Trucking Accidents

San Diego trucking accident attorneys
Types of trucking accident cases and Casey Gerry’s experience

For 60 years Casey Gerry's San Diego trucking accident attorneys have prosecuted serious trucking accident cases resulting in serious injury and wrongful death. Casey Gerry trucking accident lawyers handled a very serious accident on Highway 86 in El Centro where a truck crossed into the opposite lane, striking a school bus filled with children. Our trucking accident attorneys represented the parents of the children who died in the accident, and litigated against the truck, the tire manufacturer, and other defendants, including the State of California for a dangerous highway condition. Our trucking accident lawyers secured settlements for the parents.

Casey Gerry attorneys David Casey and Wendy Behan recently secured a substantial settlement for a young engineer whose career was derailed when he suffered a head injury in a serious motor vehicle accident. The young man and several friends were traveling to a wedding when their car developed engine trouble. They pulled over and parked on the shoulder, emergency blinkers flashing, awaiting roadside assistance. Our client was sitting in the back seat, still wearing his seat belt when a tractor trailer drifted out of its lane and onto the shoulder. Too late, the driver slammed on his brakes. The 18-wheeler rammed the car and sent it tumbling down a steep embankment.

Our client’s head was slammed against the driver’s headrest and he lost consciousness. CHP officers arrived and he was transported to a local hospital, where he was treated for shoulder injuries and a laceration to his head. Over the next week, he suffered nausea, and severe headaches and vertigo. He also became extremely anxious and fearful. His own physician diagnosed a Grade III concussion and referred him for further evaluation by a neurologist and a psychiatrist. Both of these experts agreed that he had post-concussion syndrome, with significant impairment of his ability to concentrate and problem-solve. He also had severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The driver of the tractor-trailer had a well-documented record of collisions; in less than three years with his employer he had had five motor vehicle accidents, three of them involving his truck having struck a parked or non-moving vehicle. Despite this disturbing record, the employer did not dismiss him, but allowed him to continue driving a 26,000 pound tractor-trailer.

Over the next year, our client’s difficulties increased. His concussion left him excruciatingly sensitive to sound, for which he required special noise-filtering earplugs. Despite his efforts at rehabilitation, he continued to have severe difficulties in concentration and in managing complex mental tasks that were formerly well within his ability. He was laid off from his job and he required the help of a personal assistant or a family member to accomplish the most basic tasks and errands. An assessment by a vocational rehabilitation specialist found that he could handle only low-level tasks in his field, and that his lifetime future earnings were dramatically reduced. He applied for Social Security Disability and was found to be 100% disabled as a consequence of the accident.

Casey Gerry attorneys filed a claim against the truck driver for severe negligence and against his employer for negligent entrustment, negligent supervision/retention, and willful misconduct.  Given the driver’s lengthy history of substandard driving, our attorneys also sought punitive damages.

The case was resolved in mediation and Casey Gerry was able to secure for our client a very substantial monetary award that covered past and future medical care, and compensation for the loss of a productive career.

In Anaheim, California a large truck pulled out in front of a young man driving his vehicle, and the collision resulted in his death. Extensive discovery and deposition testimony regarding the two vehicles’ speeds enabled our trucking accident attorneys to show that the large truck had pulled out unexpectedly in front of our client and caused the accident. We secured a significant recovery for the young man’s widow and their children.

In 2005, Casey Gerry's trucking accident attorneys represented a man who was seriously injured in the Palm Desert area. A twenty-one ton garbage truck backed over him in the Riverside County Landfill. We established that the operators of the truck were negligent because the truck did not have a working back-up device. We established further negligence because the truck failed to have a spotter to warn people of its backing up, and we showed that the defendants documented that the back-up alarm had been inoperable for over 58 consecutive days prior to our client’s injury. We secured a recovery for our client and also sought punitive damages because of the egregious failure to have the back-up warning device audible.

Over the years Casey Gerry has seen repeated cases of persons seriously injured or killed by trucks backing up when there was no warning device. In the case described above, Casey Gerry's trucking accident attorneys conducted extensive depositions of employees in the company and obtained numerous records to show the egregiousness of their negligence.

If you're hurt in a rollover, jack-knife, rear-end collision or other accident with a "semi" tractor-trailer, an experienced personal injury lawyer at Casey Gerry may be able to help.