California Truck Accident Attorneys
Van Der Walde & Associates, a personal injury firm located in San Jose, has successfully represented hundreds of personal injury clients, including those involved in truck accidents, and recovered for them millions of dollars for their injuries. Our California truck injury lawyers have extensive legal knowledge, an extraordinary administrative team, dedicated paralegals, and impressive negotiating skills which we utilize for all of our truck accident cases. If you or a loved one has suffered serious injuries due to a truck accident in Northern California, please contact a skilled San Jose truck accident lawyer at Van Der Walde & Associates to discuss your case.
Large trucks, which are also known as semi trucks and big rigs, are some of the biggest vehicles on the road, with a length of up to 75 feet and a weight of between 10,000 and 80,000 pounds. On the road there is no comparison between a big rig and a typical passenger vehicle. Accidents involving large trucks may cause a variety of serious physical injuries to the truck driver, pedestrians, and other motorists. In fact, in 2002, more than 140,000 people suffered injuries in big truck-related accidents.
Federal and California State laws regulate trucking to ensure that the truck drivers and other motorists are safe while traveling. The driver of a big rig must have a commercial driver's license (CDL), proving that they have the skill and knowledge to properly handle and maneuver the vehicle. A big rig driver must obey all California driving laws, which occasionally differ from the laws that drivers of passenger vehicles must follow. For example, large trucks are prohibited on certain roads and must drive at 55 miles per hour on the freeway, compared to passenger vehicles which may travel at 65 miles per hour.
Every year approximately 5,000 people are killed in big rig truck related accidents throughout the United States. Some factors that may increase the risk of a big rig truck accident include:
- Oversized cargo loads
- Fatigued drivers
- Not following traffic laws
- Reckless or inattentive driving
- Mechanical negligence or failure
Although large trucks represent only 3% of all vehicles registered in the U.S., they account for more than 25% of the fatalities due to multiple vehicle traffic accidents. If you or a loved one has been injured in a truck accident in Northern California, please call Van Der Walde & Associates today to speak to one of our skilled big rig injury lawyers. We may be able to recover monetary compensation for your bodily injuries, medical bills, loss of wages, damage to your vehicle, and other big truck accident costs.
If you or a loved one has been the victim of a semi truck crash in California, please contact a truck accident attorney at Van Der Walde & Associates to discuss your truck accident case.
