Bakersfield Delivery Truck Accident Attorneys

Being involved in a serious accident is always traumatic. But when the other vehicle is a delivery truck, the experience can be life-changing. Victims are often left with serious injuries and in some cases, are killed in crashes. If you or a loved one were badly injured or died in a delivery truck accident, call the Bakersfield truck accident attorneys at The Dominguez Firm immediately. We offer free consultations at 800-818-1818.

Below you’ll find more information on delivery truck accidents in Bakersfield and how a truck accident lawyer can help if you are injured in one.

What Are the Most Common Causes of Delivery Truck Accidents?

Delivery truck accidents happen for a variety of reasons. One of the most common is a speeding truck. Drivers are under pressure to meet tight deadlines and complete their daily deliveries. Since the start of the pandemic, speeding accidents and deaths have risen dramatically in traffic accidents overall.

Other common causes of delivery truck accidents include:

• Distracted driving by either the delivery truck driver or the driver of the passenger car.
• Poorly loaded cargo that comes loose and causes an accident.
• A poorly maintained road.
• Bad weather. Bakersfield and the entire Central Valley region of California get a weather phenomenon known as tule fog in the winter months. It makes for very hazardous driving conditions and is the leading cause of weather-related accidents in the state. Besides poor visibility, motorists must sometimes deal with black ice too.
• A manufacturer defect to either the delivery truck or any of the other vehicles involved. If the truck had a defective motor for example, the manufacturer or parts maker would be the defendant.

Also, delivery trucks come in a variety of sizes. From box trucks to 18-wheelers, these vehicles present their own unique set of dangers. Box trucks have high, narrow profiles which can make them unstable in high wind conditions and when turning. Those huge tractor-trailer delivery trucks you see on nearby Interstate 5 or in Bakersfield itself have large blind spots and need more room to brake. Either way, the build of these trucks can cause very serious accidents too.

What Are Some Common Trucking Accident Injuries?

Being hit by a delivery truck, regardless of its size can leave you with major permanent injuries. Given that most delivery trucks are larger than the majority of passenger vehicles, the chances of suffering a serious injury or being killed are high. Among the most common Bakersfield delivery trucking accident injuries are:

• Broken bones
• Burns and scarring
• Crush injuries
• Whiplash
• Amputations
• Head injuries including traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
• Spinal cord injuries
• Nerve injuries
• Death

All of these delivery truck accident injuries can cost the victim tens, hundreds, and even millions of dollars  in medical costs over a lifetime. Even whiplash can take weeks or months to overcome and lead to long-term neck, back, and head pain. Some of these injuries are permanent and will completely upend the victim’s life. A Department of Defense study concluded a severe brain injury would cost a young accident victim between $15-20 million over their lifetime.

Why Should I Hire a Bakersfield Truck Accident Lawyer?

Now that you know how much a serious Bakersfield trucking accident injury can potentially cost in medical bills over the long run, you know that a $50,000 offer from the insurance company may not even cover your emergency room bills. But if you negotiate directly with the delivery truck company insurance adjuster instead of hiring a trucking accident attorney, that’s exactly the kind of offer you’ll receive, regardless of your injuries.

Delivery, transportation, and big box retail companies are for-profit businesses. They aren’t in the habit of handing out multi-million dollar settlements for accidents. On the contrary. Their goal is to get you to take a low offer right away so they can close their books on your claim for the least amount possible. Plus, if you accept their lowball offer, there’s no going back and asking for more money later on.

Trucking accident cases are also complex. More than one defendant may be involved. That could be the delivery truck driver, the company they work for, a leasing company if the truck was leased, and the loading company if that was contracted out. If poor road conditions caused your delivery truck accident, a municipal, state, or even federal government group may be named as a defendant.

Unless you have experience negotiating with insurance adjusters, are confident taking on multiple defendants, and are up to date on local, state, and federal accident laws, you’ll want to hire a Bakersfield truck accident attorney to handle your case for you.

Our delivery truck accident attorneys have the experience and skill needed to negotiate with the defendant’s lawyers. We will fight to get you the maximum compensation for your accident injuries. When it comes to your claim, going it alone without an attorney can cost you dearly.

What Amount of Compensation Can I Expect for My Bakersfield Delivery Truck Accident Case?

No Bakersfield delivery truck accident attorney can give you an exact answer to this question since no two trucking accidents are alike. What an attorney can do is compare your claim to similar ones they’ve handled in the past to get an estimate of what compensation you could be entitled to. All that said, several factors are very important in determining the value of your delivery truck accident case:

• The extent of your injuries
• If liability (who was to blame) is unclear
• How the defense responds

One of the most important in determining your damages—the legal term for the compensation you could be entitled to, is the extent of your accident injuries. Someone with a permanent injury, such as paralysis would be entitled to higher damages than someone who was able to make a full recovery from a broken leg for instance.

Is it clear that the delivery truck driver caused your accident or did you and/or other drivers share part of the blame? Our lawyers and in-house investigators will go over every detail of your truck accident to determine liability; the legal term for who was responsible for the accident. That will also impact your final compensation.

Finally, how does the insurance company for the delivery truck driver respond to your attorney? As mentioned previously, they usually don’t hand out large settlement amounts. Nonetheless, once they know you have a law firm representing you, they may make a fair offer. If they don’t, The Dominguez Firm is not afraid to go to trial if needed. Not every law firm has the resources and in-house trial lawyers to do that.

As you can see, a lot goes into determining the value of your Bakersfield delivery truck accident case. The best and easiest way to get the process going is to call The Dominguez Firm right away for a free consultation. Let our team fight for you.

How Long Do I Have to File a Lawsuit for My Bakersfield Delivery Truck Accident?

You have two years from the date of your accident to file your delivery truck accident personal injury claim. If the victim is a child or currently in active military duty they have two years from either their 18th birthday or date of discharge from the military to file a claim.

If your lawsuit is against a local, state, or federal government entity, then you only have six months from the date of your truck accident to sue. An example would be if a lack of safety warning signs near a Bakersfield road construction site triggered a delivery truck accident. You would sue the government agency responsible for the oversight.

Nonetheless, an accident attorney will advise you never to wait until the last minute to file your truck accident case. There are several reasons for this:

• Vital evidence will be lost – If you wait weeks, let alone years to take action, vital evidence will certainly be lost from the accident scene.
• You want to file a claim while the details are still fresh in your mind – Defense attorneys will challenge your memory of what happened if you wait too long to present your case.
• You can lose contact with any witnesses – If too much time has passed, you might not be able to get in touch with the accident witnesses. People change their phone numbers and emails all the time.
• Defense attorneys will question the extent of your injuries and whether they were caused by the trucking accident – They’ll question whether your injuries were indeed severe or even if they were caused by your delivery truck accident if you wait to sue. This is especially true if you already had an underlying health condition when you got into your accident.

By getting the Bakersfield truck accident lawyers at The Dominguez Firm involved right away, you’ll let our attorneys and investigators start building a strong case for you right from the beginning.

I Was Injured in a Bakersfield Delivery Truck Accident While Riding as a Passenger. Can a Truck Accident Attorney From The Dominguez Firm Help Me?

In the great majority of cases, yes. You have the same right to sue for medical costs, lost wages, and other expenses as the drivers involved. There’s also no question of liability since passengers don’t usually share any blame for their accident injuries unless:

• The passenger wasn’t wearing their seat belt
• They willingly got into a car with an impaired driver
• They did something that led to the accident such as grabbing the steering wheel

Even with these exceptions, you may still be able to sue the driver responsible because California is a comparative negligence state. That means you can share part of the blame for your delivery truck accident and still have the right to file a claim. A court would determine your percentage of fault and subtract that from your final settlement or verdict amount. So, if a court awards you $2 million for your accident injuries but considered you 30% responsible because you didn’t have a seat belt on, you would receive $1.4 million: $2 million – 30%/$600,000 = $1.4 million.

Another factor that can impact your truck accident claim would be if the driver of your vehicle was at fault for the accident and is a close family member. Whatever the circumstances of your delivery truck accident, call the Bakersfield trucking accident attorneys at The Dominguez Firm right away for a free consultation to see how we can help you.

Do Your Lawyers Only  Take Truck Accident Cases Involving  Injured Car Drivers? I’m Asking Because I’m a Truck Driver Who Was Seriously Injured in an Accident While Making Deliveries For Work.

Delivery truck drivers have the same rights as any other motorist if they’re injured in an accident. Our California truck accident lawyers have successfully helped delivery, big rig, and utility truck drivers obtain damages for their accident injuries. Our truck crash lawyers are ready to fight for you too.

If you were injured as a result of a collision with another truck or passenger vehicle, you can sue those responsible. Since you were on the job, you can most likely file two claims; one for personal injury and another for workers’ compensation.

Most accidents happen suddenly. You may be unsure what caused your delivery truck to crash. Regardless, call The Dominguez Firm right away for your free consultation. Let our firm go over the facts of your accident to see if we can help.

I Lost a Close Family Member in a Bakersfield Delivery Truck Accident. Can Your Bakersfield Delivery Truck Accident Lawyers Help Me?

If you were the legal next of kin of the deceased, The Dominguez Firm can assist you with your delivery truck accident case. However, instead of filing a personal injury claim, you would file a wrongful death claim against those responsible.

As with a personal injury claim, you would be entitled to economic and non-economic damages for your loss. Economic damages are easy to add up. They can include:

• Funeral and burial expenses
• Ambulance fees
• Any medical bills directly related to the deceased’s delivery truck accident injuries
• Lost income the deceased was reasonably expected to earn in the future

Non-economic damages are meant to compensate the surviving family members for the emotional loss of their loved one. They can include the following:

• Pain and suffering
• Loss of anticipated financial support
• Loss of consortium including affection, sexual relations, love, and moral support

Non-economic damages can’t be added up on a calculator. Despite this, they usually make up the largest part of the Bakersfield truck accident victim’s final compensation because the state of California places no cap on how much can be awarded in non-economic damages. Your Bakersfield truck accident lawyer will fight for every cent of the compensation you are legally entitled to for your losses.

How Do Delivery Truck Accident Victims Pay Your Attorneys?

The delivery truck accident lawyers at The Dominguez Firm work on a contingency fee basis. That simply means we get paid a percentage of your final settlement or verdict at the end of your accident case. That percentage will be clearly stated in the representation agreement you sign with us when you become our client. Plus, it’s a fixed percentage. It won’t go up based on your compensation amount. You don’t pay anything upfront; there are no retainer fees, upfront costs, or out-of-pocket expenses whatsoever.

We’re often asked what happens if we can’t secure any compensation for a client. This is extremely rare, as we have a 96%* success rate. However, should it happen, you owe us nothing. In other words, if there is no recovery, there is no fee.

Let The Dominguez Firm Help You With Your California Truck Accident Claim

Truck accidents can be life-changing if you’re in a motor vehicle. These accidents can result in catastrophic injuries to anyone involved. It’s even worse if you happen to be a pedestrian or bicyclist who had the bad luck to be in the truck’s path.

Truck accident cases are also very difficult to deal with on your own. This is doubly true if you’ve suffered the loss of a loved one or are recovering from a major injury. In that kind of situation, the last thing you want to face is having to negotiate with the trucking company. You can be sure they have aggressive defense attorneys on their side. Make sure you have skilled legal representation too.

The Dominguez Firm has been helping delivery truck accident victims in Bakersfield and throughout California for over 35 years. In that time our injury lawyers have won over $1 billion* for our clients injured in accidents. Our firm is not a referral service. We have our own in-house award-winning trial lawyers and investigators. They in turn are backed by our office which features a staff of over 130 legal professionals. Call us today for a free consultation at 800-818-1818. We can travel to your home or hospital at a moment’s notice.