San Diego Fatal Trucking Accident Attorney

Large commercial trucks bring essential goods and services to San Diego and the surrounding communities. We rely on semi-tractor trailer trucks, box-truck delivery vehicles, and even garbage trucks within our communities and on our major highways, but these immense vehicles present significant threats to drivers in smaller passenger cars.

There were 5,837 fatalities in truck accidents in 2022, accounting for six percent of all fatal accidents. When a fully loaded commercial truck weighing as much as 100,000 pounds collides with an average 4,000-pound passenger vehicle, the results are often catastrophic or fatal.

When families suffer the trauma of a loss in a truck accident in San Diego, they cannot have a lost loved one back but they do have legal recourse for compensation for their economic and non-economic damages.

If your family is facing such a tragic loss, it is crucial to seek the guidance of a compassionate and experienced San Diego personal injury attorney. At Haffner & Morgan, LLP, we are committed to helping you navigate the legal process and fight for the compensation you deserve. Contact us for a free consultation at (619) 541-8787 or reach out to us online. Let us provide the support and legal expertise you need during this difficult time, ensuring that justice is served for your loved one.

What Types of Truck Accidents Result in Fatalities?

Fully loaded trucks are unwieldy and difficult to maneuver. They may have unbalanced loads adding to the instability of the high center of gravity caused by their massive heights. The most serious truck accidents with catastrophic consequences include the following:

• Truck rollovers
• Jackknife accidents: when a trailer slides out of alignment with the cab, causing the driver to lose control and the truck to form an angle similar to a partly open jackknife
• Underride accidents: when a smaller vehicle slides under a truck’s trailer
• T-bone collisions: when a huge, heavy truck crashes into the side of a smaller car, the results to those in the smaller vehicle are often devastating
• Spilled cargo accidents: spilled cargo causes accidents when vehicles traveling at high speeds must maneuver to avoid collisions. Toxic chemical spills can endanger many drivers in the area around the crash
• Runaway trailers
• Unsafe lane changes: when a truck driver changes lanes without seeing a vehicle in a blind spot, it causes a sideswipe accident or vehicle roadway departure with serious or deadly results
• Rear-end collisions
• Head-on collisions

There could be multiple liable parties in a truck accident, including the driver, the trucking company, a freight-loading company, or the manufacturer of a defective truck part.

Causes of Truck Accidents in San Diego

Truck drivers must undergo training and obtain a commercial driver’s license; however, they also spend long hours on the road and are subject to fatigue and distraction. Common causes of truck accidents include the following:

• Drowsy driving
• Distracted driving
• Driving under the influence
• Unbalanced or overloaded trailers
• Defective tires or truck parts
• Inexperienced drivers
• Undertrained drivers
• Failure to properly log driving hours or intentionally driving beyond the legal hour limit
• Improper truck maintenance

Because of the large size and heavy weight of commercial trucks, injuries to other motorists tend to be severe. About 70% of truck accident deaths occur to the occupants of other vehicles rather than to the truck driver.

What Is a Truck Accident Wrongful Death Lawsuit in California?

When a truck driver’s carelessness or a truck company’s negligence results in a catastrophic truck accident and fatal injury to a loved one, the close family members left behind may seek redress and compensation for their economic and non-economic losses through a wrongful death lawsuit in California. This type of personal injury claim provides compensation for the loss of a loved one’s income, companionship, and support. Compensation in a truck accident wrongful death lawsuit may include medical expenses, funeral costs, lost income for the number of working years the loved one had left to them had they not died, and compensation for grief and anguish.

Call a Fatal Truck Accident Lawyer in San Diego for Help

No one should have to take on the challenges of a complex legal claim against a large trucking company and its powerful insurers alone—especially while they are dealing with grief and loss. A truck accident attorney in San Diego can assertively argue for justice, accountability, and compensation on your family’s behalf so you can focus on saying goodbye to your loved one and seeing your family through this difficult time.