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According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, there were approximately 119,000 truck accidents in the U.S. in 2021, nearly 6,000 of which were fatal. This represents a roughly 5% fatality rate. The truck accident statistics for California are not as bad—the state had roughly 14,000 truck accidents in 2023, with 377 of them being fatal. This means that only about 2.5% were fatal.
While truck accidents are less dangerous in California than they are nationwide, that doesn’t mean a truck accident there is unlikely to result in serious injuries. If you are involved in a truck accident, you may need significant medical attention. If those medical costs are more than the insurance company is willing to pay, you may be able to get greater compensation by filing a truck accident lawsuit.
California Statute of Limitations for Truck Accident Cases
According to California truck and car accident laws, when someone is injured in a traffic accident, the statute of limitations allows them to file a lawsuit within two years of suffering that injury. If the injured party misses that deadline, the court will dismiss the case, and they will have no other legal avenues for pursuing additional compensation.
California Laws for Truck Drivers
The legal system in California is similar to the legal system in every other state in one very important way. There are hundreds of laws, and often, a case can hinge on a seemingly innocuous wording or a rather obscure law. The following are aspects of the law that may affect a truck accident case.
- Statute of limitations exceptions. The statute of limitations is not always a hard deadline. It can be extended if the victim was under the age of 18 when they were injured or if the alleged responsible party left the state during the statute of limitations.
- Claims against the government are different. A claim against the state or local government must be filed within six months rather than two years.
- Reporting rules. The driver in a truck accident needs to report it to the California DMV within 10 days if anyone was injured, anyone was killed or the accident resulted in at least $1,000 worth of property damage.
Identifying Fault for Truck Accidents in California
California, like most states, uses an at-fault accident system for compensating people who were injured in a truck accident. This means that the party responsible for the accident is also responsible for paying for medical costs for injured parties and repair costs for the damaged vehicles. Typically, the insurance company of the responsible party covers those costs based on any limits in the driver’s insurance policy.
However, in many accidents, identifying who was at fault can be complicated. Often, both drivers performed actions that contributed to the accident. In these cases, fault may be split between multiple parties. When that happens in California, each party is responsible for compensating the other party based on the percentage they are at fault.
Thus, if a driver incurred $100,000 in medical costs resulting from an accident in which they were 20% at fault, they could recover a maximum of $80,000.
For these reasons, insurance companies and lawyers typically spend a lot of effort trying to identify who was responsible for a truck accident. If there is conflicting evidence, the case may need to be resolved through arbitration or a lawsuit.