Large commercial vehicles continually travel through this city, bringing various materials to meet the demands of businesses and consumers. Although commercial trucks serve a growing need by delivering goods in the city, they bring risk to people who need to share the roads with them. Due to the immense size of many trucks, truck accidents often cause significant damage to other vehicles, resulting in devastating injuries to their occupants.
Some of these accidents, such as blind-spot truck accidents in San Jose, could be prevented with due diligence by truck drivers and trucking companies. If you suspect a trucker’s blind spot contributed to your crash, you might be eligible to pursue legal relief. One of the knowledgeable truck accident attorneys from Solution Now Law Firm could meet with you to review your legal options.
Blind-spot accidents happen when a motorist does not see another vehicle, cyclist, motorcyclist, or pedestrian because they were in the motorist’s blind spot. A blind spot is an area around a car or truck that the driver cannot directly observe by looking through a window or checking in a mirror. Blind spots block a driver from seeing a certain area.
Every vehicle has blind spots. For most passenger cars, the spots that are hardest to see are in the rear corners, so most drivers quickly swing their heads to check for oncoming traffic before changing lanes or passing a car. However, when a commercial truck has an attached trailer, turning around to look through the rear window is not an option.
In addition, the blind spots on semi-trucks are considerably larger. Because truck cabs sit so high off the ground and because of the trailer behind a cab, truck drivers cannot see as clearly. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, even with extended mirrors and rearview cameras, truck drivers cannot clearly see up to 20 feet in front of them, 30 feet directly in back of them, two lanes of a highway directly to their right, and one lane directly to their left.
An attorney in San Jose could investigate to look for evidence proving that a truck’s blind spot contributed to the crash.
People in those blind spots, also known as no zones, are at risk of experiencing serious harm because the truck driver cannot see them. Many trucks have signs stating that their driver cannot see specific areas. Drivers of other vehicles and pedestrians should take care to avoid being stuck in a no zone. When an accident occurs in a truck’s no zone, the truck driver or their company’s insurance company might try to shift the blame onto the other party. However, avoiding a truck’s no zones is not always possible if there is heavy traffic or a truck driver is driving aggressively, such as by tailgating other drivers or recklessly changing lanes.
Fortunately, even if another driver is partly responsible for the crash, state law would not bar them from pursuing a legal claim. The state operates with a pure comparative negligence standard. Therefore, a driver could still pursue a case even if they were 99 percent responsible and the truck driver was only 1 percent to blame. However, they would receive proportionately less damages.
A San Jose lawyer could help build a solid claim showing why the truck driver was negligent and responsible for the blind-spot accident.
Blind-spot truck accidents in San Jose should rarely occur. With proper training, truck drivers should know how to use their mirrors and cameras to understand their surroundings.
When you believe an accident happened because you were in a truck driver’s blind spot, you should call today to schedule a meeting with the lawyers from Solution Now Firm as soon as possible. We could offer you a quick turnaround and make ourselves available to you to answer all your questions.
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SAN JOSE, CA 95126
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