Maison Law represents families who lose loved ones in heartbreaking Madera 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 a free, confidential case consultation to all family members.
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?
If a loved one is killed in a tragic accident caused by a truck driver’s mistake, families have the legal right to seek financial restitution. Families can seek support through a wrongful death claim filed with the truck driver’s insurance and the trucking company’s insurer. However, company lawyers and insurance adjusters will try to blame the victim for an accident and minimize the support they have to provide.
A Madera 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 file a wrongful death claim and protect the family from the tactics insurance companies use. A lawyer also handles the frustrating negotiations with insurance companies while allowing as little disruption to a grieving family as possible.
Deadly Truck Accident Dangers in Madera County
Madera is in the heart of the Central Valley, where farms, ranches, orchards, and packing plants dot the landscape. Giant Semi-Trucks and farm equipment from these agricultural businesses use our roads, like Highway 135, all day long. Delivery companies like Amazon also send their loaded-down vans into our neighborhoods each day.
These big rigs, vans, and tankers take up a lot of space, even on the wide, fast-moving lanes of Highway 99. Trucks can drift in and out of their lanes and slam into cars and SUVs in other lanes. Truck drivers can become distracted and fail to stop for a red light, perhaps ramming several cars unfortunate enough to be in front of them. These hazards and others can cause life-threatening harm to those in smaller vehicles.
California’s Transportation Injury Mapping System (TIMS) reports that in 2024, there were 46 truck accidents involving serious injury on Madera County roads. Those collisions led to at least 3 fatalities. The tragic numbers were almost identical to the year before. In 2023, there were 47 serious truck accidents in Madera County, leading to 3 deaths.
- Highway 99 through Madera County was the scene of at least 18 serious truck collisions and one death in 2024.
Any one of those serious accidents involving a massive, heavy truck can cause a tragic fatality. Families may have to rely on powerful legal assistance to force a large trucking company or business to accept responsibility for a truck driver’s mistake. A lawyer can demand the maximum in support for those left behind, so they don’t have to deal with a devastating loss and at the same time, a financial disaster for the family.
Who Is to Blame After a Fatal Madera Truck Accident?
Your Maison Law attorney fully investigates the accident and determines every party that may have to contribute to the support of the family left behind. It may be a reckless truck driver to blame. The negligent company that didn’t hire safe drivers and provide proper training could be held accountable.
These are just a few of the potential defendants who would be forced to support your family:
- Independent Driver – Drivers may work for themselves. They’ll have commercial insurance your family can hopefully draw from.
- Local Trucking Company or Farm– Drivers may be working for a local delivery or shipping company that provides some insurance. A local farm may have its own drivers. These companies may also face liability if poor maintenance and upkeep of their trucks and tires contribute to an accident.
- Large Corporations – These national businesses, like Walmart, and giant agricultural corporations, may have their own network of trucks and drivers. Delivery companies like Amazon or FedEx usually 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 or a farm vehicle is assembled 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 may even have to recall a truck over safety issues. The manufacturer could also have to support your family financially.
Who Can Sue After a Family Member’s Wrongful Death?
California law enables close relatives to file wrongful death claims after an accident. Basically, anyone who was financially dependent on the victim could file
However, the closest family members to the family would usually file a claim on behalf of the rest of the family. These members would include:
- A spouse or domestic partner,
- Children of the victim or grandchildren of the victim
- In some cases, step-children of the victim
If the deceased didn’t have a spouse or children, the parents and siblings of the deceased may also be allowed to file a wrongful death claim to seek a settlement check. A wrongful death attorney can also represent all family members and file a truck accident wrongful death insurance claim.
An attorney working on behalf of a victimized family fully investigates accidents and collects powerful evidence of who was to blame.
Seeking Support for the Families After a Fatal Truck Accident
A skilled truck accident attorney would file a claim that included a large list of hardships the family had been through and will go through in the years ahead.
These are just a few of the factors that determine the amount on a wrongful death settlement check for the family:
- Expenses of a funeral service and burial.
- The ambulance fees and any hospital bills accumulated before the victim passed away.
- The paychecks and work benefits the victim will no longer provide in the years to come.
- Emotional trauma suffered by family members. This can include the loss of the love and guidance victims won’t be able to provide in the years to come.
- Loss of consortium. (The loss of intimacy now that a partner is gone)
- Cost of grief counseling and other mental health services.
What Kind of Evidence Does My Family Need for a Wrongful Death Case?
After a devastating accident, families may need to collect evidence for their case against a careless trucking company. This evidence is submitted with a claim and definitely helps keep a shady insurance company from twisting the truth of what happened.
If a wrongful death lawyer is handling the case, the lawyer would help the family gather physical proof and secure important documents.
When families need to collect some information, here are some helpful places to start:
Truck Collision Reports. After a truck accident, families may need to request a copy of an accident report from the Madera Police Department or the CHP. This report can serve as proof of a truck driver’s mistake.
Coroner’s Report and Death Certificate. A coroner’s report may be helpful in proving how a victim died. A Death Certificate will be important as families try to settle the affairs of a loved one lost to a truck accident. Banks and lenders will want proof in order to grant access to accounts. Official documentation can be obtained through the funeral home or through the Madera County Department of Public Health.
Receipts. Family members should keep every receipt that is associated with a fatal accident. This can include ambulance fees and hospital invoices. It should include funeral and burial expenses. These documents should be turned over if a family trusts their case to a Madera truck accident attorney.
Paystubs. Families should receive help in replacing the financial support a loved one may have provided to them each month. However, it’s necessary to show an insurance adjuster just how much support has been lost. Collect the victim’s old pay stubs and W-2s to prove what they have provided to a spouse and children in the past.
Photos and Surveillance Video. If you have any photos from the scene of the accident or from the hospital (if the victim didn’t pass away immediately), include them in your claim. Request any surveillance video that may have captured the truck accident. If you hire a Maison Law attorney for the wrongful death case, your lawyer will request this video and collect it before it gets erased.
Witness Statements. Families should turn over any contact information for witnesses to their attorney. Any written testimony from a witness should be submitted with a fatal truck accident claim.
Seeking Help Through the Grieving Process After a Wrongful Death
uch more challenging.
Victims can require medical help and professional counseling to find a path through such a difficult period. Any wrongful death settlement should include the money to pay for any mental health care needed for any family member.
There are also local and national resources available to all mourning families. These important services are often free. These organizations connect people with trained staff and others in their communities who have experienced a loss.
These are just a few of the options available for those in mourning:
- GriefShare groups meet at several churches in nearby Fresno. The meetings include locations like Northwest Church, The Bridge, and Campus Bible Church near Fresno State.
- Adventist Health, the organization that operates Madera Community Hospital, offers a Zoom grief support meeting twice a month.
- The Dinner Table – A national resource that connects groups of young adults in mourning. Members from age 21 to 45 can meet with others experiencing grief in person or online.
Frequently Asked Questions
Two years. Close relatives should act as soon as they can. Waiting months to begin building a case can make evidence harder to find and witnesses are harder to locate.
Your family doesn’t need any money to hire Maison Law and secure powerful legal protection. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for your family. Then our fee comes out of the settlement money an at-fault truck driver or company must pay your family members.
Not usually. Most wrongful death claims are settled outside court. Insurance companies work harder to provide families with the support they need if they fear a lawsuit may be filed. They want to avoid the cost of going to court and the additional bad publicity. Your attorney would have a strong case prepared if a trial were necessary to secure what was fair for your family.
Contact a Madera Fatal Truck Accident Attorney
Contact Maison Law to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with an actual Madera 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.
