As the victim of a truck accident in Anaheim, California, you can face overwhelming costs, debilitating injuries, and serious emotional distress. If a negligent truck driver or trucking company is responsible for your big rig accident, it’s important to hold them accountable. The experienced Anaheim truck accident lawyers at Bridgford, Gleason & Artinian can help you make the most of your fight for compensation.
For more than three decades, Bridgford, Gleason & Artinian has helped truck accident victims win hard-fought battles against powerful trucking services and insurance companies. We’re award-winning California trial attorneys with 75+ years of litigation experience who have won over $1 billion for clients like you.
Put yourself in the best position to win your truck accident case and get the compensation you deserve. Contact us today to arrange your free initial case evaluation.
How an Anaheim Truck Accident Attorney Can Help
Truck accident cases do not involve the same laws or legal processes as typical car accidents in Anaheim. For this reason, hiring a truck accident attorney to represent you can be invaluable. Truck companies have the resources to combat accident claims, such as aggressive legal teams and rapid response teams, which include investigators and crash experts who are sent to the scene of a truck accident as soon as it happens.
It can be difficult as a victim to hold a trucking company liable, or financially responsible, for the full extent of your losses. An insurer may try to take advantage of you to protect its own profits. Working with an Anaheim truck accident attorney will protect you from insurance company strategies. Your lawyer can negotiate for the settlement that you deserve or take your case to trial in Anaheim to pursue just compensation, if necessary.
While you focus on healing from your injuries and putting your life back together after a serious truck accident, your attorney will handle the steps involved in filing a claim. This can include investigating the truck accident, revisiting the scene, gathering evidence, identifying the liable parties, submitting claim paperwork, hiring truck accident and medical experts, and dealing with insurance companies on your behalf.
How Common Are Truck Accidents in Anaheim, CA?
Interstate 5 and State Route 91 run right through the heart of Anaheim, paving the way for large trucks and tractor-trailers to travel in and through the city. When semi-trucks share the road with smaller vehicles, accidents are bound to happen. In Anaheim, there are dozens of truck accidents reported annually.
In 2021, Anaheim saw a total of 77 traffic accidents involving large trucks. Many of these were serious, resulting in no fewer than 96 injuries and 1 fatality.
We Handle All Types of Truck Accident Cases
At Bridgford, Gleason & Artinian, we have extensive experience representing clients in truck accident cases including:
- Jackknife accidents
- Lost load truck accidents
- Override accidents
- Underride accidents
- Wide-turn truck accidents
- Rollover truck accidents
- Rear-end collisions
- Head-on collisions
- Fatal truck accidents
Over the course of three decades, we’ve gained considerable insight into how these types of truck and car accidents differ and the strategies that are best utilized for each one.
What’s My Anaheim Truck Accident Case Worth?
As the victim of a truck crash in Anaheim, you can generally recover compensation for:
- Medical bills
- Lost wages
- Disability
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Loss of consortium
- Disfigurement
- Property damage
There’s no standard settlement for truck accident claims. Instead, factors specific to each individual case will drive the valuation process.
Important considerations include:
- Your age at the time of the truck accident
- The type of injury you sustained in the truck accident
- The extent of related psychological and emotional trauma
- Changes in your earning capacity
- Out-of-pocket expenses
- Shared fault and responsibility
The trucking company (or its insurer) will want to dictate what your truck accident case is worth. Our personal injury attorneys won’t let them. We’ll launch a thorough investigation, work closely with respected experts, and gather critical evidence that helps us build a strong and persuasive claim on your behalf.
What Are Common Causes of Truck Accidents in Anaheim?
Motor vehicle accidents involving big rigs in Anaheim are often caused by human error and driver negligence. The definition of negligence is the failure to use reasonable care, which is the level of care that a reasonably prudent person would use in the same or similar circumstances.
Many examples of negligence can cause 18-wheeler accidents in Anaheim, including:
- Truck driver negligence: careless or reckless errors while operating a big rig, such as speeding, violating traffic laws, breaking hours-of-service regulations, driving while drowsy or fatigued, driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, distracted driving, texting and driving, and using the wrong braking techniques.
- Trucking company negligence: dangerous mistakes made by the trucking company responsible for the truck or driver. Examples include hiring an unqualified or unfit driver, failing to properly train new truck drivers, pressuring drivers to exceed their hours-of-service limits, and failing to properly maintain its fleet or equipment.
- Third-party negligence: accident risks caused by someone who was not directly involved in the truck accident. Examples include a cargo company that failed to properly load the truck, a government agency that ignored a road defect or the manufacturer of a defective truck part.
Identifying the cause of the truck accident is necessary before filing an injury claim, as California uses a fault-based car insurance system. Under this rule, the person or party most at fault for a truck accident will be held liable. Our attorneys at Bridgford, Gleason & Artinian can carefully investigate your truck accident to determine its cause and identify the liable parties.
Who Is Liable for a Truck Accident in Anaheim?
The issue of liability is handled differently in a truck accident case compared to a standard car accident claim in Anaheim. Rather than only involving two (or more) motor vehicle drivers, a truck accident case also involves the potential liability of a trucking company and various third parties, such as cargo companies or the government.
Trucking companies in California are generally held responsible for accidents involving their trucks and drivers. Federal regulations impose trucking company liability even when drivers are classified as independent contractors rather than employees. Vicarious liability can apply to a trucking company as it would to any employer regarding the negligence of its employees.
If a truck driver caused your crash, you may be able to bring a claim against the truck company. A company may also be held liable for an accident that it directly caused or contributed to. Negligent driver hiring or training practices and poor fleet maintenance are examples of mistakes that could result in trucking company liability for a crash.
What Makes Truck Accident Cases Unique?
Truck accident liability is not the only complicated legal matter you may have to deal with as a crash victim in Anaheim. These cases can involve many unique issues, including:
- Catastrophic injuries: the size and weight of a tractor-trailer can inflict a catastrophic level of damage to a smaller vehicle and its occupants. Life-changing injuries, such as brain damage or permanent paralysis, are often involved in trucking accidents in California.
- Federal trucking laws and regulations: truck companies and their drivers must obey federal laws that do not apply to standard motor vehicle drivers, including regulations regarding truck inspections, truck repairs and maintenance, truck driver hours-of-service, and cargo loading and securement.
- Unique types of evidence: truck accident injury claims may involve evidence that is difficult to gather, such as information from the truck’s black box, electronic logging devices or data recorders, truck company accident and legal compliance records, and the truck driver’s medical and driving histories.
The truck accident attorneys at Bridgford, Gleason & Artinian have the knowledge and experience to properly navigate the nuances of your case. We understand how truck accident cases in Anaheim work and can guide you expertly through the legal process.
What to Do After a Truck Accident in Anaheim
If you get involved in an accident with a large commercial truck in Anaheim, you may feel overwhelmed and unsure of what to do to protect your rights. Knowing a few basic steps to take can help you feel more in control of your situation and future.
If you can, here’s what to do:
- Pull over and remain at the scene of the accident until you have fulfilled your driver responsibilities, including rendering aid to others and exchanging information with the truck driver.
- Check yourself and others involved in the truck accident for signs of injury. Keep in mind that not all injuries are immediately obvious.
- Call 911 without delay to report the accident. Most truck accidents are serious enough to require police reporting. Even minor accidents should be reported, however, for insurance purposes.
- Get immediate medical care. Go to the closest hospital or urgent care center for injury treatment. Keep copies of your medical records, x-rays and hospital bills.
- Exchange information with the truck driver. Write down the driver’s name, trucking company information, license plate numbers and insurance details.
- Before you leave, take pictures of the scene of the accident. Capture images of both vehicles, any marks or debris in the road, the road conditions at the time of the crash, and the scene as a whole.
- Do not admit fault. Do not state that you may have caused or contributed to the truck accident when speaking to the truck driver, the police or an insurance company.
- File an insurance claim. Contact the trucking company involved in the accident to file an insurance claim. They will start an investigation of the crash to determine liability.
- Continue with your recommended treatment plan. Follow your doctor’s orders while recovering from your injuries. Take photos as they heal and consider keeping an injury journal.
- Contact an experienced truck accident attorney in Anaheim. Collisions involving large trucks are legally complex. Hiring the right attorney can make it easier to protect yourself throughout the claims process.
- If you get into a truck accident, your top priority should be your personal health and safety. Once you have received medical care, you can focus on your claim. An attorney from Bridgford, Gleason & Artinian can guide you through each step of a personal injury case using a tailored legal strategy.
What Is the Statute of Limitations on a Truck Accident Case in Anaheim?
California has a law that places a deadline on the ability to file a personal injury or motor vehicle accident case, known as the statute of limitations. In general, if you attempt to file a truck accident case after the statute of limitations has expired, your case will be time-barred and not permitted to proceed.
California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1 states:
- CHAPTER 3. The Time of Commencing Actions Other Than for the Recovery of Real Property [335 – 349.4] (Chapter 3 enacted 1872.)
- 335.1.
- Within two years: An action for assault, battery, or injury to, or for the death of, an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another.
According to this statute, truck accident claims in Anaheim must be filed no later than two years after the crash. If you did not discover your injuries right away, you may have two years from the date you reasonably should have discovered them to file, instead. Some circumstances can shorten or extend the filing deadline. This is why it is crucial to contact a truck accident attorney near you as soon as possible.
Call Our Experienced Anaheim Truck Accident Lawyers For Help Today
You’ll have just two years to pursue compensation after you suffer injuries or experience the wrongful death of a family member in an Anaheim truck accident. Once the statute of limitations expires, you lose the right to demand accountability from a negligent truck driver or trucking company.
Protect yourself by calling Bridgford, Gleason & Artinian for help right after you get hurt. Our Anaheim truck accident attorneys can help you seek maximum compensation for your injuries and suffering.
Benefit from a team with 75+ years of litigation experience and proven ability to win top results by calling our law office at (949) 831-6611 to set up a free consultation now.