Truck & Motorcycle Accident Attorneys

Truck Cases Are Not Just Bigger Car Cases

Commercial trucking accidents involve federal regulations, electronic logging devices, driver-qualification files, drug-and-alcohol testing protocols, maintenance records, dashcam footage, and corporate defendants with policy limits ten to fifty times higher than a typical auto policy. Evidence disappears quickly, sometimes legally, if a preservation letter doesn't go out within days.

We move fast. Within twenty-four hours of being retained on a serious trucking case, we typically have a spoliation letter on the carrier, an accident reconstructionist on standby, and a plan to inspect the truck before it's repaired or back on the road.

Common Causes We Investigate

• Driver fatigue: hours-of-service violations and falsified logs
• Improper training: drivers placed in routes or weather they weren't qualified for
• Mechanical failure: brakes, tires, lighting, coupling devices
• Negligent hiring: drivers with prior DUIs, suspended licenses, or unsafe driving records
• Cargo issues: improperly loaded or unsecured freight that causes shifts and rollovers
• Distracted driving: phone use, dispatch communications, GPS interaction

Motorcycle Accidents Need the Same Urgency

Juries are often biased against motorcyclists. We've watched defense lawyers exploit that bias for decades. The counter is preparation: helmet-cam footage when available, careful reconstruction of right-of-way, and credible expert testimony that establishes exactly how the collision happened.

If you ride and you were hit, the most important thing you can do is preserve your gear, your bike, and any video before they're discarded.

What We Typically Pursue

In addition to the standard categories (medical, lost wages, pain & suffering), trucking cases often support claims against multiple defendants: the driver, the trucking company, a separate broker, a cargo loader, and sometimes a parts manufacturer. That stacking of liability is what allows truck cases to result in seven- and eight-figure recoveries when the injuries justify it.

What to Do in the First 48 Hours After a Truck Crash

Commercial truck cases run on a different timeline from regular car accidents. Trucking companies dispatch a rapid-response team within hours of a serious crash. By the time most victims are out of the hospital, the company already has photos, witness statements, and a draft narrative shifting blame.

1. Call us before the trucking company calls you. Their adjuster is not your friend. Anything you say is used to reduce your claim.
2. Preserve the truck's data. Electronic logging devices, dashcam footage, GPS, and engine control module data are routinely overwritten within 30 days. A preservation letter must go out fast.
3. Get the federal DOT number. It is on the side of the cab. With that number, we pull the carrier's safety history, prior crashes, and insurance information.
4. Document your injuries from day one. Commercial truck injuries are often more severe than typical auto cases, and the medical record needs to reflect that severity from the start.
5. Do not accept the trucking company's first call. They will offer a quick settlement, often in five figures, for cases that are worth seven figures.

Damages We Recover in Truck and Motorcycle Cases

Commercial truck policies start at $750,000 minimum under federal law and routinely reach $5 million to $10 million. Motorcycle cases are usually fought over policy limits because the injuries are severe. Either way, we pursue every layer of available coverage.

• Medical expenses, including emergency care, surgery, rehab, durable medical equipment, and projected future treatment.
• Lost wages and earning capacity, including for clients who cannot return to the same physical work.
• Pain and suffering, scaled to the catastrophic nature of truck and motorcycle injuries.
• Wrongful death damages for surviving spouses, children, and parents in fatal cases.
• Punitive damages when the carrier's safety violations, hours-of-service fraud, or maintenance failures rise to gross negligence.
• Loss of consortium for spouses and qualifying family members.

Mistakes That Hurt Truck Accident Claims

Trucking companies have litigation playbooks. Avoid the openings their lawyers count on:

• Talking to the trucking company's investigator. They show up with sympathetic questions designed to lock in statements that undermine your claim.
• Waiting to retain counsel. Every day without a preservation letter is a day that ELD data, dashcam footage, and driver logs can disappear.
• Letting the wreck be repaired or scrapped. The damaged truck and your vehicle are evidence. They need to be inspected by our experts first.
• Underplaying injuries. Brain injuries, spine injuries, and internal trauma do not always show up in the first ER visit. Follow up with specialists.
• Posting on social media. The defense will subpoena your accounts and use any post against you.

Why Los Angeles Truck and Motorcycle Cases Are Different

Southern California is a national logistics hub. The 5, the 405, the 10, the 605, and the I-15 carry tens of thousands of commercial trucks every day, plus a year-round motorcycle culture that puts riders on the same roads. The combination produces some of the country's most serious commercial vehicle and motorcycle crashes.

We litigate these cases in Los Angeles, Glendale, Pasadena, Long Beach, and the Inland Empire. We know which trucking carriers have repeat safety violations, which insurance defense firms try to bury cases in paperwork, and which judges hold fleet defendants accountable. For motorcycle clients, we also know how to defeat the bias that riders are reckless, by using the physical evidence, the data, and the law of comparative fault to put responsibility where it belongs.