Humboldt County Truck Accident Lawyers
We’ll tell you if you have a case or not, call (888) 488-1391 — We’re here 24 hours a day.
Our Humboldt County Truck Accident Lawyers Are Advocates Who Stand By Your Side
If you suffer injuries or lose a loved one after getting hit by a big rig, we can help you assess whether you can pursue compensation for your losses. Call the experienced Humboldt County truck accident lawyers from Arash Law at (888) 488-1391 for a free initial consultation. Our aim is to assist you in exploring your possible legal options.
Situated inside the “Redwood Curtain,” Humboldt County is a true paradise that most Californians still view as “out of the way.” Still, The Washington Post previously ranked it as the second most beautiful county in the US.
Unfortunately, because it is situated on a major route, truck accidents are common in the area. The winding roads and steep inclines can be challenging for even the most experienced drivers. The dense forests and foggy weather can also add to the risks.
Truck accidents can result in devastating consequences, including spinal cord damage, traumatic brain injuries, and even death. Pursuing compensation afterward can also be complicated, as multiple parties are often involved.
Nonetheless, our Humboldt County law firm is dedicated to helping injured clients handle their cases. Arash Law also offers legal guidance to help victims make informed decisions.
Paz v. Airfax Logistics (settled on 5/26/2020) – settlement in a case involving a client who was involved in a trucking accident and sustained a traumatic brain injury and other trauma.– TINA ESHGHIEH
How Can Our Humboldt County Truck Accident Lawyers Help Your Case?
Arash Law has handled different injury claims, including truck accident cases. By investigating the details, identifying potentially liable parties, and negotiating for a settlement in or out of court, we work to help clients pursue compensation that reflects their losses. If you’re injured in one, here’s how we can help:
- Our Humboldt County truck accident lawyers can independently investigate crashes. We may employ the help of reliable traffic accident reconstruction experts and other professionals to determine the cause of the accident. This way, we can identify who may be liable for your damages.
- To prove the extent of your injuries, we can work with medical professionals, including your attending physicians, to study the accident’s overall impact on your life.
- We can work to protect your case from potentially unfair settlement offers and bring legal action if it is a viable option for your case.
At every stage of the claims process, our lawyers keep clients informed and provide them with the support they may need. Additionally, we don’t charge any attorney fees up front. Our Humboldt County truck accident lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, meaning we only get paid if a client is awarded a settlement. Nevertheless, certain case-related costs may still apply regardless of the outcome. Our lawyers can explain this arrangement in further detail before moving forward with your case.
Why Have Our Humboldt County Lawyers Handle Your Truck Accident Case?
Truck accident claims and lawsuits may demand thorough knowledge of trucking regulations, federal legislation, and California’s legal framework. Our Humboldt County truck accident attorneys can thus help you with the following:
Managing Legal Procedures
Incidents involving big rigs come with specific rules and regulations that are different from those governing regular motor vehicle collisions. If you’re injured in a truck accident in Humboldt County, you can seek the assistance of lawyers who focus on these areas of personal injury law. Our team can help with the claims process by managing liability concerns, insurance negotiations, and trucking restrictions.
Gathering Evidence
Our lawyers in Humboldt County can work closely with you to understand the specific details of your truck accident and develop a well-supported claim. To help you pursue damages, our team can conduct an independent investigation of your collision to gather evidence that backs your case, including accident reports, witness accounts, images, expert testimony, and other pertinent data.
Determining Liability
When you are in a truck accident, it can be challenging to determine who is liable for your injuries and damages. Multiple parties might be involved, including truck drivers, trucking companies, maintenance providers, and others.
Our Humboldt County truck accident attorneys will evaluate the details of the event, including the possible causes, the parties involved, and any relevant contracts or insurance policies. Once we’ve gathered the necessary information, we’ll work to identify who may be responsible for your injuries.
Dealing With Insurance Companies
The attorneys at Arash Law are knowledgeable about insurance rules and regulations. We can represent you in negotiations with the insurers and work to prevent any risk of an unfair claim handling process. We will manage all communications and advocate for your rights after a truck accident.
Calculating Compensation
Our lawyers will work to estimate the potential worth of your claim, taking into account the losses you have suffered. This may include lost wages, medical costs, emotional trauma, property damage, and suffering. We can leverage the available evidence and expert opinions to support our calculations.
We understand that every case is unique, which is why we take a personalized approach to every client we serve. We will work closely with you to understand your specific needs and circumstances and tailor our legal strategy to your case.
Representing Clients In Litigation
If we can’t reach a settlement with insurance companies, our litigation attorneys for truck accidents in Humboldt County can represent you in court. If it is an appropriate action for your case, we will use our extensive courtroom experience to present your case in front of a judge or jury.
How Do Truck Accidents Happen?
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), many truck crashes are attributed to fatigue. Drivers frequently stay behind the wheel without taking breaks, causing drowsiness. Another known crash risk is the longer stopping distance that larger vehicles need, especially on wet and slippery roads.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) states that other factors, such as speeding, miscalculating or not anticipating the movements of other vehicles, and tailgating, can similarly cause collisions. The vehicle itself can also contribute to accidents, especially if it has brake problems or there is a traffic flow interruption.
Here are some other factors that lead to truck accidents in Humboldt County:
- Distractions while driving
- Reckless maneuvers
- Undertrained truck drivers
- Failure to adapt to road and weather conditions
- Poor maintenance of vehicles
Proving these acts of negligence is crucial to pursuing compensation. Through investigation, our Humboldt County attorneys can help determine the factors that contributed to your accident, allowing us to identify who may be liable.
Most Common Types Of Truck Accidents
Big rig collisions occur in various ways, including rear-ending a smaller vehicle in front, sliding across lanes, or slamming into another car side-by-side. They may also injure unsuspecting pedestrians and motorcyclists.
Here are the most common cases our truck accident lawyers in Humboldt County encounter:
Head-On Collisions
In head-on accidents, the front end of the truck collides directly with the front end of another vehicle. The results can be devastating, especially for the drivers and any passengers in the front seat.
There are several reasons why a driver might cause a head-on collision, including:
- Distracted Driving — The driver might not notice they’re veering out of their lane and into the path of oncoming traffic.
- Failing to Yield the Right-of-Way & Running Red Lights — A driver might crash into a vehicle with the right-of-way.
- Driving Under the Influence (DUI) or While Fatigued — If an individual’s driving skills are too impaired, they might lose control of their vehicle and accidentally cross over to the adjacent lane.
Additionally, tire blowouts can cause drivers to lose control of their vehicles, swerve unexpectedly into other lanes, and cause a rollover accident.
Rear-End Collisions
Truck drivers need to exercise extra caution on the road, given the weight and slow speed of tractor-trailers. They require additional time and space to reduce speed, avoid collisions, or stop safely behind other cars. If they ignore these safety precautions, trucks may get into deadly rear-end collisions with other vehicles.
Careless driving behaviors such as tailgating, speeding, or getting distracted are some common causes of such accidents. Driver fatigue and impairment can also increase the likelihood of such incidents.
Because of the sheer size and weight difference between a large commercial truck and a regular car, rear-end collisions could easily result in the crushing of the smaller vehicle. Its passengers are at a high risk of sustaining catastrophic injuries or fatalities.
To prevent rear-end accidents, the FMCSA recommends following specific guidelines, including maintaining a safe following distance from the car in front. There must be at least one second between vehicles for every 10 feet of vehicle length, which means tractor-trailers must have four seconds between them and the leading car. If they’re going over 40 mph, they must add another second.
Truck Rollovers
Larger vehicles have a higher center of gravity than regular cars. As such, they are prone to tipping over to their sides or backs in collisions and dangerous maneuvers.
Truck drivers who are careless or reckless can cause rollover accidents by speeding and making sudden turns. However, even when they are driving safely and responsibly, such incidents can still occur due to the improper loading or overloading of cargo. As a result, the weight distribution of the truck is thrown off, making it difficult to maintain control of the vehicle.
Truck rollover accidents have a high chance of resulting in the loss of a loved one. In these cases, the surviving family members may be able to pursue a personal injury claim with the help of our wrongful death lawyers in Humboldt County.
Jackknife Accidents
Trucks have an articulated joint that connects the tractor to the trailer, and this could cause them to get involved in a jackknife accident. The trailer might swing out of control, forming the shape of a folding jackknife, hence the name.
Such incidents commonly occur when the driver performs improper turns or sudden stops. In bad weather, the tractor may slow down more quickly than the trailer it is towing if the driver brakes too hard or too quickly.
Jackknife accidents pose serious threats to other motorists as the driver loses the ability to steer or control the trailer’s movement. As a result, the trailer may swing out to the side and collide with nearby vehicles, causing significant damage and potentially injuring or killing passengers.
What makes them even more dangerous is the unpredictability of the sliding trailer. It can strike and drag along other moving vehicles, creating a chain reaction of collisions.
Side-Swipe Accidents
When two vehicles collide while moving alongside each other and in the same direction, side-swipe accidents occur. These incidents usually happen because drivers fail to check their blind spots while changing lanes or merging. They may also be distracted or fatigued, causing them to drift sideways.
Other factors may also contribute to side-swipe accidents, including:
- Tire blowouts
- Steering control issues
- Obstacles on the road
- Rainy weather
In a big rig/car side-swipe collision, the smaller vehicle may be sent sideways into other lanes of traffic and off-road, crashing into other motorists and property. The resulting damages could be catastrophic and potentially fatal.
T-Bone Accidents
The most common locations for T-bone collisions, also called side-impact or broadside collisions, are intersections. When vehicles run red lights, disregard stop signs, or fail to yield the right-of-way, another motorist on a perpendicular road might crash into them, forming a “T” shape.
In T-bone collisions, the occupants on the side of the vehicle that receives the impact are at a higher risk of suffering severe injuries. Victims might experience broken bones, internal injuries, brain damage, and even fatalities.
Wide Turn Accidents
Right turns are usually tighter than left turns, which makes them especially difficult to maneuver for bigger vehicles. As a result, truck operators sometimes try to make their turns by first swinging wide to the left and then circling a right-hand turn. However, these types of maneuvers are dangerous in many ways:
- Pedestrians may not realize the truck is making a right turn.
- Motorists in adjacent lanes may slam into the trailer or get trapped under the truck.
- The truck may crash into bicycles or motorcycles in its blind spot.
Compensation After A Truck Accident
After being injured, you may have the right to pursue compensation for the truck accident’s overall effects on your life. In addition to the financial burden of lost wages and medical bills, you might also lose the ability to perform everyday activities. For example, an injury may prevent you from working out, going for a walk with a spouse or loved one, or playing with your grandchildren. All these and more can lead to a lower quality of life.
Depending on the details of the case, victims may be able to pursue economic and non-economic damages, such as:
- Medical Expenses — Current and future hospital bills, doctors’ fees, and treatment costs related to the injury.
- Property Repair and Replacement Costs — Expenses for repairing or replacing vehicles damaged in the accident.
- Lost Wages — If the accident caused you to miss work, you’re entitled to claim the value of your lost income. You can also pursue compensation for reduced earning capacity if your injury leads to long-term treatment or disability.
- Pain and Suffering — We will attach a monetary value to the physical and emotional pains you’ve experienced and may experience as a result of your injuries.
- Emotional and Psychological Trauma — The injured may have lingering mental health illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, or depression. We’ll assess how these conditions might affect your life to inform the amount of compensation you pursue.
Some damages are not easily calculated. Nonetheless, our truck accident lawyers in Humboldt County will come up with an estimated value that represents your losses. We may base our calculations on other similar cases we’ve handled and the opinions of experts, such as economists.
Statute Of Limitations For Filing Personal Injury Claims In California
In California, the statute of limitations for personal injury cases is two years from the date of the accident. Humboldt County follows the same timeframe. However, the deadline can be delayed or extended in the following situations:
- The plaintiff is underage. The statute of limitations will apply once they turn 18, so they can file a claim before their 20th birthday.
- The defendant is in prison, out of state, or legally insane. The statute of limitations is paused until they get out of prison, return to California, or become legally sane.
There are also certain exceptions, such as cases involving governmental bodies. You only have six months to submit a claim with the applicable agency. They will then have 45 days to respond. If they reject your claim, you have six more months from the date of receiving this letter to file a lawsuit in civil court. If the government fails to respond completely, then you have two years to bring an action against them in court.
If you fail to file a claim for truck accidents within the allowed period, you may lose your right to pursue compensation from the negligent parties. As such, you can contact our Humboldt County personal injury lawyers shortly after a truck accident. We can discuss the applicable deadlines and extensions that might apply to your case.
Gil v. Anderson Plumbing: verdict by a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury in Van Nuys awarded to a man who was injured when his vehicle was struck from behind by a large commercial plumbing van. Benny was part of the trial team that obtained this verdict.– BENNY KHORSANDI
Determining The Responsible Parties For Your Injuries
The truck driver is usually the one who is legally liable if their negligent actions caused the accident. However, many other responsible parties could have contributed to the truck accident, especially in complicated cases. The other potentially responsible parties often include the following:
- Trucking Company — The driver’s employer might be held accountable, as they’re responsible for the actions of their employees while on the job. They might also have additional liability if they exhibit negligence, such as when they encourage their drivers to violate truck driving laws and regulations in California to save time, money, or both.
- Vehicle Manufacturer — If the collision was due to an auto defect, you could file a claim against the manufacturer and others involved in the design, installation, and marketing of the truck or the part that broke.
- Third-Party — Other individuals or companies might be responsible for the accident in some way, such as the staff that failed to do routine maintenance or the team that incorrectly loaded the cargo.
No matter how complicated your accident might be, our lawyers who focus on Humboldt County truck accidents can assist with identifying potentially at-fault parties. We will investigate the different angles of the case to understand your situation better.
What To Do After A Truck Accident
Taking certain steps may help you protect your rights and remain safe following a truck accident. For example:
- Move to safety. If possible, move away from traffic to avoid further accidents.
- Check for injuries. Assess your own condition before checking on others.
- Call 911. Law enforcement can help manage the accident scene and redirect traffic. Police officers will also be able to write a report, which can help prove negligence in a claim.
- Get medical attention. Once the paramedics arrive, make sure you submit to an assessment, even if you feel fine. Some injuries don’t present symptoms right away. If they don’t take you to the ER, remember to go to the hospital after the accident for a full medical evaluation.
- Collect the drivers’ information. Gather the contact and insurance policy details from all parties involved.
- Ask the witnesses, if any, for their contact details. You may need to reach out to them later to submit a statement or testify in court.
- Inform your insurance company. Follow their instructions for reporting accidents, but be as objective as possible when relaying what happened.
- Get in touch with our truck accident lawyers in Humboldt County. We can assess your case and help you study legal options that may be available to you.
Do not provide unnecessary details or more information than necessary when speaking with others. Some subjective statements may be interpreted as you taking the blame for the accident. Instead, consider consulting with our personal injury attorneys, who handle truck accident cases in Humboldt County, for legal guidance and support.
Truck Accident Statistics
In 2021, California had the second-highest fatality rate from large truck crashes, with 437 deaths. Over 328 of the fatalities were passengers in the smaller vehicles, while 61 were non-occupants. Only about 48 victims were truck occupants.
Even for injuries, the most affected victims were other car occupants. According to estimates, they account for 110,000 cases nationwide. Around 3,000 were non-occupants, and about 42,000 were passengers and drivers of trucks, totaling 150,000 injured people.
The large size and weight of trucks compared to passenger vehicles are the main reasons for the significant discrepancy in these cases. Semi-trucks can weigh up to 20 or 30 times more than other vehicles on the road. In a collision, they generate a greater force, making them more likely to crush other vehicles and their occupants.
Many big rigs are also involved in car accidents nationwide. In the same year, a total of 416 truck units were recorded, representing 7% of all vehicles involved in such cases.
If you’re wondering how to protect your rights and whether you can pursue compensation, feel free to reach out to Arash Law. Our Humboldt County truck accident lawyers are ready to answer your questions and concerns.
Call Our Truck Accident Attorneys In Humboldt County
If you’ve been injured in a truck crash and are concerned that negligence played a role, consider consulting with our Humboldt truck accident attorneys. They can help you learn more about how to protect your rights and potentially start the claims process.
Arash Law also provides representation for other personal injury cases, including workers’ compensation, motorcycle, pedestrian, and bicycle accidents. We also have car accident lawyers who can help with speeding-related cases, DUI incidents, hit-and-runs, and other traffic incidents. Call (888) 488-1391 or use our online form for a free initial consultation.
We also extend our services to Crescent City, Montague, Etna, Mt. Shasta, Dunsmuir, Shasta Lake, Redding, Weaverville, Anderson, Cottonwood, Red Bluff, Corning, Orland, Willows, Covelo, Laytonville, and Leggett, as well as other locations across California.
