Truck Driver Negligence

Litigation of Truck Driver Negligence Claims in San Diego

In accident claims involving semi trucks and other big rigs, there are usually several defendants with an interest in blaming one another as well as denying their own fault for the injured person's losses. Much of the hard work in truck accident litigation involves sorting through the evidence to match particular instances of negligence with the roles played by a truck owner, a trucking company, a lessee or lessor, an employee driver, an independent contractor, or an independent owner-operator.

In most cases, the starting point for an investigation is the truck driver's own negligence. Contact a Southern California personal injury lawyer at The McClellan Law Firm for a free consultation about your rights in serious injury accidents caused by the negligence of a semi truck or commercial vehicle driver.

We can achieve the best chance of collecting damages sufficient to cover the entire range of expenses and losses involved with severe truck injury accidents in cases where we can establish the negligence of the driver, a violation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, the responsibility of the driver's employer to use proper driver screening, hiring, and training practices, or any combination of the above. We work with highly skilled trucking industry experts, accident reconstruction professionals, and highway safety engineers to investigate and present evidence of such negligence factors as the following:

• Speeding
• Driver fatigue or excessive hours of service
• Unsafe operation under the conditions of weather, visibility, or grade
• Falsified driver's logs, inspection logs, or maintenance records
• Moving violations such as tailgating, improper lane change, or rolling through a stop sign or light
• Alcohol or drug use

Our attorneys also know how to analyze the evidence of contractual or employment relationships in order to establish the liability of an employer for the negligence of a driver whose status is claimed to be that of an independent contractor or owner-operator. Additionally, we make sure to consider the role of design and manufacturing defects in a truck accident case to further expand the possible sources of recovery.

Whether or not a truck driver's negligence was the sole factor in the accident that caused a serious or fatal injury, our lawyers have the experience with complex accident litigation necessary to maximize the chances of a favorable settlement or verdict. For additional information about our approach to liability issues in truck accident litigation, contact The McClellan Law Firm in San Diego.