Riverside
Truck Accident Lawyer

Riverside Truck Accident Attorney

Any vehicle accident has the potential to cause life-changing injuries and expensive financial losses, but these outcomes are especially likely from commercial truck accidents. Tractor-trailers and other commercial trucks are much larger and heavier than standard passenger vehicles and are, therefore, capable of inflicting massive damage. If you have experienced such an accident, a Riverside truck accident lawyer is the optimal resource to consult for help with your recovery.

Representing Truck Accident Claims in Riverside, CA

Kenneth M. Sigelman & Associates is an experienced legal team with the resources and skills needed to resolve the most challenging vehicle accident claims. Our firm has successfully resolved many personal injury claims in Riverside, including many filed in response to commercial truck accidents. We know the unique legal challenges these cases often present compared to standard passenger vehicle accidents.

Maximum Client Recovery Is Always Our Goal

Our goal for every case we accept is maximum client recovery in the shortest possible timeframe. We know how to help our client prove liability for their accident, how to navigate the auto insurance claim filing process on their behalf, and how to build a comprehensive personal injury suit when insurance can’t fully cover their losses.
If you choose Kenneth M. Sigelman & Associates to represent your case, you can expect responsive and compassionate support from our team through all your recovery efforts. You have a limited time in which to pursue your recovery, so it is crucial that you reach out to our team as soon as possible after another driver has caused a truck accident with you or a loved one in Riverside.

Benefits of Hiring Legal Counsel for a Truck Accident Case in Riverside

Choosing the right attorney to represent your case can make a tremendous difference in the quality of the outcome you reach. While it is technically possible for you to pursue recovery on your own, it is risky and unlikely to yield the same results you could expect with the right attorney on your side.
Recovery from a truck accident claim requires firmly proving fault, and the average person may think they know who’s to blame for their recent accident but will struggle to meet the strict court filing requirements and other procedural rules of their case. Even if the claimant managed to meet these requirements and file their case successfully, they would risk unknowingly settling for far less compensation than they legally deserve.

Choose Your Truck Accident Representation so You Can Focus on Your Recovery

When you have a Riverside truck accident lawyer representing you, they can handle the procedural end of your case so you can focus on your recovery with peace of mind. They can ensure all filing requirements and court deadlines are met, and a seasoned attorney can ensure all available avenues of compensation are thoroughly explored. Ultimately, you are more likely to succeed with all the recovery efforts you attempt with an attorney representing you.

Proving Fault for Your Truck Accident in Riverside

California uses a fault-based system to resolve vehicle accidents, including commercial truck accidents. This means it will be essential for an injured driver to prove fault for their accident before they will be able to recover any compensation for their damages. While truck accidents often occur for the same reasons that most other vehicle accidents happen, these incidents can also raise complex questions, including the issue of vicarious liability.

The term “vicarious liability” applies to any situation in which a party absorbs liability for the actions of another related party, most commonly an employer facing responsibility for the actions of their employee. Depending on how your recent truck accident happened, it is possible for liability to fall solely on the driver, or their employer might incur vicarious liability if they are responsible for the driver’s actions.

Vicarious liability most commonly arises in truck accident claims due to failures with the background check and onboarding processes. For example, if the trucking company failed to conduct a proper background check on a driver and that driver later caused an accident, an investigation may reveal that a proper background check would have revealed relevant risk factors, and the accident could have been prevented.

Common causes of truck accidents include distracted driving, speeding, moving violations, and driving under the influence (DUI) of drugs or alcohol. While most truck accidents happen because of negligence, when they occur because of illegal misconduct like DUI, at-fault drivers face criminal prosecution as well as civil liability for the damages they inflict on others. Your attorney can help gather the evidence needed to prove fault for your accident.

Filing an Auto Insurance Claim for a Truck Accident in Riverside

All drivers in the state, including commercial truck drivers, must have auto insurance that meets the state’s basic coverage requirements for bodily injury liability and property damage liability. Some trucking companies maintain insurance policies that include more than the minimum requirements, but it is important to remember that you should not expect filing your claim to be easy or for insurance alone to fully cover your losses.

Dealing with any auto insurance carrier can be difficult and frustrating in several ways, and it is vital that you have a seasoned Riverside truck accident lawyer assisting you with the claim filing process. Your attorney can help gather all evidence needed to assert fault, and then they can review the at-fault driver’s insurance policy to determine the scope of compensation you can expect from a successful claim.

While most insurance carriers handle claims for damages in good faith, some do not and either fail to handle claims correctly or intentionally engage in bad-faith tactics. Having an attorney represent you through the claim filing process can significantly reduce the risk of encountering any such issues, and the insurance carrier will be more likely to process your claim quickly and in good faith once you have legal representation.

Recovering From a Truck Accident With a Personal Injury Claim

If the driver responsible for causing your recent accident does not have insurance, or if their insurance does not fully cover the damages they caused, you will need to file a personal injury suit against them to recover your outstanding losses. The main objectives of any personal injury claim are proving fault, establishing the full scope of the plaintiff’s claimable damages, and holding the defendant accountable for those damages.

A successful insurance claim may only yield compensation up to the limits of the at-fault driver’s policy, but it is possible for a truck accident’s damages to significantly exceed available insurance coverage. In this situation, the at-fault driver is liable for all damages their insurance does not repay. These are likely to include economic, non-economic, and punitive damages.

Economic damages will be the most straightforward element of a personal injury claim. These include direct financial losses caused by the defendant’s actions:

• Insurance may not cover all vehicle repair or replacement costs after a truck accident. The defendant is fully liable for any outstanding property damage they caused that you cannot recover from their insurance.
• When a personal injury case pertains to physical harm of any kind, the defendant is liable for all medical expenses the plaintiff incurs for treatment of their injuries. This includes immediate and future medical expenses if the defendant caused any lasting harm. Your Riverside truck accident lawyer can help calculate the total of all the medical expenses you can include in your personal injury claim.
• Lost wages. Many people injured in vehicle accidents are unable to work while they recover. If this applies to your situation, the defendant is liable for the income you are unable to earn during your recovery period.
• Lost earning power. Unfortunately, commercial truck accidents have a high chance of causing catastrophic injuries. If your injury has left you permanently disabled and you cannot return to your job, the defendant who caused the accident is liable for the future income you are no longer able to earn. An experienced attorney will know how to accurately calculate these projected future losses.

The average accident victim may be able to assess their immediately recognizable economic losses but struggle with calculating projected future damages. Your Riverside truck accident attorney can be invaluable not only for the help they can provide with your court filings and meeting procedural deadlines but also in accurately calculating the full range of immediate and future economic damages you can include in your claim.

Claiming Pain and Suffering Compensation for a Truck Accident

California’s personal injury law also allows a plaintiff to claim pain and suffering compensation, which reflects the intangible damages such as physical pain and emotional distress that a defendant’s actions inflicted upon them. There is no limit on pain and suffering compensation in most motor vehicle accident cases, so the plaintiff has the right to claim as much as they believe to be appropriate to reflect the severity of the harm they experienced.

Personal injury attorneys in Riverside generally use two methods to calculate pain and suffering compensation for their clients. First is the per diem method, which is most applicable to plaintiffs expected to make full recoveries from their injuries. The attorney determines a fair amount of pain and suffering compensation to reflect each day their client spends in recovery and then multiplies this by the number of days it takes for them to fully recover.

The second method is the multiplier method, most often used when clients have suffered catastrophic, permanently disabling personal injuries. The attorney multiplies the total of the client’s claimed economic damages by a factor that reflects the severity of their condition, usually one to five. If you suffered any permanent damage from your recent truck accident, your pain and suffering compensation may amount to more than the total of your economic damages.

Other Variables That Could Influence Your Case Award

If your truck accident happened because of illegal misconduct of any kind, the at-fault driver may owe restitution to you as part of their criminal sentencing, and the judge handling your civil case might award you punitive damages to reflect the severity of the defendant’s behavior. Punitive damages and/or restitution could potentially increase your total recovery by a substantial margin.

Conversely, if you bear any partial liability for causing the accident, it will result in a diminished recovery. The state enforces the pure comparative fault rule in all civil claims for damages in which multiple parties share fault for the damages. When a plaintiff is found partially liable, they lose a percentage of their case award equal to their percentage of fault.

Truck Accident Case in Riverside

The right attorney can be an invaluable asset to your impending truck accident case in several ways. When you choose Kenneth M. Sigelman & Associates to represent you in Riverside, you will have a compassionate and responsive legal advocate ready to assist you with every facet of your case. We approach every civil claim we accept with the goal of maximizing our client’s recovery in the shortest possible timeframe.

Most personal injury cases filed in Riverside do not go to court and are instead resolved privately through settlement negotiations. When a defendant is clearly liable for a personal injury, it behooves them to settle the case quickly and privately to avoid the time investment and expense of litigation. As long as both parties are willing to compromise, it’s possible to resolve a personal injury claim in settlement within a matter of weeks.

However, there is always a chance that litigation will be necessary. If the defendant in your claim refuses to accept liability for your damages, contests the scope of compensation you are seeking with the claim, or if settlement negotiations fail for any other reason, your case will need to go to trial. Kenneth M. Sigelman & Associates will do everything we can to resolve your case through settlement, but we are fully prepared to represent you in litigation if necessary.

FAQs

Q: How Much Compensation Can I Recover Through Insurance After a Truck Accident?

A: Every driver is required to have auto insurance that includes, at minimum, $15,000 for bodily injury to a single person, $30,000 in bodily injury liability coverage for more than one person harmed in a single accident, and at least $5,000 to cover property damage. It’s possible for a truck driver or other at-fault driver to have more coverage, but you may not be able to recover all of your damages through insurance alone.

Q: How Much Is a Truck Accident Case Worth in Riverside?

A: A truck accident can easily cause devastating harm to those involved. Once you prove liability for your damages, you can hold the at-fault party accountable for all financial losses you suffered that their insurance cannot cover. These may include vehicle repair or replacement costs, medical expenses, and lost income. You will also have the right to claim compensation for projected future damages and your pain and suffering.

Q: Do I Need an Attorney to Sue for a Truck Accident in Riverside?

A: Technically, it is possible to file a civil claim for damages without an attorney, but this is inadvisable for many reasons. The claim filing process and related interactions with the court can be more challenging than you might expect, and even if you succeed, you may overlook avenues of compensation available to you. Hiring a Riverside truck accident attorney improves both your chances of success with your case and your chance of maximizing your recovery.

Q: Will the At-Fault Driver Go to Jail for Causing My Truck Accident in Riverside?

A: If the driver responsible for causing your recent truck accident broke the law in causing the accident, they face criminal charges in addition to liability for your damages. The most common examples of this would be reckless driving and intoxicated driving. While your Riverside truck accident attorney can help file your claim against the at-fault party to seek recompense for your losses, the state will prosecute the defendant in criminal court for breaking the law.

Q: What Does It Cost to Hire a Riverside Truck Accident Lawyer?

A: It’s understandable to have reservations about hiring legal counsel for your impending truck accident case, but the team at Kenneth M. Sigelman & Associates can provide the comprehensive legal representation you need without adding to your financial problems. Our firm accepts clients on a contingency fee basis, meaning we only collect a fee from our clients if and when we win their case, and our fee is a percentage of the total amount recovered from the defendant.

The team at Kenneth M. Sigelman & Associates has successfully helped many past clients recover compensation for the damages they have suffered in their truck accidents and many other types of accidents. We know the challenges you could face as you seek accountability and compensation for the losses you suffered, and we want to help you recover as fully as possible. Contact us today and schedule your free consultation with a Riverside truck accident lawyer.