Our attorneys have been assisting the Orange County and Southern California communities for over 40 years.
You have just been in an accident that involved a semi-truck and you don’t know where to turn for help. The good news is that you have found the right firm as the semi-truck accident lawyers at DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo has over thirty years of experience helping injured truck drivers and truck accident victims get the maximum compensation they are due under the law. We strive to be the best trucking accident injury lawyers and we are ready to fight the legal battle for you. We have experienced semi-truck accident attorneys who will work tirelessly for our clients so they can focus on healing from their unfortunate trucking injuries.
A semi-truck is also called a big rig or a semi-trailer truck. It usually consists of two parts: the tractor and the trailer. The tractor is what tows the trailer and where the engine is and the driver works and sometimes sleeps (also called the cab). The tractor typically has three axels. The front axel is for steering whereas the back two axels are used to hold wheels that support the load and the trailer. The trailer usually only has two axels but they can hold four wheels each. That is how a semi-truck can have 16 or 18 wheels and can be called a 16-wheeler or 18-wheeler. The trailer is coupled with the road tractor by being bolted or being coupled by fifth wheel coupling or automatic coupling. Semi-trucks are, of course, in heavy use by shipping companies and freight companies.
Like all workers in California, truckers are required by law to be covered by workers’ compensation. It provides assistance when one is injured on the job and protects the rights of the injured employee. The workers’ compensation insurance held by your employer could pay medical expenses, income, death benefits, temporary disability, permanent disability compensation, medical benefits, and vocational rehabilitation, when the injury and circumstance warrants.
Third parties are people, companies or government entities who are also responsible for all or part of your workplace injury other than just your employer. You may be able to obtain compensation beyond that which is provided by the California workers’ compensation laws. In fact, to be compensated for your full lost income and for pain and suffering, our firm will need to find a responsible third party like that of a road or highway construction firm, truck mechanic, truck manufacturer, and others. Call one of our local workers’ comp accident lawyers today to discuss your case and your options.
Due to the size and speed of semi-trucks, many of the possible results of truck accidents can be rather traumatic. Concussions, blindness, amputation, lacerations, coma, broken bones, contusions, neck injury, whiplash, burns, muscle strains, ligament sprains, back injury, heavy bleeding, becoming deformed, brain injury, cuts, being crushed, and wrongful death are all possible outcomes of trucking accidents. The semi-truck accident injury attorneys of DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo have over thirty years of experience helping those hit by trucks and truckers with their legal cases for all the above injuries, results and more.
Truckers can be on the road for many hours on end. They invariably encounter many types of challenges and dangers. A main reason truck accidents cause so many injuries each and every year is that semi-trucks can be forty or more times heavier than the car or van it crashes with. Most (over 70%) of truck accident injury victims were not the ones in the truck. Trucking accidents can happen in many ways including a car got in the way of the wide turn, air-brake failure, illegal lane change, rollover, jack-knife, spill, unsafe lane change, rear-ender, brake failure, speeding, jack brake failure, load shift, an intoxicated driver (DUI), a drunk driver, poor repair or maintenance of the truck or car who started the accident, out of control downhill, under the influence driver, negligent hiring, illegal loads, drugged driver, overworked driver, improper loading, the driver fell asleep at the wheel, driver on drugs, improperly secured load, and animal collision. It is important that the trucking company you work for always keeps up on the maintenance of your semi-truck.
Some more types of causes of trucking accidents include colliding with a pole or stop light, sleep deprivation, poor eyesight or poor reflexes, collision with a median or barrier, hit a pedestrian, hit a deer, load too heavy, poor road design, poor road construction, head-on collision, run-off-road collision, side collision, hit road debris, swerved off road, equipment failure, poor road condition, blind spot accident, too much downhill speed, another driver hit the truck, driver on his cell phone, swerved into a car, side swiped a car, driver eating or calling, low bridge clearance, trucker texting, inexperienced UHaul driver, low building clearance, low warehouse clearance, or a distracted trucker on a cell phone while driving. Trucking accident injuries can be catastrophic, serious or fatal and we hope you give us the chance to defend you and protect your rights.
The trucking company has no doubt been the defender in semi-truck accident legal proceedings before and most likely has a team of experienced defense lawyers ready to do what it takes for you not to win the case. Trucking companies have been accused of falsifying driving logs, falsifying maintenance records, tying up the legal process so that individuals cannot sustain the legal effort (unless you have a law firm like ours that works on a contingency basis so we won’t give up), not enforcing their trucker rules and regulations, and losing critical records like the black box, computer records, receipts, and more.
After any accident, it is important to try and remain as calm as possible. Decisions made after a truck accident matter, so be sure to call family or friends for help after you call 911. It is, of course, important to get immediate medical attention as many injuries, such as neck injuries, do not have immediate symptoms but need quick treatment for the best recovery. Be sure to document and retain as much evidence from the trucking accident scene as possible including taking your own pictures and watching over your vehicle that was involved in the crash. Our trained staff will want to investigate the vehicle for signs of defect or evidence to help with the case.
The law wants to protect the rights of those that get injured due to the fault of another. The law takes into account the many ways your life may have changed due to the semi-truck, 18-wheeler or tractor-trailer accident since injuries caused by a bad truck accident can be debilitating, life-threatening, life-altering and tragic. The types of compensation that you could be entitled to receive potentially include payment for your medical bills, life-care, punitive damages, loss of current and future wages, pain and suffering, changes to your lifestyle, property damage, and more. We will discuss whether your case and circumstances warrant each of those compensation categories.
California has some of the country’s biggest ports, airports, farms, manufacturers, refineries and stores that need to ship their raw materials, products, supplies, produce, and merchandise all across the state and country. Some of the major semi-truck routes in California where trucking accidents happen are: Interstate Highway 5 (I-5), Interstate Highway 8 (I-8), Interstate Highway 405 (I-405), Interstate Highway 80 (I-80), Interstate Highway 10 (I-10), Interstate Highway 60 (I-60), Interstate Highway 395 (I-395), Interstate Highway 15 (I-15), Interstate Highway 99 (I-99), Interstate Highway 40 (I-40), Interstate Highway 19 (I-19), Interstate Highway 14 (I-14), Interstate Highway 215 (I-215), Interstate Highway 805 (I-805), Interstate Highway 905 (I-905), and Interstate Highway 710 (I-710). Every single day and night, thousands of semi-trucks use these highways to move goods back and forth throughout our state.
Even if you are unsure whether your case has merit, please contact us anyway as we will be able to discuss that with you over the phone and give you prudent advice as to your legal options. We are well-known as top truck accident lawyers in Orange County who know how to help you. We offer a free initial consultation and case evaluation for all injured truckers. Even after that first no-cost meeting, we work on a contingency basis where you won’t owe us anything unless we win your injury case. The Orange County semi-truck accident attorneys at DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo are willing to have the meeting at your home or hospital room if you are unable to come to our office. We are available to meet Monday through Friday between 8:30am and 5:30pm and we can also setup appointments on Saturdays, Sundays and in the evening.