Santa Ana Truck Accident Attorney

Commercial trucks are crucial elements of the California economy, transporting millions of dollars worth of goods across the state every day. While these large vehicles are essential for economic reasons, they are also inherently dangerous for multiple reasons. They spend more time on the road than most other vehicles and have much more demanding maintenance requirements. Truck drivers have demanding schedules and are often compelled to complete their routes as quickly and efficiently as possible, leading to many potential errors resulting in accidents. Commercial tractor-trailers are also exponentially larger and heavier than most standard passenger vehicles, so the physics in play in a truck accident are typically much more severe than the forces at work in a standard passenger vehicle accident.

If you or a loved one recently suffered injuries in a truck accident in the Santa Ana, CA, area, you could face a challenging road to recovery. Not only have you likely sustained significant damages but determining liability for some truck accidents is very difficult, and more than one party likely bears responsibility for your damages. The best way to approach this type of difficult legal situation is with representation you can trust.

Hiring an experienced Santa Ana truck accident lawyer can help you navigate your claim with greater confidence. After a typical car accident in California, an injured driver would likely file an insurance claim against the driver responsible for causing the crash and then take further legal action if they required compensation beyond what insurance could provide. This is not precisely the case with truck accidents, as liability often falls to more than one party. In addition, the damages possible from a truck accident are likely to be far more extensive than the damages that might occur from a standard passenger vehicle accident.

Your Santa Ana truck accident attorney can perform several valuable legal services that strengthen your case and increase the likelihood of you maximizing your recovery to the fullest extent possible under California state law. First, they can assist you in gathering the evidence and testimony you will require for establishing fault for your truck accident. Your legal team can also thoroughly explore every channel of compensation that’s available in your claim, helping to ensure you make the fullest recovery possible from your damages. Additionally, many truck accident claims involve complex details that may require input from various experts. An experienced Santa Ana truck accident lawyer will have the professional contacts necessary to secure expert witness testimony when you need it to prove liability or establish the full scope of your damages.

Easton & Easton offers Santa Ana, CA, clients more than 70 combined years of experience handling a vast breadth of personal injury claims in the area. We take time to get to know every client we represent to ensure we provide carefully individualized legal counsel. We know every client has different needs and concerns and do everything we can to address these issues succinctly through every phase of a truck accident case.

If you intend to take legal action for your recent truck accident, the first step in securing the compensation you require is establishing fault for the accident. This means identifying the party or parties responsible for causing the accident and proving they failed to exercise reasonable care in some way that directly resulted in the accident. However, one of the issues that often make truck accident claims very complex is the legal concept of “vicarious liability,” which pertains to situations in which one party bears liability for the actions of another.

Vicarious liability most often comes into play regarding employer-employee relationships. For example, in truck accident claims, this means a truck driver could absorb liability if they cause an accident, but their employer could face vicarious liability depending on exactly how the accident occurred. For example, if a truck driver were driving their truck under the influence of alcohol, this would be illegal and violate their employer’s expectations for how the driver should perform their job duties. However, suppose the employer never conducted appropriate background checks on the driver to reveal their history of drunk driving. In that case, the employer is likely to face vicarious liability for the intoxicated driver’s accident.

It’s also possible for third parties to cause truck accidents. For example, suppose a distracted or otherwise dangerous driver in a standard passenger vehicle causes a nearby tractor-trailer to wreck. In that case, other drivers could be caught in the collision and suffer extreme damages. This is yet another variable that can easily complicate recovery from truck accident damages and another reason it is crucial to have legal counsel as you work toward your recovery from a truck accident.

A truck accident claim falls within the purview of personal injury law. Typically, the first step toward recovery from any vehicle accident is to file an insurance claim against the at-fault driver’s auto insurance. This same rule technically applies to truck accident claims, but instead of filing a claim against a private driver’s auto insurance policy, you would likely be filing a claim against a trucking company’s insurance carrier. Once the trucking company becomes aware of the accident, they will likely start working closely with their insurance carrier to minimize liability as much as possible in the hope of coercing the victim into accepting the lowest possible claim settlement.

If you cannot secure total compensation for your truck accident damages from an insurance claim, you must file a civil claim against the at-fault party. This requires proving how the accident happened and establishing liability for your damages, and then providing a complete and accurate accounting of all the damages you incurred from the accident. Depending on how your truck accident happened,more than one party can bear fault for it. Your Santa Ana truck accident attorney will assist you in identifying the defendants responsible for your damages and guide you through the process of filing your truck accident claim.

The vast majority of civil claims filed in the US are settled outside the courtroom. Swift settlement typically offers the best path to recovery for an injured victim. It allows the defendant to put the situation behind them more quickly, potentially sparing themselves from public exposure over the accident. You can rely on Easton & Easton to guide you through settlement negotiations with the defendant or defendants responsible for causing your truck accident. If a settlement is not possible, we are not afraid to take your case to trial if necessary to ensure your recovery.

Suppose you can successfully prove the defendant in your truck accident claim was negligent in some way that directly caused your claimed damages. In that case, you are likely to succeed with the claim and obtain the compensation you need to recover with peace of mind. The core of every personal injury claim filed in California is “negligence,” or a failure to exercise reasonable care in a given situation. Your attorney can help you determine precisely how your truck accident occurred and whether it could have been avoided with appropriate care from the defendant. Truck accidents can happen for many different reasons, including:

• Distracted driving. The most commonly cited cause of all traffic accidents in the US is distracted driving. Both truck drivers and third-party individual drivers are capable of causing devastating truck accidents when they are not paying close attention to the road.
• Driving under the influence (DUI). Any driver is capable of causing a catastrophic accident when they operate their vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The driver responsible will face criminal charges in addition to civil liability for victims’ damages.
• Truck driver errors. When truck drivers fail to operate their vehicles responsibly or make negligent errors in handling their trucks, they can easily cause serious accidents. As a result, drivers may absorb full liability for some accidents and share liability with their employers in others.
• Faulty maintenance. Commercial trucks have demanding maintenance needs. Failure to conduct maintenance appropriately on a large truck can easily have devastating consequences. In addition, the party responsible for the truck’s maintenance will absorb liability if this type of accident occurs.
• Improperly loaded cargo. If a trucking company or distributor fails to properly load a truck or overloads a trailer, the vehicle becomes imbalanced and vulnerable to tip-over and rollover accidents.

These are only a few examples of the ways truck accidents can occur. Therefore, whenever a truck accident happens, injured victims need to secure legal counsel as soon as possible for the best chance of securing compensation for their losses. Whether the truck driver, their employer, or a combination of defendants bears liability for your recent truck accident, working with the right Santa Ana personal injury lawyer is the best way to ensure your recovery.

Truck accidents can easily cause a wide range of life-threatening injuries, including:

• Broken bones, some of which may heal entirely within a few months, while others can require multiple surgeries and result in lasting medical complications and chronic pain for the victim.
• Spinal cord injuries, many of which result in permanent mobility problems for the victim. They may lose sensation in parts of their body or even suffer from paralysis.
• Traumatic brain injuries, which are unpredictable and capable of resulting in permanent disabilities.
• Burns, which may require painful skin grafting treatment and result in permanent disfigurement.
• Severe cuts can result in critical bleeding.

In a truck accident lawsuit in California, the plaintiff has the right to claim all medical expenses they incurred from their accident as economic damages. This includes immediate medical expenses like their ambulance fee, hospital bills, and prescription costs. However, California law also allows a plaintiff to recover their anticipated future medical expenses when their injuries are likely to require ongoing treatment and extensive rehabilitation.

Plaintiffs can also secure compensation for their lost income when a truck accident causes injuries that prevent them from working. They may obtain compensation for lost wages during their recovery period but may also claim lost future earning capacity if they have a permanent disability from the accident that prohibits them from returning to work.

Pain and suffering are also likely to come into play in a Santa Ana truck accident claim. California law allows a plaintiff to hold a defendant accountable for the physical pain, emotional distress, and diminished quality of life they suffered due to the defendant’s negligence. The amount the plaintiff receives in pain and suffering compensation depends on the severity of their injuries and whether they are likely to experience permanent complications. For example, a plaintiff who suffered injuries that are likely to heal completely with appropriate care will receive much less pain and suffering compensation than a plaintiff who developed a permanent disability from their truck accident injuries.

Easton & Easton can provide the compassionate and meticulous legal representation you need when faced with a complex civil case like a truck accident claim. These cases are very different than injury claims pertaining to typical passenger vehicles. Plaintiffs are likely to have vastly more substantial damages on the line, and determining fault for a truck accident is very different than the process of determining liability in a typical car accident.

When you choose Easton & Easton as your Santa Ana truck accident attorneys, we will rigorously review every detail of your recent truck accident, carefully analyzing all available evidence and securing copies of the police report from the accident and your medical report from your medical care team to help form the foundation of your case. In addition, suppose you need to file an insurance claim as a preliminary step toward recovery. In that case, you can rely on us to draft your demand letter to the insurance company and correspond with the insurer on your behalf. Finally, when further legal action is necessary for ensuring your recovery, we will guide you through every stage of your proceedings until we obtain the compensation you deserve for your damages.

We are ready to assist you if you are ready to determine your best options for legal recourse after experiencing a truck accident in Santa Ana, CA. Contact Easton & Easton today to schedule a consultation with an experienced and trustworthy Santa Ana truck accident lawyer.