Maison Law represents families who lose loved ones in heartbreaking Bakersfield truck accidents. When a reckless truck driver causes a fatal collision, the victim’s family can seek full financial support to deal with immediate difficulties and hardships in the future. Our wrongful death lawyers offer all family members a free, confidential case consultation. Schedule a case review to determine how much support an insurance company should provide to your family after a tragedy.
Do I Need a Lawyer After Losing Someone in a Fatal Truck Accident?
Your family may require the help of a skilled lawyer to force insurance companies and trucking companies to accept full responsibility for a truck accident.
Company lawyers and insurance adjusters will try everything possible to escape financial accountability. They’ll twist the facts in an attempt to blame the victim for an accident. They’ll do whatever they can to limit the support a family left in crisis receives.
A Bakersfield Wrongful Death Attorney safeguards the family’s rights and fights back against these unfair tactics. A skilled lawyer makes sure families are awarded all benefits available. A personal injury lawyer can help in filing a wrongful death claim and protecting the family’s interests. A lawyer also handles the frustrating negotiations with insurance companies while allowing as little disruption to a grieving family as possible.
The Deadly Hazards Created by Trucks on Bakersfield Roads
Semi-trucks and tanker trucks roll out onto Bakersfield roads day and night. Delivery vans race through local neighborhoods. Produce trucks and big rigs hauling goods for packing plants also add to the traffic as they arrive and leave local farms, orchards, and factories.
They are vital to our local economy, but these large, heavy vehicles also create deadly hazards on local routes like Highway 99 and Highway 204. Tractor-trailers can swing back and forth between lanes. Truck drivers can travel too fast and be unable to stop for red lights or construction slow-downs. Their mistakes can cause devastating collisions and claim the lives of those in smaller vehicles.
California’s Transportation Injury Mapping System (TIMS) reports that in 2023 there were 57 truck accidents involving serious injury on Bakersfield roads. Those collisions led to at least 3 tragic deaths. What’s more, Highway 99 through Kern County was the scene of at least 53 serious truck collisions and at least one tragic death.
Big trucks and farm vehicles can be harder to control and stop, but it’s often the negligence of truck drivers that causes accidents.
These are just a few of the life-threatening mistakes truck drivers can make:
- Distracted Truck Drivers: Delivery drivers in vans can look at computer screens to find their next deliveries. Long-haul drivers might stare at a text conversation on a cell phone. These are all moments they aren’t monitoring what’s going on in the lanes ahead.
- Speeding Truck Drivers: Drivers may be speeding to beat a deadline and not thinking of the danger they are putting local motorists in. They need to be focused on traffic lights and traffic slowdowns because they’ll need extra time to slow down their payloads so they don’t rear-end a line of cars ahead of them.
- Exhausted Truck Drivers: Truck drivers are subject to strict laws about how long they can continuously drive. Unfortunately, drivers are under a lot of pressure to make deadlines and sometimes skip these mandatory rests. They can become sluggish or even fall asleep at the wheel to allow a runaway semi-truck.
- DUI Truck Drivers: A driver under the influence of a drug or alcohol will struggle to safely steer a massive truck or delivery van. Truck drivers have a stricter standard involving alcohol use. Their Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) must remain under .04% or they can be charged with DUI.
The risks are all around Kern County, and local families can get the worst news of all after a truck driver’s mistake. Families will deal with the emotional pain and financial toll after a tragedy. A Bakersfield truck accident lawyer gathers the evidence to make sure truck drivers and their employers can’t abandon a family at such a terrible time.
Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Deadly Truck Accident?
Determining who can be held accountable for a tragedy is an important task. Getting this part wrong can cost families thousands of dollars in compensation they may desperately need in the years ahead.
Some truck drivers work for themselves, known as owner-operators. A truck driver’s personal commercial liability insurance will usually have a low cap on the compensation it will provide. This means that once the insurance limit is reached whatever bills remain will have to be paid by the family.
When you hold additional parties liable, such as an agricultural company or a retail chain, your family will have a much better chance of earning full compensation for every hardship.
These are just a few of the potential defendants that may be forced to support you through recovery:
- Independent Driver – Drivers may work for themselves. They’ll have commercial truck accident insurance you’ll hope to draw from.
- Trucking Company and Farms – Drivers may be working for a delivery or shipping company or hauling for a farm that provides truckers with some insurance. These companies and farm owners may also face liability if the poor maintenance of their trucks and tires proves to have caused an accident.
- Large Corporations – These national companies may have their own network of trucks and drivers. Companies like Amazon or Sysco often carry large insurance policies for their drivers. Unfortunately, these businesses also have corporate lawyers who fight to free their employers from blame after an accident.
- Truck Manufacturer – A problem with the way a truck is built could be the cause of a major accident. A parts defect or a design flaw could have led to an impact. The maker of the vehicle would have to provide compensation to victims.
A lapse in judgment by a truck driver could leave a family without a loved one. The family should receive help in dealing with immediate financial obligations. They should also receive support to rebuild their lives in the future. A Maison Law attorney can demand this support for families and make sure they have what’s necessary to avoid financial hardships in the years ahead.
Frequently Asked Questions
What type of support can a family receive if a loved one is killed in a truck accident?
Close family members are encouraged to file a wrongful death claim to get help with funeral expenses and leftover medical bills. They must also receive help in replacing the income the deceased can no longer provide for a spouse and children in the future. The emotional trauma close relatives are put through and the guidance that’s been lost in the future should also earn support.
Who can file a California wrongful death claim?
A spouse or children of the victim would usually have the first right to file a wrongful death claim on behalf of the family. In some cases, the parents or siblings of the victim could file. A wrongful death attorney can also file this claim on behalf of the family and make sure those at fault can’t escape responsibility.
What if I can’t afford to pay a fatal truck accident lawyer?
Your family can still afford the protection of a Maison Law attorney. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then our fee comes out of the insurance settlement check a trucking company must pay your family.
Contact a Bakersfield Fatal Truck Accident Attorney
Contact Maison Law to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with an actual Bakersfield fatal truck accident lawyer. We’re going to answer your family’s questions and make sure you are fully aware of every party that should be providing support at such a difficult time. A truck driver and the company the driver works for could be fully responsible for supporting loved ones now and in the years ahead.
