Side-Impact Truck Accidents in Los Angeles

All truck accidents pose significant risks to the occupants of smaller vehicles. A side-impact or T-bone crash is especially dangerous, and severe injuries are often a result.

If you were hurt in a side-impact truck accident in Los Angeles, get in touch with an experienced truck accident attorney from CD Law as quickly as possible. Our team could help you pursue a claim for compensation against the parties whose carelessness or recklessness contributed to the incident.

How T-Bone Crashes Happen

Most side-impact crashes happen at intersections due to drivers violating the right-of-way rules. When a vehicle goes through a red light or rolls through a stop sign, it might hit a vehicle passing through the intersection. Similarly, a side-impact collision could happen when a Los Angeles truck driver makes a left turn without yielding to oncoming traffic.

When a T-bone involves a truck, failure to yield could be at play. However, a truck’s significant blind spots also could be to blame. A truck could make a wide turn into a vehicle if the other vehicle was traveling in its blind spot. Sideswipes are another form of side-impact accident that could happen when a trucker is unaware of a vehicle in an adjacent lane.

The occupants of the vehicle that gets hit in the side are at risk because the door panels have the least reinforcement of any part of a vehicle’s body. The damage could be catastrophic when a truck hits a vehicle on its side. It could be even worse when a car hits a truck’s side because the smaller vehicle could slide under the truck, often shearing off or flattening the roof of the smaller vehicle.

Severe Injuries Often Result From These Crashes

Side-impact accidents involving trucks are often deadly. Even at slow speeds, when a heavy truck hits a passenger vehicle, the impact could destroy the smaller car or truck.

Survivors of these accidents often have significant injuries. Sometimes, the injuries are permanent, and the accident victim never fully recovers. In addition to the physical impact, survivors of truck accidents could sustain debilitating psychological injuries like severe anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Our Los Angeles attorneys could review an injured person’s medical records and speak frankly with them and their family after a side-impact truck crash. They could document the injured motorist’s physical and emotional injuries and the impact the accident has had on their quality of life. This information supports their claim for compensation.

Negligent Parties Are Liable for Damages

The compensation an injured person claims after an accident is called their damages. Damages include medical bills, property damage, incidental expenses, lost income, and losses like pain and suffering.

In most cases, a party is negligent if they did not use reasonable caution to prevent an accident that resulted in an injury to someone else. However, trucks are held to a higher standard. The trucking company and truck driver must use the utmost care to prevent an accident.

Any violation of the law, safety regulations, or deviation from best practices could be evidence that the transportation company or trucker was negligent. Other potentially responsible parties include truck maintenance companies, the manufacturers of the vehicles involved in the crash, and the local government responsible for maintaining the road. Our team could investigate to identify everyone who might bear some responsibility for the crash and bring claims against them.

When An Injured Person Was Negligent

In a Los Angeles T-bone accident involving a passenger vehicle and a truck, the people in the smaller vehicle are most likely to be injured. They also could be partially at fault for the accident.

California Civil Code § 1714 makes everyone responsible for the results of their actions. This means an injured person who bears some responsibility for an incident can still claim damages from other negligent parties, but their percentage amount of fault will reduce their award. For example, a driver who was 80 percent at fault for causing a side-impact crash could collect 20 percent of their damages from other negligent parties.

Contact a Los Angeles Attorney for Help After a T-Bone Truck Crash

When you are in a passenger vehicle and have a T-bone accident with a truck, you may suffer extensive injuries. An experienced Los Angeles attorney could help you obtain reasonable compensation, even when you are partly at fault for the accident.

Do not try to manage a claim for a side-impact truck accident in Los Angeles without legal help. Reach out to CD Law today to discuss your case with a member of our team.