Braking Ability

Due to the size and weight of a big rig or semi, commercial vehicle accidents can be devastating for someone in a smaller vehicle. Some truck crashes are caused by faulty or poorly maintained brakes that lead to a trucker’s poor braking ability. This can be especially dangerous on a highway when vehicles are going at high speeds, or while a truck is driving downhill. If you are injured in the Los Angeles area because a trucker was negligent, you can consult the experienced Los Angeles truck accident attorneys at Sharifi Firm. We can help you explore your options and assert your rights.

Often, the injuries arising from cases that grow out of reduced braking ability are catastrophic, sometimes including brain trauma and paralysis. If you were in a truck accident, you can frequently sue the driver for negligence. You would need to show the truck driver's duty, a breach of duty, causation, and damages. It takes about 1/3 longer for a commercial truck to come to a complete stop than it takes a passenger car. Truck drivers must maintain a safe distance between themselves and the vehicles in front of them, and a failure to do so is usually negligence.

When a truck's brakes do not work and an accident results, you can potentially also sue the trucking company that owns the vehicle and employs the driver. This is important because a driver's individual insurance may not offer enough coverage to pay for catastrophic injuries. The trucking company's liability may be indirect or direct. If the trucking company did not do anything negligent, it may be sued under a theory of vicarious liability, which holds employers liable for an employee's negligence when the employee was in the course and scope of employment and acting for the employer's benefit when an accident occurred. While trucking companies may claim that a driver who works for them is an independent contractor in order to avoid liability, it may be possible to show that the driver is actually an employee who has been misclassified.

Trucking companies or agencies may be held directly liable for an accident if they failed to repair faulty brakes on trucks they own or inadequately maintained them. They can also be held directly liable if they are negligent in hiring, training, or supervising a driver. In some cases, they can be sued for negligent entrustment.

In most truck accident cases involving braking ability, it is important to retain an expert to examine whether the brakes were working at the time of the accident. Sometimes the brakes may have been working well, but the driver may have improperly or overly loaded the truck, and as a result of the extra weight, the brakes did not work as they should have.

Trucking companies’ attorneys and insurers may try to put a truck back in service before the victim of the accident has a chance to collect all the necessary evidence related to the brakes. It is crucial to retain an experienced attorney as soon as possible to retain an expert and take a look at the brakes and other conditions that could have caused the accident. If you have been hurt by a trucker’s carelessness in Los Angeles or the surrounding communities, our motor vehicle collision lawyers can bring a lawsuit to pursue the damages to which you may be entitled. Contact us at (866) 422-7222 or via our online form for a free, no-obligation consultation. We represent individuals in cities across Southern California, such as Rancho Cucamonga, Temecula, and San Bernardino.