Maison Law of Visalia represents victims hurt in accidents caused by farm truck and produce truck drivers and trucks. When careless agricultural drivers cause accidents, we hold the owners of farms, orchards, and factories fully responsible for all recovery costs.
Please contact our Visalia truck accident lawyers for a free case consultation. It’s a no-pressure, no-obligation way to get your questions answered. You should be aware of what your injuries are worth before an insurance company tries to get you to accept far less.
How to Tell If You Could Take Home More with a Lawyer’s Help
If your collision with a big produce truck, or even a tractor, causes you or someone you love to suffer a serious injury, it’s a good sign that you’ll need a lawyer’s help. Anyone can file their own injury claim, but with a lawyer’s help, victims often see much more in compensation. A lawyer is also a powerful shield from insurance tactics meant to get you to accept blame for the crash or accept less for what you’ve been through.
Your Maison Law representative would fully investigate your accident, even calling in accident reconstruction teams if a truck driver denies fault. Your lawyer would then work to earn the maximum in support for you and your family. You can rest at home, focused on recovery, while your attorney battles for your benefit.
Schedule a Free Consultation with a Real Visalia Accident Attorney
It’s natural to have a lot of questions after going through such a traumatic experience. Who should be paying for my hospital stay and my physical therapy? Is the truck driver at fault, or is the farm liable?
Maison Law of Visalia never wants you to feel helpless. We offer a free, confidential review with no obligation. It’s a quick way to determine who might be responsible and how much a truck driver and an agricultural corporation may owe you. If we can’t help you earn more for your case, and faster, we’ll tell you that. But we’ll also point you in the right direction to file a successful claim yourself if that’s the best path.
Earning Support After a Collision with a Farming Vehicle or Big Rig
Trucks full of fruits, nuts, vegetables, or even livestock can crowd lanes on Route 198 or Riggin Avenue. It’s part of life, living in Visalia and the Central Valley. Tractors and harvesting equipment can also end up on rural roads around farms. Big rigs from packing plants and canneries are transporting the fruits and vegetables. These are dangers for drivers in smaller vehicles like cars, SUVS, on motorcycles, and on bikes. It’s not hard to imagine the awful consequences when a heavy truck strikes a defenseless pedestrian.
Most truck drivers work to remain as safe as possible. But a distracted driver can fail to hit the brakes in time for a red light and ram the back of vehicles. A produce truck might even drop a thousand apricots or almonds on the road to cause a frightening obstacle to unsuspecting drivers. Victims in these accidents often end up with major injuries.
Victims will need full support in the present and could need help paying medical bills and supporting their families in the years ahead.
A lawyer would make sure these and other benefits were included in any settlement check:
- Assistance with all of their current medical bills and those expected in the future.
- Lifelong support for someone who comes away with a permanent physical disability.
- Support for the physical pain victims must endure, and the emotional trauma of a scary collision with a large van or big rig.
- Replacement of the paychecks and job benefits that victims forfeit while they can’t make work shifts. Potential help to find a new career if a serious injury forces a victim out of their previous career.
- Help with car repair or replacement costs.
- Support for families after a fatal produce truck accident.
Figuring Out Who Is Responsible for a Produce Truck Accident in Tulare County
Any accident with a business vehicle, like a farm truck, can play out very differently from a normal car vs. car collision. The truck driver or farmworker may be at fault, but then it’s a question of how much blame their employer gets.
It’s best to let a skilled Visalia truck accident attorney sort out liability, because in some cases, you may have to file claims with multiple insurance providers. You may have to file a lawsuit against an orchard owner who doesn’t want to accept blame for an employee and tries to claim the employee is a contract worker.
Your attorney may hold these and other parties accountable:
- The truck driver’s insurance: Drivers may be on the road working for themselves, hauling goods for a local company, or farming. They’ll have to have commercial truck insurance. Victims can still file injury claims against undocumented workers who cause an accident. Workers don’t have to be U.S. citizens to have a driver’s license and obtain truck insurance. They could also be covered by an employer.
- Farms and agricultural companies: Farm owners or agribusinesses send out produce and livestock trucks daily. They’ll have commercial truck insurance to back up their employees. Packing and canning plants can also send out huge semi-trucks onto Visalia streets. The truck drivers would usually be backed by factory owners or corporations.
- Truck Makers: The manufacturers of trucks and delivery vehicles could also face liability if a key component on a truck failed and caused a driver to fly out of control.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to file a truck accident injury claim?
Two years. Victims hurt in truck accidents would usually have up to 24 months to file a claim. However, waiting months or years to talk to a lawyer can hurt your case. Evidence can disappear, surveillance video can get erased, and witnesses can become hard to find. It’s best to turn your case over to a lawyer as soon as possible.
What if I can’t afford to pay a farm truck accident lawyer?
Victims of a scary accident with a produce truck or a tractor should focus on healing and not on how they’ll get a lawyer paid. Maison Law doesn’t accept any payment unless we win your case for you. Then our fee comes out of the settlement money that a truck accident insurance company is forced to provide.
What type of evidence can I collect on the scene of my farm truck accident?
If you are left strong enough and it’s safe to do so, try to get photos of the entire scene. Document damage to vehicles and markings left on the pavement. Show your injuries if they are visible. Get a photo of any signage on the truck showing who the driver works for. Get contact information from witnesses and ask them what they saw. Take notes. Get insurance and driver’s license information from the truck driver. Ask for an employee number if they have one.
Contact a Visalia Farm Truck Accident Attorney
If you suffered a serious injury, and a reckless truck driver was to blame, it’s a good idea to take advantage of a free case review. Contact us to set up a meeting with a real lawyer to go over your options.
You can also contact us if you have already started the injury claims process and suddenly realize that the farm owner’s or trucking company’s insurer won’t be providing you enough to fully recover. Let us make sure you are being treated fairly and getting everything you’ll require to rebuild your life physically and financially.
If you decide we can help you earn more for your case, you won’t need any upfront money to hire us. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then our fee comes out of the settlement money a commercial truck accident insurer provides to you.
