California Commercial Truck Accident Lawyer
The Right Choice in A California Commercial Truck Accident Lawyer, Sebastian Gibson. Over 45 Years of Experience and Named A Top Lawyer 14 Years in a Row.
When you’ve been injured in a big rig, tractor trailer or tractor semi trailer truck accident anywhere in California, finding the right California commercial truck accident lawyer is essential to protect your rights and to make sure you obtain the compensation you deserve for your injuries and all you’ve been through.
California Commercial Truck Accident Lawyer Sebastian Gibson offers over 45 years of experience representing traffic accident victims and clients who deserve the best in legal representation and is ready to provide immediate assistance to you and yours after an accident.
When you work with California Commercial Truck Accident Lawyer Sebastian Gibson, you’re working with with an attorney who has been named a Top Lawyer in Palm Springs Life Magazine year after year after year, and an attorney you can count on who has the determination to obtain a result you can be proud of. Tired of trying to reach an attorney who will actually answer your calls? Call us and see the difference when you’ve chosen the right California truck accident lawyer for your case.
If you’ve been injured in a big rig or tractor trailer commercial truck accident in Thermal, Salton City, Coachella, Indio, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Cabazon, Banning, Brawley or anywhere in California, on the I-10 freeway the 86 Expressway, Hwy 111 or any other highway, call California Commercial Truck Accident Lawyer Sebastian Gibson.
Where To Find the Right California Commercial Truck Accident Lawyer
California Commercial Truck Accident Lawyer Sebastian Gibson has a history of successfully representing victims of big rig, tractor trailer, 18 wheeler and semi trailer commercial truck and other motor vehicle accidents in California, from the Salton Sea and Thermal, throughout the Coachella Valley, in Orange County, San Diego and Los Angeles.
It’s a problem that continues to grow as more and more commercial truck accidents in California are caused by negligent, careless, reckless and inattentive commercial truck drivers each year. The vast majority of such accidents in California are caused by inattentive drivers who simply lose concentration or whose attention fades after far too many hours on the road. If you’ve been the victim of such an accident caused by a negligent, careless or reckless commercial truck driver, you need a California commercial truck accident lawyer experienced in this type of case. You need California commercial truck accident lawyer Sebastian Gibson.
Commercial vehicles aren’t just large big rig or semi trucks. Other commercial vehicles include large delivery trucks, mail trucks, cargo and equipment vans, large buses, shuttle buses, taxis, casino buses, corporate-owned vehicles, tow trucks, dump trucks, lab vehicles, pest control vehicles, hotel vans, party buses, limos, ambulances, delivery trucks, armored trucks and couriers, overnight delivery trucks, pizza delivery cars and pickup trucks, tour buses, and privately owned trucks being used in the course and scope of employment.
The California Vehicle Code statutes are meant to prevent commercial truck drivers from falling asleep at the wheel, texting or performing other activities when they should be attentive to driving conditions, but truck drivers become distracted when they fill out forms while driving, use their cell phones to call their destinations or loved ones, talk to passengers, bend down to pick up something that’s fallen off a seat, or eat while they drive so they don’t lose time. When they perform these or any number of other tasks while driving, they become inattentive to the road, and commercial large and small truck, van and panel truck accidents occur.
Commercial truck accidents also occur when truck drivers fail to heed weather reports or continue to drive during windy conditions or other types of dangerous weather when they should be pulling off the road rather than risking their own lives and that of other drivers on the road.
A frequent result of a commercial accidents in California, is that when a commercial truck hits anything smaller like a compact car or even a pickup truck that gets in the way, more often than not, the smaller and more lightweight car or truck is going to be crushed or burn in a catastrophic accident involving sometimes horrendous injuries and or the death of any passengers, their children and their pets. If the commercial truck does not jackknife, it may rollover and crush any other vehicles in its path.
California commercial truck accident lawyer Sebastian Gibson has been named one of the Top Lawyers repeatedly by Palm Springs Life Magazine. He’s been called “Brilliant” and “A Legend.” If you want a top California commercial truck accident lawyer on your side, call Sebastian Gibson. Call us today at (760) 776-1810.
California Commercial Truck Accidents on Freeways
Commercial trucks are the lifeblood of commerce in California. They deliver the goods to industry, to grocery stores and even to our front doors when items we’ve purchased or have been mailed are delivered. No city in California can exist today without having commercial trucks on their roads.
Just in the Coachella Valley alone, in the Palm Springs and Indio area, more than a million big rigs pass through the Coachella Valley on the Interstate I-10 freeway each year and that doesn’t even count the commercial trucks on the city streets in the cities which make up the Coachella Valley. In California, many commercial truck drivers are independent contractors and for them, time is money. They have to move fast or their profits go down.
The truck speed limit on the I-10 through the Coachella Valley is 55 mph. However, most truckers drive through the valley at faster speeds. City streets have various speed limits but it’s not unusual to see commercial trucks driving faster on city streets as well and double parking to deliver their goods and packages.
The factors which California commercial truck accident lawyer Sebastian Gibson commonly sees in crashes involving commercial trucks commonly include speed, driver fatigue from driving too many hours without a break or too many hours in one day, lack of familiarity with the highway, bad weather including wind or rain, wet roads, drugs or alcohol, falling asleep at the wheel, expired medical certificates, poor maintenance, fires on board and safety violations.
If you’ve been involved in an accident with a commercial truck, you want a California commercial truck accident lawyer who will be with you every step of the way.
These Are Only A Few Of the Biggest Trucking Companies Whose Trucks You’ll See On the Road
The number of trucks on the road is simply staggering. Today there are about 40 million trucks registered and used for business purposes (excluding government and farm).
There are nearly 1.2 million for-hire trucking companies on file with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in addition to private carriers totaling over 800,000, and a further 80,000 plus interstate motor carriers.
The size and weight of these trucks is equally staggering. Big rigs can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. There are by some estimates, as many as 15.5 million trucks operating in the U.S. Of this, 2 million tractor trailers are being operated, and over 5.5 million semi-trailers are on the roads and highways.
Not surprisingly, with this number of trucks on the road, it is estimated that over 500,000 truck accidents occur each year.
The top biggest trucking companies include the following:
Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. provides truckload transportation as well as logistic services. Knight operates a fleet of 4,000 tractors and 8,800 trailers and also provides brokerage and other freight management services.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services operates more than 12,000 trucks. Over 100,000 trailers and containers are in its fleet. It was one of the first large US truck companies to utilize a system of trucking containers straight from trains and ships.
XPO Logistics is a freight brokerage provider worldwide, with approximately 38,000 independent carriers operating over one million trucks
Old Dominion Freight Line provides truckload shipping and also offers truckload brokerage, supply chain consulting, and warehousing. It operates approximately 41,000 tractor and trailers.
Schneider National operates 10,120 company trucks and 33,830 trailers on the road and provides brokerage, supply chain management, and port logistic services, among other services.
Werner Enterprises is a transportation and logistics company that operates with more than 8,000 trucks and 24,000 trailers.
Landstar System has a network of independent agents consisting of more than 16,000 trailers, 10,000 owner operated trucks and nearly 60,000 other capacity vehicles.
US Xpress Enterprises today has more than 15,500 trailers and 7,000 tractors providing logistic services.
Daeske is one of the biggest flatbed trucking companies with a fleet of more than 13,000 specialized trailers and 6,000 tractors.
CRST International has a current fleet of about 4,500 trucks.
This Is Just An Estimate of the Number Of Trucks Operated in Private Fleets by Companies
However, there are more than 200,000 companies, excluding farmers, who operate private fleets of trucks in the United States as well.
Among those private fleets, some of the largest include the following:
Walmart – 6,500 tractors and 55,000 trailers
Amazon – 40,000 semi-trucks and 30,000 vans
Waste Management Inc. – 26,000 collection and transfer vehicles
PepsiCo – 36,000 trucks and over 14,000 tractors
Coca- Cola – 5,487 tractors, 1,354 trucks, and 7,500 trailers
Sysco – 7,800 trailers and 9,400 total vehicles
US Foods – More than 5,400 tractors, nearly 350 straight trucks and more than 8,400 trailers
UPS – Nearly 100,000 delivery trucks, over 27,000 truck tractors, and nearly 100,000 trailers.
FedEx – More than 100,000 trucks in its Express division and more than 170,000 vehicles in its ground transportation fleet.
It’s No Surprise How Many Trucks Are Manufactured and Sold Each Year When You’re On the Freeway
Over 235,000 heavy trucks were produced in the United States in 2020. More than 4.3 million heavy trucks were produced worldwide. The most popular semi-trucks in America include these trucks:
Freightliner, which has about 40% of the commercial truck market share and which sells about 190,000-200,000 trucks per year.
Kenworth, which sells over 150,000 trucks per year and which has about a 14% market share.
Peterbilt which manufactures medium and heavy-duty trucks has about a 13% market share. Peterbilt is a subsidiary of Paccar which also owns heavy-duty truck manufacturer Kenworth. Peterbilt makes over 150 trucks each day.
International has about an 11% market share.
Volvo Trucks make up about a 10% market share. A Swedish commercial vehicle manufacturer, it also owns Mack Trucks.
It’s no wonder when you see so many large trucks on the freeways, roads and highways these days why truck accidents are so frequent.
Palm Springs Commercial Truck Accidents, And Much More
The number of truck accidents with injuries and deaths has been steadily increasing in recent years, not only in California, but nationwide. Just in one year, from 2015 to 2016, the number of injury and fatal truck accidents across the U.S. went up over 8 percent. Truck rollover crashes went up over 9 percent as did pedestrian fatalities. If you’ve been involved in a big rig or tractor trailer truck crash anywhere in California, you need an attorney experienced in large commercial truck accidents.
With over 35 years of experience as a personal injury attorney, California Commercial Truck Accident Lawyer Sebastian Gibson has the experience to handle personal injury victims to represent individuals and families involved in an 18-wheeler truck accident, big rig truck accident, tractor trailer truck accident, semi truck accident, commercial truck accident, auto accident, motorcycle accident, pedestrian accident, bicycle accident or any other type of car or motor vehicle accident or personal injury claim.
Our personal injury lawyers have handled cases in California involving distracted and inattentive drivers, drowsy driving, aggressive driving, road rage intentional driving, negligent or careless driving, drunk driving accidents, reckless driving, hit and run accidents, intersection crashes, failures to stop at red lights and stop signs, accidents caused by speed, accidents caused by distracted drivers and drivers using their cell phones to text or tweet at the time of their accident.
Negligent driving by inattentive drivers isn’t simply committed by drivers of commercial trucks, tractor trailers and semi trucks, and drivers of big rigs, it’s also committed by young and old, people going to work or school, car and car pool drivers, drivers of SUV’s and pickup trucks and by motorcycle riders, and riders of mopeds and scooters.
The victims of careless and inattentive driving include other drivers of cars and trucks, pedestrians, bicycle riders, riders of motorcycles, sport bikes and mountain bikes as well as children playing and these accidents cause broken bones, internal injuries, back and neck injuries, soft tissue injuries, scars and on occasion, catastrophic injuries, paraplegia, quadriplegia and wrongful deaths.
The California Commercial Truck Accident Lawyer You Need
Two words describe California Commercial Truck Accident Lawyer Sebastian Gibson. Ridiculously Good. He’s been called “Brilliant” and “A Legend” but not simply for his talent as a personal injury lawyer with over 45 years of experience. His talent comes from a determination to do good for his clients.
With law degrees in both the U.S. and the U.K., California Commercial Truck Accident Lawyer Sebastian Gibson and over 45 years of experience in California and in London, Sebastian Gibson has spent the last 30 years representing commercial truck accident victims and other personal injury clients in Southern California. During that time he’s been frequently asked to be interviewed on radio and TV for his expertise, his wit and humor. The author of thousands of articles on the internet, Sebastian Gibson has also written for the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal newspapers and is the author of a published book in 2012.
With millions of dollars in settlements for his auto accident clients and families who’ve lost a loved one, California Commercial Truck Accident Lawyer Sebastian Gibson has been named one of the Top Lawyers for the past 14 years by Palm Springs Life Magazine for good reason and he’s been called “Brilliant” and “A Legend.” He’s known for his wit and humor, and a determination to make sure his clients receive the compensation they deserve. He has also been named as a “Superb” Lawyer by Avvo, their highest rating, which rates attorneys throughout the U.S.
Our personal injury lawyers have represented individuals injured in commercial truck accidents and we can represent you against an insurance company for a commercial truck accident in California, both inland, and up and down the coast.
Truck Accident Statistics in California and the U.S.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) tracks the number of large truck accident and bus crashes in the U.S. Of the approximately 415,000 police-reported crashes involving large trucks in 2015, there were 3,598 (1 percent) fatal crashes and 83,000 (20 percent) injury crashes.
Approximately 60 percent of all fatal crashes involving large 18 wheeler and tractor trailer trucks occurred on rural roads and 25 percent on rural or urban Interstate highways.
Thirty-five percent of all fatal crashes, 21 percent of all injury crashes, and 19 percent of all property damage only crashes involving large trucks occurred at night (6:00 pm to 6:00 am).
In 2015, 4,050 large big rig and tractor trailer trucks were involved in fatal crashes. According to statistics kept involving these large trucks, 53,263 commercial trucks were involved in injury crashes, and 95,337 were involved in tow away crashes.
Singles (truck tractors pulling a single semi-trailer) accounted for 65 percent of the large trucks involved in fatal crashes in 2015; doubles (tractors pulling two trailers) made up 3 percent of the large trucks involved in fatal crashes; and triples (tractors pulling three trailers) accounted for 0.1 percent of all large trucks involved in fatal crashes.
Of the 3,996 drivers of large commercial trucks involved in fatal crashes in 2015, 206 (5 percent) were 25 years of age or younger, and 211 (5 percent) were 66 years of age or older. In comparison, 4 (2 percent) of the 261 drivers of buses in fatal crashes were 25 years of age or younger, and 34 (13 percent) were 66 years of age or older.
Big Rig, Tractor Trailer, Semi Trailer and 18 Wheeler Commercial Truck Accidents in Salton Sea, Thermal and Coachella on Hwy 86
Hwy 86 is a death trap to motorists attempting to get onto the high speed road with large 18 wheeler, big rig and tractor trailer trucks barreling down on them, not to mention other cars traveling at speeds far in excess of the speed limit.
With so many large tractor trailer trucks that are poorly lighted on a high speed roadway that stretches from Brawley, past Salton City, Thermal and Desert Shores to Indio, car accidents occur frequently with devastating results.
This is an area of farm land, agriculture and the trucks that carry the produce, vegetables and palm trees which are grown in the area. Some of the cars and trucks driven in this area are in need of repair and upon entering the highway, find themselves all too quickly faced with much larger trucks barreling down on them.
If you’ve been injured in a big rig, tractor trailer, semi trailer or other commercial 18 wheeler truck on Hwy 86, call California Commercial Truck Accident Lawyer Sebastian Gibson today for a free consultation in your home or hospital. We take all truck accidents on contingency, which means there is no fee or costs unless we are successful in obtaining a judgment in court, a winning arbitration, mediation or a settlement.
See The Doctor And Get Under the Care of a Medical Professional, We’ll Take It From There
The most important thing for you to do after being the victim of a commercial truck accident caused by an negligent or careless driver or one where the other driver was inattentive, reckless or distracted, is to get the best possible treatment you need for your injuries.
Depending on the level of impact to you or your vehicle, which in these accidents is usually extensive, you’re almost certainly in a great deal of pain, may still be off work, and may be worried how you’re going to pay for medical treatment if you have no health insurance.
California commercial truck accident lawyer Sebastian Gibson can safely guide you through your commercial truck accident, deal with the insurance adjusters and refer you to doctors who will wait to be paid out of any settlement for the treatment they provide to you.
You Get Better From Your Truck Driving Accident, Leave The Rest To Us
California Commercial Truck Accident Lawyer Sebastian Gibson will prevent you from falling into traps set by insurance company adjusters who may either be ignoring you or calling you constantly, trying to trip you up by taking a recorded statement to either pin the blame on you or to get you to say you’re fine before you can even identify all your aches and pains.
Despite their warm and friendly image on TV, insurance companies can be difficult at best to deal with and the insurance adjusters in California are particularly bad. An insurance company will often suggest that your claim has little or no value by using any admissions you made in your recorded statement against you or by using pre-existing medical conditions against you.
If an insurance company infers they see some comparative negligence on your behalf for even a made up reason, suddenly even a “nuisance value” settlement offer may sound like a good deal when it’s not, to an accident victim desperate to have their car repaired so they can return to work and put food on the table for their family.
When It Matters Most, Call California Commercial Truck Accident Lawyer Sebastian Gibson For Your Truck Driving Accident
The time to act is now, before the insurance company concludes your case can be resolved for pennies on the dollar because you’re unrepresented and categorizes your case as having little more than nuisance value. Call the number at the top of this page to talk to Sebastian Gibson.
Choosing the Right California Truck Accident Attorney
California Commercial Truck Accident Lawyer Sebastian Gibson’s practice areas in the field of truck accident law is today focused on the representation of individual victims who have been seriously injured and families who have lost a loved one when their vehicle has been involved in an accident with a big rig truck, tractor-trailer truck, semi-trailer truck, 18 wheeler, Fed Ex, UPS or other delivery truck, landscaping truck, garbage disposal truck, dump truck, cement mixer, flatbed truck, refrigerated truck, tank truck, heavy hauler, mobile crane, military truck, box truck, construction truck, car transport truck trailer, a fire truck or a heavy duty pickup truck.
