Practice Areas Truck Accidents

Get Help From a Santa Ana Truck Accident Lawyer

Truck accidents cause horrific injuries that destroy lives. And trucking companies do everything in their power to avoid accepting responsibility.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a truck accident in Santa Ana that was caused by another driver, you may be able to file a claim to cover all the damages that are linked to your injuries. The costs associated with an accident can be substantial and include current and future medical expenses, lost wages, and the loss of any future income and earnings ability as a result of long-term injury or other disability from severe injuries. 

Collecting what you deserve requires that you gather evidence from the other driver or drivers involved in your accident, as well as from witnesses and medical and occupational experts, while also connecting with a Santa Ana truck accident lawyer. Assembling a winning case takes experience, and our lawyers have decades of combined experience helping our clients collect what they deserve.

For help with your claim to support the best possible outcome in your case, connect with the Law Offices of Benjamin Arsenian as soon as possible after you have received medical treatment for your injuries. 

California Truck Accident Statistics 

The roads of California are increasingly populated by large trucks, as cities have become more and more populated, and online shopping has largely taken the place of retail. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reports that from 2022 through 2026, our state saw well over 10,000 collisions involving large trucks each year, causing more than 5,000 injuries.

Passenger vehicles are especially vulnerable to large trucks because they are heavy and hard to stop, so they hit with devastating force, resulting in collisions such as:

• Jackknife accidents where the trailer of an 18-wheeler folds against the cab, often crushing a passenger vehicle trapped inside
• Rollovers when shifting cargo or excessive speed cause a big rig to tip over, often smashing other vehicles
• Underride accidents where a passenger vehicle is crushed under the rear of the truck or its trailer
• Blind spot collisions where a truck slams into a passenger vehicle during a high-speed lane change

Trucks can weigh 25 times more than a passenger vehicle, so the force of impact from a truck crash in Santa Ana frequently leads to serious long-term and life-altering injuries. 

Common Causes of At-Fault Santa Ana Truck Accidents

When it comes to commercial truck drivers, some of the most common causes of accidents include: 

• Equipment malfunctions – sometimes accidents with large trucks are by no fault of the driver, but a piece of equipment may have malfunctioned, been improperly designed, improperly installed or otherwise, and this would still entitle you to a claim from the responsible parties’ insurance companies. 
• Distracted driving – The CA Office of Traffic Safety notes that some forms of distracted driving like using your cell phone driving are not only dangerous, they are also illegal. When a driver is manually, physically, or mentally impaired in any way while they are driving, they are distracted, meaning if their hands are off the wheel, eyes are off the road, or mind off their driving. 
• Drunk driving – when a driver makes the decision to get behind the wheel while intoxicated, they will be liable for any injuries that result due to their breach of CA road laws. 
• Drowsy driving – The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration notes that driver fatigue or drowsy driving is caused when a driver has a lack of adequate sleep, worked extended hours, engaged in strenuous non-work activities, or a combination of a variety of other factors. According to the Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS), 13 percent of commercial motor vehicle drivers were considered to have been fatigued at the time of their crashes. 

When you can prove that the other driver was engaging in activities that violated their duty to you or to traffic laws on the road, or that their truck or other equipment malfunctioned, you have a claim for your damages. Proving the fault of the other party requires evidence that the court will accept. 

How do you know whether a driver was drowsy, intoxicated, or distracted at the time of the accident? 

If you have been seriously injured in an accident with a large truck, it is unlikely if not impossible for you to have been in a position to collect evidence concerning what the driver was doing before the accident or what they might have done to cause the accident. This is where your attorney and their legal expertise come into play.

Commercial trucks usually operate with a variety of electronic tools that collect data used by the trucking company and the FMCSA to monitor compliance with safety regulations. This includes the “black box,” or electronic control module, which records the truck’s speed, the driver’s braking patterns, and other data that can indicate what happened before and during the collision. 

Trucking companies also keep records of drivers’ compliance with hours-of-service requirements and other information. However, this data is not maintained indefinitely, and some devices regularly discard and overwrite information within a short time. Our team acts quickly to preserve this vital evidence before it can be destroyed. Then we use legal tools to obtain this information so we can analyze and use it to establish liability.

The key functions of your Santa Ana truck accident lawyer are to: 

• Gather evidence to prove the fault or liability of the other party or parties involved in the truck accident, so that your damages may be covered through an insurance claim, generally to the trucking company or the employer of the truck driver.
• Draft this evidence into your insurance claim that is then filed in the appropriate format including all of your evidence with the insurance company to initiate your claim.
• Negotiate a settlement with the insurance company that fully covers your short- and long-term damages. 
• Taking the insurance company to court on your behalf if necessary to ensure that you and your family receive the full amount that you are entitled to. 

Collecting what you are entitled to can feel like an uphill battle, but our Santa Ana truck accident attorneys are here to help. We gather the evidence by helping you schedule appointments with experts from our network to get the evidence we need. Our attorneys are familiar with the local Santa Ana courts and the procedures needed to effectively get your case heard as necessary. 

If you have any questions or concerns before getting started or along the way, we are here to answer them. We only work with clients whose cases are a fit with our firm, and we are happy to provide your risk-free, cost-free consultation to determine if we can help today. 

How Your Santa Ana Truck Accident Lawyers Help After Your Accident

Collecting the full damages that you are entitled to after you are injured in a truck accident caused by the other driver or an equipment malfunction is not automatic. You have to prove that the other party caused the accident or incident that led to your injuries due to their negligence. This means that the other party had some duty to you that they violated or breached, and because of their breach of duty you were injured that caused damages with actual economic costs associated with them. 

Commercial trucks such as 18-wheelers are heavily regulated by the federal government. In many cases, our investigation reveals that the trucking company has violated one or more safety rules of the FMCSA such as:

• Hours of service rules limiting the amount of time that drivers can operate without taking meaningful breaks
• Keeping records with the use of electronic logging devices
• Abiding by weight restrictions
• Ensuring drivers have appropriate training

The main functions of your truck accident lawyer in support of your case are to do the following: 

• Prove the fault or liability of the other party in the accident
• Help you schedule appointments with medical and occupational experts to measure your short- and long-term medical costs and the impact on your ability to work and earn 
• To use this evidence in the drafting and filing of a claim with the insurance company for the liable party
• Negotiating the best possible settlement for your injuries, or taking the insurance company to court to hold them responsible if they refuse to provide a sufficient settlement 

The process of recovering from an injury requires time and investment, and with a truck accident lawyer on your case or claim, you won’t have to worry about your case or claim as we handle the entire process on your behalf from claim through the collection of your damages. 

Your Initial Consultation is Free, and We’re Only Paid When We Win

One of the first questions that our potential new clients ask is how much they have to pay for us to get started on their truck accident case. It is important to know that your initial case review is free of charge. Give us as much information as you can about your injuries and the type of truck collision accident that caused them, and we’ll review the facts to determine if your case is a fit with the experience and expertise of a Santa Ana truck accident attorney at our firm.

If we believe we can help, we will take your truck accident case on a contingency fee basis. What that means is we are only paid if we win, and our payment comes out of a portion of the amount we make on your behalf. This motivates our firm to pursue the highest possible settlement as we mutually benefit.

Truck accident cases are complicated because many parties may have contributed to the accident, and injuries are often so severe that it takes intense effort to accurately assess future needs and the value of intangible losses, such as damage to your quality of life. 

We’ll answer any questions you might have along the way, and we believe you deserve regular updates on your case’s progress.

FAQs About Truck Accidents in California

Who can be held liable in a commercial truck accident in California?

Many different parties could potentially be liable for a commercial truck accident, including:

• The driver of the truck
• The driver of another vehicle
• The company that owns or operates the truck
• Maintenance companies
• Companies that manufactured defective parts
• The owner of a vehicle that spilled debris on the road

A Santa Ana truck accident attorney can investigate the crash to determine its cause and who may be legally responsible.

What is a spoliation letter, and why is it urgent after an 18-wheeler crash?

A spoliation letter is a legal document that can be used to require a trucking company to preserve valuable evidence that might otherwise be discarded or overwritten in the course of normal operations. Valuable data from the truck’s electronic logging device, event data recorder, and engine control module can be saved and used to help establish liability if a spoliation letter is written properly and delivered in a timely manner.

How do Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) violations prove negligence?

When a trucking company or driver is shown to have violated FMCSA safety rules, the violation can demonstrate a failure to exercise ordinary care in operations. This is a critical element in establishing negligence.

What is the statute of limitations for a truck accident claim in California?

If you are filing a personal injury claim, the statute of limitations requires the claim to be filed within two years of the date of the accident. If the injuries from a big rig crash or other collision lead to death, then a wrongful death claim must be filed no later than two years after the date of death.

Why are commercial truck accident settlements so much larger than passenger car settlements?

Santa Ana truck accident settlements are often much larger than car accident settlements for several reasons. The mammoth size and weight of the vehicles often lead to much more severe injuries in commercial truck accident cases, so the losses suffered by accident victims are often substantially greater. In addition, settlements may be higher because commercial trucks carry more insurance and because a skilled attorney can use technical data from the truck to establish liability decisively.

Connect with a Santa Ana Truck Accident Lawyer For Help with Your Claim 

The experience of going through a truck accident can be traumatic. You might not know where to begin to collect compensation for your long-term and life-altering injuries, especially if you are trying to recover. It is best to reach out to a Santa Ana truck accident lawyer from the Law Offices of Benjamin Arsenian as soon as possible after your accident, and especially before you accept a settlement from the insurance company of the liable truck driver. 

Insurance companies make more profit when they pay you less, so it is worth connecting with an attorney of your own before moving forward. To learn how we can help, give us a call at 714-400-2000, or contact us in Orange County to schedule your initial consultation.