suite 110, Newport Beach, CA 92660
Phone: 949.506.4511
