Jim Vititoe Named to Prestigious Super Lawyers List for 16th Consecutive Year
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How Safety Regulations Can Affect Your California Truck Accident Case

If you or a loved one suffers injuries as the result of a California truck accident, it will soon become evident that that these legal cases are considerably more complex than your typical motor vehicle accident.  A perplexing entanglement of federal, state and local regulations, that can cause burdensome litigation, governs the operation and maintenance of commercial trucks. The regulations at the federal level are created and enforced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and are known as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR’s) which apply to interstate commercial vehicles that are 10,000 pounds or greater, carry hazardous materials or transport over eight [...]

By |2021-05-31T01:24:26-07:00August 29th, 2018|Truck Accidents|Comments Off on How Safety Regulations Can Affect Your California Truck Accident Case
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Why Should You Retain an Experienced California Truck Accident Attorney?

When a tractor-trailer and a passenger vehicle are involved in an accident the outcome is never good. The driver and passengers in the smaller vehicle may suffer severe injuries or even loss of life. In many accidents in California involving large commercial vehicles, negligence on the part of the driver or owner of the big rig was a contributing factor in the crash. It is imperative that anyone who was injured or lost someone in a crash, involving a commercial vehicle receives the aid of an experienced California truck accident attorney. When an 80,000-pound tractor-trailer loses control on the highway the results are often catastrophic. The [...]

By |2018-07-20T14:51:40-07:00July 20th, 2018|Truck Accidents|Comments Off on Why Should You Retain an Experienced California Truck Accident Attorney?
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California Tanker Truck Crashes – Hazards on Our Highways

Over the past two years, serious California tanker trucks have claimed several lives and injured dozens in California. One such crash occurred in May of last year, on a Highway 99 off ramp in Atwater, causing an enormous gasoline explosion and forcing hundreds to evacuate. Sadly, the driver of the tanker truck perished in the crash. With an improved economy, the number of tanker trucks on the road, delivering materials as hazardous as hydrochloric acid or as mundane as molasses, has increased significantly, putting the safety of other drivers at greater risk of harm. Despite the relatively high number of California tanker truck crashes over the [...]

By |2018-05-24T11:43:34-07:00April 9th, 2018|Truck Accidents|Comments Off on California Tanker Truck Crashes – Hazards on Our Highways
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FMCSA: Medical Examiner Certificates Revoked After 2000 Drivers Cleared Improperly

According to the agency, affected truck drivers have 30 days to be medically re-certified An estimated 2000+ commercial truck drivers are operating big rigs on the nations highways without proper medical certification. This is due to the failure of an Alabama chiropractor to properly perform tests prior to certification over the past two years. On March 22. 2018 the federal government said it would revoke the medical certificates of Dr. Kenneth G. Edwards, who had been certified by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to perform medical exams. Dr. Edwards was charged in late February by a federal grand jury with conspiracy, wire fraud, conspiracy [...]

By |2018-05-24T11:41:26-07:00March 26th, 2018|Truck Accidents|Comments Off on FMCSA: Medical Examiner Certificates Revoked After 2000 Drivers Cleared Improperly
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Liability in an Overloaded Truck Accident

Be it out of indifference or ignorance, trucking companies may push beyond the legal limits when loading their trucks, creating the possibility for catastrophe on the highway. The risk to motorists from overloaded trucks exists at anytime and anyplace in the U.S. Overloading a truck increases its stopping distance, adversely effects maneuverability and stability. An overloaded truck can also fail structurally leading to disastrous consequences. […]

By |2018-05-24T18:21:04-07:00January 17th, 2018|Truck Accidents|Comments Off on Liability in an Overloaded Truck Accident
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FMCSA: Hours-Of-Service Rule Change For Commercial Drivers to be Tested

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has plans in place to test new hours-of-service regulations for commercial truck drivers. The adjusted rules would allow drivers to divide their off duty time into two shorter periods without exceeding current on duty driving limits. Approximately 200 commercial truck drivers will be enrolled by the FMCSA into a pilot program that will basically reinstate a previous standard, allowing drivers to split their sleeper berth time. Truckers who routinely use a sleeper berth would be allowed to split their 10 hours of off-duty time into two separate sleeper berth periods of no less than three hours, under the test [...]

By |2018-05-24T19:00:36-07:00November 6th, 2017|Truck Accidents|Comments Off on FMCSA: Hours-Of-Service Rule Change For Commercial Drivers to be Tested
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Truck Accident Test Shows Need For Side Underride Guards

Underride accidents account for twenty-five percent of all fatal truck accidents. California leads the country in the number of all underride deaths with 426 recorded between 1993 and 2015. Death by underride is drastically undercounted, as some crash report forms do no contain a check box for underrides. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) tested safeguards called AngelWings that prevent passenger cars from sliding beneath the side of a tractor-trailer or large truck. Side underride crashes generally occur when a tractor-trailer jackknifes, causing vehicles behind to crash into the side. Very often airbags fail to deploy because of the height of the trailer. Roofs can [...]

By |2022-06-27T17:26:25-07:00November 3rd, 2017|Truck Accidents|Comments Off on Truck Accident Test Shows Need For Side Underride Guards
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Feds Move Forward with December ELD Mandate Enforcement

Despite protests in Washington DC and other cities, by independent truckers, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is moving forward with its plan to begin enforcing the electric logging device (ELD) mandate. The implementation date of Dec. 18 comes amid speculation regarding potential delays. The ELD mandate, which went into effect in 2015, has been in a voluntary adoption phase since then. However a study released by C.J Driscoll and Associates showed that complete conformation is far from reality. The study, which encompassed 529 fleet operators, found that 60% of commercial fleets were still using paper logs to record driver’s hours of service. “We won’t [...]

By |2018-05-24T19:08:13-07:00October 27th, 2017|Truck Accidents|Comments Off on Feds Move Forward with December ELD Mandate Enforcement
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Sleep Apnea Rule Withdrawal Denounced by Schumer and Med Groups

Three medical groups have followed the lead of head Democrat Chuck Schumer, denouncing the transportation agencies withdrawal of the sleep apnea rule. Early in August, Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asked the U.S. DOT to “immediately reverse course” on it’s recent decision to withdraw a rule requiring sleep apnea screening for truckers and railway operators. He said that the DOT’s decision to withdraw the rule “commemorates a disaster waiting to happen.” “It’s high time to move forward with making sleep apnea testing a federal requirement; no ifs, and or buts about it,” Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement to the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration (FMCSA). [...]

By |2018-05-24T19:38:10-07:00September 9th, 2017|Truck Accidents|Comments Off on Sleep Apnea Rule Withdrawal Denounced by Schumer and Med Groups
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Call us at 818-991-8900 or fill out the form below to set up a time to talk with our legal team about your case. If you are unable to come to our office in Westlake Village because of your injuries, we can come to you.

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