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Visalia Truck Accident Lawyer

Maison Law represents the victims of Visalia truck accidents. Our personal injury lawyers aggressively seek compensation for our clients from insurance companies for truck drivers and trucking companies. Please contact us after an accident caused by a truck driver’s recklessness. We provide a free, no-obligation consultation for all local injury victims. It’s a no-risk opportunity to find out what your injury may be worth and how to hold insurance companies fully responsible for recovery costs.

Do I Need a Lawyer After a Truck Accident?

If you are struck by a truck and suffer serious injuries, you should speak to a skilled lawyer about your options. A bone fracture or a neck or back injury can rack up thousands of dollars in medical bills. These are bills insurance companies for at-fault truck drivers won’t want to pay. They can try to blame you for an accident that wasn’t your fault. They may also try to downplay the injuries you’ve suffered with, simply to have an excuse to give you reduced financial support or none at all.

Your Visalia truck accident lawyer protects you from these tactics. And if a trucking company is also liable for your injuries, your Maison Law representatives are not afraid to stand up to corporate lawyers for trucking companies and big businesses like Amazon. We want to make sure every current medical bill is covered and any care you could need in the years ahead.

Truck Accident Statistics:

About every 15 minutes, somebody in the United States is killed or seriously injured in an accident involving a large truck. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that large trucks weigh 20 to 30 times more than passenger vehicles. Given their massive weight and size, on dry pavement, they need 20 to 40 percent more roadway to come to a complete stop than passenger cars. These added risks can lead to more collisions and more severe injuries.

Local drivers on Highway 99 have probably seen a big rig or a produce truck with it’s load swinging back and forth across several lanes. Many residents have probably also seen an Amazon driver or a UPS driver with a fully loaded van traveling too fast through a neighborhood. These are just a few of the most common situations that lead to accidents.

According to the California’s Transportation Injury Mapping System (TIMS) the Visalia community recorded 17 accidents involving large trucks in 2022. At least one person was killed in those accidents and 22 victims suffered injury.

But there were additional truck accident tragedies documented across Tulare County. The county saw 127 truck accidents with at least 9 tragic deaths reported in 2022.

Insurers Want to Protect Their Bottom Lines

Because we live in the economic center of one of the most productive agricultural areas in the United States, residents of Visalia, Tulare County and the San Joaquin Valley, are no strangers to gigantic big rigs that transport agricultural products and durable goods in and out of the area. When one of these big rigs causes an accident, serious injuries or fatalities are likely to occur. What comes to issue is that when the drivers of large trucks cause accidents with injuries and deaths, their insurance companies will want to compensate victims as little as possible or even nothing in order to protect their own bottom lines.

Some Common Causes of Large Truck Crashes

After being seriously injured or losing a family member in an 18-wheeler crash, victims and families will likely want to seek compensation for their damages and losses. In order to obtain that compensation, they are required to prove that a person or entity was careless and negligent and caused the crash. Here are some of the common causes of crashes involving 18-wheelers and other large trucks:

  • Distracted Drivers: Long hours behind the wheel can become monotonous. That can tempt a driver to use a mobile device to talk, text, play games or watch a television show. That activity interferes with the driver’s visual, cognitive and manual senses that are so vitally important to safely operating a large truck on a roadway. In turn, that endangers not only the trucker, but everybody else on the roadway near that truck.
  • Excessive Speed: When a large truck is exceeding the speed limit, it takes even longer to come to a complete stop. Excessive speed must also be considered in the context of traffic and weather conditions. Under certain circumstances, traveling at the speed limit might still be excessive.
  • Fatigued or Drowsy Driving: Strict federal hours of service rules are in place. Truck drivers can only be behind the wheel for 11 hours. These rules help prevent driver fatigue and allow drivers to get sufficient rest.
  • Poor Maintenance: This is most often seen in the context of tires and brakes. We’ve all seen debris on roadways that evidences poor maintenance.
  • Drunk and Drugged Drivers: Alcohol and drugs cause poor judgment, affect reaction time and affect depth perception. Nobody with any combination of alcohol and drugs should be on the road.
  • Overloading or Improper Loading: Overloading can cause tire blowouts and cause brakes to wear and fail. Improperly loaded cargo can affect the trailer’s center of gravity, making it unstable. That can cause a jackknife or rollover.

Common Truck Crash Injuries

Given the simple physics of a large heavy truck and trailer colliding with a much smaller and lighter passenger vehicle, that passenger vehicle is going to be pulverized. Here are some examples of common truck accident injuries and what they can do to victims:

  • Traumatic Brain Injuries: The symptoms of a mild concussion might subside in a few days, but a fractured skull with bone penetrating into the brain can cause permanent disability requiring daily care or even death.
  • Traumatic Spinal Cord Injuries: If the spinal cord is partially torn as a result of the crash, the damage will be irreversible. A partial spinal cord tear results in paraplegia. A full tear results in quadriplegia.
  • Amputation Injuries: Limbs might be amputated as a result of the impact itself. Amputations might also be medically necessary.
  • Burns: A ruptured gas tank can cause a fire and severe burns to truck crash victims. Burns are extremely painful, and they can result in severe scarring and disability. Many burn victims never make a full recovery.
  • Internal Organ Damage: The heart, lungs, liver, bladder, spleen or kidneys can be damaged and cause physical limitations for life.
  • Multiple Fractures: Given the magnitude of being impacted by a large truck, victims can suffer multiple serious fractures that will affect them for life.

What Can I Earn Compensation For After a Truck Accident?

Your lawyer would document every hardship you had endured, because damage you include in an injury claim is eligible to increase the size of your settlement check. But if you accidently leave a bill or hardship off your claim, the insurance company can ignore it and you may have to pay for it.

You’ll need to demand that all medical expenses be paid for by the insurance providers involved. You shouldn’t be responsible for a cent of your recovery costs. That includes coverage for every session of physical therapy you’ll need. A permanent disability suffered makes it necessary to estimate the costs of lifelong care and seek long-term support. The travel costs you build up while seeking the help of specialists and physicians are also recoverable.

The physical pain you endure and the emotional distress you suffer are two non-economic damages that can greatly increase the amount provided on a truck accident settlement check. These traumatic factors are life-altering and should be fully supported.

The wages and benefits you lose, while you miss out on valuable work hours, are also the insurance company’s responsibility to make up to you. The cost of repairing your vehicle or replacing it must also be considered.

After Our Investigation

We know that if you have suffered severe injuries or lost a family member in an accident, you might be suffering what feels like overwhelming pain and emotional trauma. We want to see you reach maximum improvement, but that takes time. During that interim, we can perform a thorough investigation and piece the evidence from it together to build a strong and coherent case against whoever caused your injuries, losses and damages. If a good faith effort isn’t made toward settlement by the opposing insurer, we’ll be fully prepared to try your case in front of a judge and 12 jurors.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can my family receive support if a loved one is killed in a truck accident?

Yes. 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.

How long do I have to file an injury claim after a Visalia accident?

Two years. You usually can’t file a claim once two years have passed since your truck accident. You should speak with an attorney as soon as possible though. This will give your lawyer time to collect evidence before it disappears.

What if I can’t afford to pay a truck accident lawyer?

You 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 you receive.

Contact a Visalia Truck Accident Lawyer

At large, overworked firms, attorneys will sometimes wrap up cases with low settlements for clients in order to cross another case off their long to-do list. In cases that involve severe injuries, as truck accidents typically do, this will not suffice in providing the injured with appropriate care for the future.

At Maison Law, our Central Valley injury attorneys spend extensive time discussing case details with clients so that we can determine what outcome will best meet their needs. We perform thorough investigations into the accident and client injuries in order to work towards an ideal settlement or trial verdict.

Contact us for a free consultation on your case if you or a loved one have been seriously hurt by a truck drivers mistake. Our case reviews are confidential and come with no obligation to you.

Additional Resources:

Accidents Involving FedEx Trucks

Accidents Involving Amazon Trucks

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