San Diego Truck Accident Lawyers

Truck Accident Cases We Handle

The Mason Firm handles serious trucking and commercial vehicle accident cases involving disputed liability, major injuries, wrongful death, complex insurance issues, and corporate defendants.

We handle cases involving:

• semi-truck and tractor-trailer crashes;
• big rig accidents;
• 18-wheeler accidents;
• box truck crashes;
• delivery vehicle accidents;
• dump truck accidents;
• construction vehicle crashes;
• garbage truck and utility truck accidents;
• tow truck accidents;
• Amazon, FedEx, UPS, and other delivery-related crashes;
• commercial van and fleet vehicle collisions;
• rear-end truck collisions;
• underride and override crashes;
• jackknife accidents;
• rollover crashes;
• wide-turn accidents;
• unsafe lane-change accidents;
• fatigued truck drivers;
• distracted truck drivers;
• overloaded or improperly loaded cargo;
• brake, tire, lighting, steering, and maintenance failures;
• crashes involving pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcycles, or passenger vehicles;
• serious injuries and wrongful death.

A truck accident case may involve more than the driver. Depending on the facts, responsible parties may include the motor carrier, trucking company, driver’s employer, vehicle owner, trailer owner, freight broker, shipper, cargo-loading company, maintenance company, leasing company, product manufacturer, public entity, or another negligent person or business.

Early investigation matters. Trucks may be repaired, electronic data may be overwritten, video may be erased, and company records may become harder to obtain if action is delayed.

Common Causes of Truck Accidents

Truck accidents often happen because of preventable safety failures. A commercial driver may make an unsafe decision behind the wheel, but the trucking company may also share responsibility for hiring, training, supervision, scheduling, maintenance, or unsafe company practices.

Common causes of truck accidents include:

Driver Fatigue
Commercial drivers may spend long hours on the road. Fatigue can reduce reaction time, impair judgment, and make a driver less able to respond to traffic, weather, or roadway hazards.

Hours-of-Service Violations
Federal rules limit how long many commercial drivers may drive without required rest. When drivers or companies violate those rules, fatigue-related crashes can occur.

Distracted Driving
Texting, using dispatch devices, looking at navigation, eating, adjusting equipment, or communicating with the company can distract a truck driver from the road.

Speeding or Driving Too Fast for Conditions
A loaded truck requires more time and distance to stop. Speeding or driving too fast for traffic, weather, roadway conditions, or construction zones can make a crash more likely and more severe.

Unsafe Lane Changes and Blind Spots
Large trucks have significant blind spots. Unsafe lane changes, failure to check mirrors, and failure to signal can cause devastating crashes with passenger vehicles, motorcycles, bicyclists, and pedestrians.

Wide Turns
Truck drivers must account for the size and turning radius of the vehicle. Unsafe right turns, left turns, and wide-turn maneuvers can trap or strike nearby vehicles, cyclists, or pedestrians.

Poor Truck Maintenance
Brake failures, tire problems, steering defects, lighting failures, trailer issues, and mechanical problems can cause or contribute to serious crashes.

Improperly Loaded or Overloaded Cargo
Cargo that is overloaded, unsecured, or improperly balanced can affect braking, steering, turning, and rollover risk.

Inadequate Driver Training or Supervision
Trucking companies may be responsible when they fail to properly train, supervise, monitor, or discipline unsafe drivers.

Unsafe Hiring Practices
A company may be responsible if it hires or keeps a driver with a history of unsafe driving, crashes, safety violations, substance issues, or other red flags.

Pressure to Meet Unsafe Delivery Schedules
Some trucking and delivery companies create pressure to meet unrealistic schedules. That pressure can encourage speeding, fatigue, distracted driving, or rule violations.

Determining the cause of a truck accident affects who may be responsible, what evidence must be preserved, what experts may be needed, and what insurance applies.

Evidence That Matters in Truck Accident Cases

Truck accident cases are evidence-intensive. Much of the most important evidence is controlled by the trucking company, driver, maintenance company, freight company, or other commercial defendant.

Important evidence may include:

• electronic logging device records;
• hours-of-service records;
• driver logs;
• electronic control module or “black box” data;
• dashcam and in-cab camera footage;
• GPS data;
• dispatch communications;
• text messages and app communications;
• driver qualification files;
• hiring and training records;
• drug and alcohol testing records;
• maintenance and inspection records;
• brake, tire, and repair records;
• bills of lading and cargo records;
• weight tickets;
• route and delivery records;
• safety policies and procedures;
• prior crashes or safety violations;
• police reports;
• witness statements;
• scene photographs and video;
• and medical records documenting injuries and damages.

This evidence may show whether the driver was fatigued, speeding, distracted, improperly trained, operating an unsafe vehicle, violating company policies, or working for a company that failed to follow basic safety rules. Because evidence can disappear quickly, preservation letters should be sent as early as possible after a serious truck accident.

Common Truck Accident Injuries

Truck accidents often cause severe injuries because of the size and weight difference between commercial trucks and passenger vehicles. Even a lower-speed truck collision can result in life-changing harm.

Common injuries include:

Traumatic Brain Injuries
Truck crashes can cause concussions, brain bleeds, skull fractures, cognitive changes, memory problems, headaches, dizziness, mood changes, sleep problems, and other brain injury symptoms.

Spinal Cord, Neck, and Back Injuries
Victims may suffer herniated discs, spinal fractures, nerve damage, chronic pain, paralysis, or permanent disability.

Broken Bones and Orthopedic Injuries
Truck crashes often cause fractures of the legs, arms, wrists, shoulders, ribs, pelvis, hips, ankles, and facial bones. Many require surgery, hardware, rehabilitation, or long-term care.

Internal Injuries
The force of a truck collision can cause internal bleeding, organ damage, abdominal trauma, chest injuries, and other life-threatening conditions.

Burns and Scarring
Some crashes involve fires, fuel spills, explosions, chemical exposure, lacerations, or injuries that cause permanent scarring and disfigurement.

Amputations and Crush Injuries
High-impact crashes can cause traumatic amputation, limb-threatening injuries, crush injuries, and permanent functional loss.

Psychological Trauma
A serious truck crash can cause anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, nightmares, driving fear, and other emotional harm.

Wrongful Death
In the most devastating cases, truck accidents cause preventable death. Surviving family members may have a wrongful death claim against the responsible driver, company, or other liable parties.



Truck accident injuries should be evaluated carefully. A proper case assessment must consider not only the immediate medical bills, but also future care, permanent limitations, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and the long-term impact on the injured person’s life.

Damages Available in Truck Accident Cases

The damages available in a truck accident case depend on the severity of the injuries, the responsible parties, the available insurance coverage, and the long-term effect on the injured person and family.

Recoverable damages may include:

Medical Expenses
This may include ambulance charges, emergency treatment, hospitalization, surgery, imaging, doctor visits, physical therapy, medication, injections, rehabilitation, and other accident-related care.

Future Medical Care
Serious injuries may require future surgery, therapy, pain management, neurological care, orthopedic care, prosthetics, home modifications, assistive devices, or long-term medical support.

Lost Income
An injured person may recover wages or income lost because of hospitalization, medical appointments, surgery, recovery, or physical limitations.

Loss of Earning Capacity
When injuries affect the person’s ability to work in the future, damages may include reduced earning capacity, loss of career opportunities, or inability to return to the same occupation.

Pain and Suffering
A claim may include compensation for physical pain, emotional distress, inconvenience, anxiety, loss of independence, sleep disruption, and loss of enjoyment of life.

Permanent Injury, Disability, or Disfigurement
Truck accidents can cause permanent limitations, scarring, chronic pain, brain injury, spinal injury, amputation, paralysis, or disability.

Property Damage
Recoverable losses may include damage to the vehicle and personal property.

Wrongful Death Damages
When a truck accident causes death, qualifying family members may pursue damages for the loss of love, companionship, comfort, care, support, guidance, and other losses recognized under California law.

Insurance companies may try to minimize the claim by blaming the injured person, disputing medical treatment, arguing that injuries were preexisting, or denying that the trucking company did anything wrong. A strong case should be built around the full impact of the collision.

Trucking Companies and Corporate Responsibility

A truck accident case may involve corporate negligence, not just driver negligence. Trucking companies and commercial vehicle operators may be responsible for unsafe systems, policies, hiring choices, supervision failures, and maintenance failures that contribute to a crash.

Potential company failures include:

• hiring unsafe drivers;
• failing to check driving history;
• failing to train drivers;
• failing to monitor hours-of-service compliance;
• pressuring drivers to meet unsafe schedules;
• failing to maintain trucks;
• ignoring prior safety violations;
• failing to inspect trailers or equipment;
• failing to enforce drug and alcohol policies;
• and failing to remove unsafe drivers from service.

The goal of a trucking investigation is to determine not only what the driver did, but what the company knew, what it failed to do, and whether the crash could have been prevented.

Insurance Issues in Truck Accident Cases

Truck accident cases often involve more insurance coverage than ordinary car accident claims, but that does not mean recovery is easy. Multiple companies and insurers may dispute responsibility, deny coverage, or try to shift blame to one another.

Potential sources of recovery may include:

• the truck driver’s insurance;
• the motor carrier’s commercial liability policy;
• the vehicle owner’s policy;
• the trailer owner’s policy;
• an employer’s commercial policy;
• umbrella or excess insurance;
• broker or shipper-related coverage;
• maintenance contractor coverage;
• cargo-related insurance;
• uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage;
• and claims against additional responsible parties.

Commercial insurers often begin investigating immediately after a crash. Injured people should be cautious before giving recorded statements, signing broad medical authorizations, or accepting early settlement offers.

The Mason Firm investigates available coverage, corporate relationships, vehicle ownership, driver employment status, cargo involvement, and other facts that may affect recovery.

What to Do After a Truck Accident

The steps taken after a truck accident can affect both the injured person’s health and the legal claim. After a serious truck accident:

1. Get medical care immediately.
   Serious injuries are not always obvious at the scene. Prompt treatment protects both health and documentation.
2. Report the crash.
   Make sure law enforcement responds and a report is prepared.
3. Take photos and video if possible.
   Document vehicle damage, road conditions, skid marks, debris, truck markings, license plates, company names, injuries, and the crash scene.
4. Identify witnesses.
   Obtain names and contact information for witnesses before they leave.
5. Preserve evidence.
   Save photographs, videos, medical records, repair documents, insurance communications, and damaged personal property.
6. Do not communicate casually with trucking insurers.
   Adjusters may ask questions designed to reduce or dispute the claim.
7. Do not accept an early settlement.
   The full extent of injuries, future treatment, and available insurance may not be known immediately.
8. Contact an attorney quickly.
   Preservation letters may be needed to protect ELD data, black box data, dashcam footage, maintenance records, and other trucking evidence.
   

Federal Trucking Safety Rules and FMCSA Regulations

Truck accident cases often involve safety rules that do not apply in ordinary car accident cases. Commercial drivers, trucking companies, motor carriers, brokers, and other companies involved in commercial transportation may be subject to federal and state safety requirements.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, commonly known as the FMCSA, regulates many aspects of commercial trucking, including driver hours, driver qualifications, drug and alcohol testing, vehicle inspection, maintenance, and motor carrier safety practices. When those rules are violated, the violation may become important evidence in a truck accident case.

FMCSA rules and trucking safety issues may involve:

• limits on how long property-carrying drivers may drive after coming on duty;
• required off-duty and rest periods;
• 30-minute break requirements after certain periods of driving;
• 60/70-hour limits over 7/8 consecutive days;
• sleeper berth rules;
• electronic logging device records;
• driver qualification files;
• motor vehicle record checks;
• safety performance history investigations;
• pre-employment drug testing;
• medical qualification requirements;
• vehicle inspection, repair, and maintenance records;
• cargo securement rules;
• and company policies for hiring, training, and supervising drivers.

For example, FMCSA’s hours-of-service rules generally limit property-carrying drivers to 11 hours of driving after 10 consecutive hours off duty and prohibit driving beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty, subject to specific rules and exceptions. FMCSA rules also address break requirements, weekly on-duty limits, and records that may show whether a driver or company was following the law.

These regulations matter because they can help show whether a crash was caused by fatigue, unsafe scheduling, poor supervision, inadequate maintenance, improper hiring, or a trucking company’s failure to follow basic safety rules.

The Mason Firm investigates whether trucking defendants complied with applicable FMCSA regulations, California law, and industry safety practices. In serious cases, those records may be critical to proving who was responsible and why the crash happened.