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Many Commercial Truck Accidents are Caused by Brake Failures

Did you know brake failures are a leading cause of large truck accidents? That’s scary to think about. As you drive along California’s roads, a truck’s failing brakes could set off a catastrophic accident that causes you to suffer severe injuries.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) investigated why 141,000 trucks were in crashes over a period of 33 months. Their findings were eye-opening.

The top 3 critical events that set off crashes were driver behavior, vehicle-related problems, and environmental hazards. When the researchers dug deeper to find the top 10 associated factors in these crashes, brake problems were the #1 factor found in 41,000 of the crashed trucks.

Injured in a Truck Accident? Brakes Could be the Cause.

Here’s what all this means for California drivers: If you’re in an accident that involves a large truck, there’s almost a 1 in 3 chance the truck was having brake problems.

For injured people, that fact is alarming and even enraging. If you’re sitting at home after being injured by a truck driver – or seeing a loved one experience this trauma – you start wondering if failing brakes could be the cause of all this pain and loss.

After all, brake failures are an avoidable problem. This is why hiring a truck accident attorney could be very helpful in examining the liability issues involved.

  • Did the manufacturer of the brakes provide a defective product?
  • Were the brakes manufactured to the proper safety standards?
  • Did the person who installed the brakes do the job correctly?
  • Had the trucking company maintained the truck’s brakes appropriately?
  • Was the truck driver aware of old or worn brakes?

A Brake Failure May Be Evidence of Negligence

It’s easy to point the finger at the truck driver for causing your accident, but they might not be to blame. They could even be a victim, just like you. For example, brake failure can be caused by a negligent trucking company that avoids routine truck maintenance and allows the brakes to become worn and dangerous.

You have the right to seek full and fair compensation for your losses. An experienced truck accident attorney can help you pursue a claim against whoever is responsible for covering your economic and non-economic damages.

  • The truck driver
  • The trucking company’s owner/operator
  • The trucking company’s insurance carrier
  • The company that manufactured the brakes
  • A truck dealership
  • A truck repair shop

Your attorney can help you understand the value of your case and conduct an investigation into exactly what happened in your accident. A skilled attorney will understand the specific steps you need to follow and what types of evidence you’ll need to gather, like witness statements, expert testimony, skid mark evidence, police reports, and more.

There are complex legal issues involved with determining liability and the level of evidence that will be required. Product manufacturers can be held to a standard of strict liability for defective products, a level that requires less proof on your part.

California also uses the pure comparative fault rule, where parties are assigned a portion of the blame but the victim can still recover damages even if they are also partially to blame. So if a particular person/company is found to be even partially responsible, they can be required to pay a proportional amount of certain damages.

If you had $200,000 in damages, you may be able to show that the brake manufacturer is responsible for 50%, or $100,000 worth, of those damages and the trucking company is responsible for the other $100,000. Of course, this is just an example and every case plays out in its own unique way.

When it Comes to Truck Accident Cases, We’ve Seen it All

Here’s a final thought to keep in mind: Even if the team at Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers investigates your accident and determines the brakes were NOT a factor, we won’t give up on you!

Perhaps the truck driver was distracted by watching a video on their cell phone. Maybe the trucking company made them exceed their allowable driving hours and they fell asleep at the wheel. We can help you do an investigation that reveals these types of hidden factors in your accident.

We are talented truck accident lawyers with a long history of getting positive results for our clients. Contact us now to discuss what caused your accident and how you can take immediate action to get the compensation you deserve.

 

We Handle Your Accident Claim So You Can Focus on Your Life

After an accident, contact the attorneys at Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers. We handle many types of traffic injury claims, including those with semi-trucks. We believe you should be able to focus on recovering from your accident while we handle the legal details.

We truly care about the people of California. Contact us today for a free online case evaluation.

Accident Client

If you’re someone who is considering an attorney for a personal accident, I highly recommend Sally Morin and her professional staff of attorneys. If you would like to know more details, feel free to contact me via Yelp and I would be happy to share more details. While I use Yelp quite often, I rarely post reviews… unless I’m truly blown away by great service (or angry with horrible service). If there were a sixth star, I would certainly give it to Rebecca and Sally!

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We Handle Your Personal Injury Accident Claim So You Can Focus on Your Life

After an accident, contact the attorneys at Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers. We handle many types of traffic injury claims. We believe you should be able to focus on recovering from your accident while we handle the legal details.

We truly care about the people of California. Contact us today for a
free online case evaluation.

KNOW HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF AFTER AN ACCIDENT

It is essential to know your rights after a traffic accident so you can protect yourself and the value of your claim.
This guide will help you:

  • 1Know what to do when dealing with insurance claims, police reports and lawyers.
  • 2Avoid making mistakes that undermine the value of your claim
  • 3Put yourself in a position to get the best settlement possible