Truck Accidents and Blind Spots — Bay Area Personal Injury Attorneys

There are four major blind spots on trucks and 18-wheelers that are commonly involved in truck accidents:

• The rear of a truck, outside the purview of the truck’s side mirrors
• Near the front of the truck’s left side, just behind the cabin
• Near the front of the truck’s right side, outside the purview of the truck’s right-side mirror
• The very front end of a truck and just off to the right

When car drivers are hit by trucks changing lanes it’s not uncommon for insurance companies and their lawyers to argue that the car driver bears some of the fault for driving in a truck’s blind spot. In rear-end collisions, similar arguments are made, including the claim that if a car driver hadn’t been following too closely in the first place, the accident would not have likely happened.

Insurance Claims, Truck Accidents and Blind Spots

California follows the principle of pure comparative negligence in car accident cases. This means that a car driver can recover damages even if he or she is 99 percent at fault in an accident. However, under the principle of pure comparative negligence, recovery of losses is reduced by the percentage of fault assigned to a driver. For example, if you suffer $100,000 in damages in a truck accident but are found to be 70 percent at fault, you’d be eligible to recover only $30,000.

Now you can see why the issue of whether or not you were driving in a truck’s blind spot might be important for an insurance agent to determine. In fact, it’s not uncommon for insurers to call you shortly after a car or truck accident and ask you questions about what you remember. Here, while the insurance agent may pretend to be concerned about how you’re doing, the real purpose of the call is to gather any information to shift more blame onto you and reduce the amount the insurance company has to pay you in an injury claim.

Driving in a Truck’s Blind Spot Does Not Automatically Make You at Fault

Just because you were hit or sideswiped while driving in a truck’s blind spot does not necessarily make you at fault in an accident with a truck. Truck drivers have a responsibility to change lanes safely, to drive the speed limit and to take precautions in case someone is driving in a blind spot. In cases involving rear-end collisions, trucks can’t make sudden stops or swerve in front of a driver to slow down or merge into traffic. Trucks should also have a “Mansfield Bar” installed on the back of their vehicle to prevent under-riding in rear-end collisions.

Investigate the Cause of a Truck Accident — Contact Weber & Nierenberg

At the San Francisco personal injury law office of Weber & Nierenberg, our car accident attorneys understand how to investigate and reconstruct car accidents with trucks. Working with experienced accident investigators and eyewitness testimony, we can often determine how a truck accident happened and expose negligence on the part of a truck driver.

To schedule an appointment to discuss your case, contact San Francisco truck accident attorneys at Weber & Nierenberg today.