Common Causes of Truck Accidents in Burbank

Although the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has enacted wide-ranging regulations and rules to make the operation of trucks safer, serious trucking wrecks still occur regularly in both Burbank and the rest of the country. Truck accidents are dangerous and can lead to devastating injuries and even deaths.

If you or your loved one experienced harm in a big-rig crash, a knowledgeable truck collision attorney could offer you helpful legal advice. Understanding all the common causes of truck accidents in Burbank could help you better understand your legal options for pursuing a lawsuit for financial compensation.

What Are Some Reasons Trucking Crashes Happen?

Tractor-trailer wrecks occur for a wide range of reasons.

Trucker Fatigue

Truck drivers frequently drive for long, monotonous hours, often overnight. Although FMCSA regulations limit hours of service and set forth mandatory rest periods, some truckers blatantly ignore those limits in an effort to arrive more quickly and meet unrealistic deadlines. Fatigue can lead to slower reaction times and unclear judgments.

Distracted Driving

Like any driver, truckers sometimes succumb to eating, daydreaming, or texting, which can take their eyes off the road, hands off the steering wheel, and focus away from their driving duties.

Speeding

Truck drivers often have to meet strict deadlines, which could cause them to speed and drive recklessly to arrive on time.

Hazardous Road Conditions

Poor road conditions or adverse weather conditions can contribute to a crash by making a truck harder to handle.

Mistakes Loading Cargo

If a truck’s freight is incorrectly loaded or overloaded, the truck could become unstable, causing the truck driver to lose control of the vehicle.  If the shipper does not securely fasten the cargo, it could come loose and spill onto the road, posing a danger to other drivers.

Equipment Failure

A truck’s equipment can malfunction due to inherent manufacturing defects or from negligent maintenance.

Our skilled legal team could carefully examine the evidence from the crash and pay particular attention to the following:

• Black box data
• The trucker’s log
• Trucking company training and employee manuals
• Speed reports
• The police accident report
• Eyewitness accounts
• Weather reports
• Vehicle maintenance records

If necessary, we could consult with an accident reconstruction specialist to determine the precise cause that led to your Burbank truck crash.

Establishing Liability After a Truck Wreck

After pinpointing what caused the Burbank tractor-trailer collision, our diligent legal team could identify who is potentially legally responsible for the cost of your injuries and other losses. Depending on what we uncover in our detailed investigation, you might be able to pursue a lawsuit against one or more of the following parties:

• Negligent driver
• Trucking company
• Cargo loading company
• Manufacturer of the truck or its replacement parts
• Maintenance and repair business
• Government entity in charge of designing or maintaining the roadways
• A third-party driver

Our experienced lawyers could carefully sort through the evidence to identify all parties who played a role in your trucking crash to help you maximize your potential damages recovery.

Call a Burbank Lawyer About the Common Causes of Semi-Truck Accidents

Trucking collisions occur for many reasons. Identifying which of the many common causes of truck accidents in Burbank contributed to your wreck could make all the difference in your pursuit of the compensation you deserve.

Let our team help you and discuss your legal options after a crash involving a truck. Call our firm now to set up an initial appointment with Block LLP and meet with one of our compassionate and hardworking attorneys today.