Las Vegas Truck Accident Lawyers
Gallagher & Lipshutz represents people injured in crashes involving semi trucks, 18-wheelers, box trucks, FedEx, UPS and Amazon delivery trucks, dump trucks, garbage trucks, buses, and other large commercial vehicles in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson and throughout Clark County. Our truck accident attorneys handle the claim from the first day to the settlement or trial. These crashes are different from car crashes because the injuries are often worse, the insurance is often larger, and the trucking company may send investigators to the scene quickly. I-15 is a major freight route through Las Vegas, and heavy truck traffic also moves through US-95/I-515, the Spaghetti Bowl, casino delivery areas, construction zones, and warehouse corridors.
A truck crash claim usually requires fast work. The police report may tell part of the story, but it often will not show the driver's hours, truck maintenance, cargo loading, company safety practices, dispatch pressure, or electronic data from the truck. Those records count because a truck crash may be caused by more than one mistake. A driver may have been too tired, but the company may also have failed to train the driver, fix the brakes, monitor driving hours, or load the cargo safely.
We offer free consultations for Nevada truck accident victims. Call (702) 381-3770 or contact Gallagher & Lipshutz before giving a recorded statement or signing anything from a trucking insurance company. These cases move fast, and the trucking company may already be gathering its side of the evidence. Nevada gives most injury victims two years to file — see our Nevada injury claim deadlines page.
Why Truck Accident Cases Are Different
Truck accident cases are different because large trucks can cause catastrophic harm. A passenger car is no match for a loaded tractor trailer, dump truck, or delivery vehicle. Injuries can include brain injuries, spinal injuries, broken bones, burns, internal injuries, amputations, chronic pain, and wrongful death. The size of the truck can also make the crash evidence more technical, including braking distance, blind spots, cargo weight, tire condition, and driver hours.
Truck cases also often involve companies, not just drivers. A trucking company may have its own safety department, insurance adjusters, lawyers, and crash response teams. The company may control records that the injured person cannot get without a formal request or lawsuit. Those records may include the driver qualification file showing the driver's license, training, medical card, safety history, and background checks; maintenance records; dispatch messages; drug and alcohol testing records; and electronic logging devices that record a trucker's driving hours.
Because the company controls much of the proof, the case has to start early. Those records are obtained in the litigation through written discovery, which is written questions and document requests, depositions, which are sworn question and answer sessions, and subpoenas, which are court backed requests for records or witnesses.
Who Can Be Held Liable After a Commercial Truck Accident in Las Vegas?
The truck driver may be responsible if careless driving caused the crash. Examples include speeding, unsafe lane changes, following too closely, driving while too tired, texting, driving while intoxicated, or failing to inspect the truck. But the driver is only the starting point. A trucking company may also be responsible if the driver was working for the company or if the company failed to hire, train, monitor, or supervise the driver safely.
Some trucking companies try to avoid responsibility by calling the driver an independent contractor. That label does not resolve the issue. The real question can include who controlled the work, who owned or leased the truck, who dispatched the load, who set the schedule, who handled safety rules, and who had operational control over how the work was done.
Other parties may also be responsible. A cargo loader may be at fault if the load shifted or was too heavy. A maintenance company may be at fault if bad brakes, bad tires, or poor repairs caused the crash. A truck or parts maker may be at fault if a defect caused the failure. A shipper or broker may also need review depending on its role. Nevada's comparative fault rule also comes into play if the trucking company tries to blame the injured person. See Nevada's comparative fault rule, NRS 41.141.
Federal Trucking Rules That May Apply
Many commercial trucking cases involve federal safety rules. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, often called FMCSA, is the federal agency that sets many safety rules for commercial trucks and bus companies. These rules can cover hours of service, which are limits on how long a driver can drive before rest; driver qualification, including whether the driver was properly licensed, medically cleared, and checked by the company; vehicle inspection and repair; and electronic logging devices that record a trucker's driving hours. See FMCSA hours of service guidance and 49 CFR Part 395.
Rule violations do not automatically prove the whole case, but they can be strong evidence. If a driver drove too many hours, skipped required rest, falsified logs, drove a truck that was out of service, or failed a required safety step, those facts can help explain why the crash happened. Not every truck is covered by every federal rule, and some rules depend on the truck's weight, cargo, route, and whether the trip crosses state lines. The actual company and vehicle records should be reviewed before accepting a simple explanation of the crash.
Evidence to Gather and Save After a Truck Crash
Important truck crash evidence includes the police report, photos, scene measurements, dash camera video, nearby surveillance video, electronic control module data, driver logs, electronic logging device data, inspection reports, maintenance files, cargo records, dispatch messages, shipping paperwork, cell phone records, drug and alcohol testing records, and company safety policies. The electronic control module is sometimes called the truck's black box. It may show speed, braking, throttle, and other data near the time of the crash.
Camera systems may overwrite video, drivers may move on to other jobs, dispatch messages may be archived, and repair work may change the truck. Once a lawsuit is filed, subpoenas and discovery obtain the records that are not available to the public. Our guides explain how to get your Las Vegas crash report and how to get traffic camera footage after a crash.
Common Causes of Las Vegas Truck Accidents
Common causes include driving while too tired, distracted driving, unsafe lane changes, speeding, following too closely, overloaded cargo, shifting cargo, brake problems, tire failures, poor maintenance, inexperienced drivers, driving while intoxicated, and pressure from dispatch or delivery schedules. Local Las Vegas factors can include freeway congestion, construction zones, tourist traffic, casino deliveries, and heavy traffic around distribution and warehouse areas. A serious truck crash often has more than one cause.
For example, a driver may rear end a car because he was too tired, but the deeper evidence may show that the company set an unsafe schedule, ignored warning signs, failed to check driving hours, or kept a truck on the road with bad brakes. Truck cases should not be treated as simple rear end crashes without reviewing the company records. The crash report is a starting point, not the whole case.
Semi-Truck and 18-Wheeler Accidents on I-15 and US-95
A loaded tractor trailer can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, about twenty times the weight of a passenger car, and it needs far more room to stop. Semi trucks concentrate on I-15 between the California line and the Speedway, on US-95 and I-515 through the Spaghetti Bowl, and on the 215 Beltway where freeway traffic meets the warehouse districts. The common patterns are a truck rear-ending stopped traffic, a lane change into a car riding in the truck's blind spot, a jackknife or rollover in wind or a curve, and an underride crash where a car slides beneath the trailer.
Because these trucks cross state lines, federal rules apply to the driver and the company. A driver may drive no more than 11 hours after 10 straight hours off duty, may not drive past the 14th hour of the work day, must take a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving, and may not drive after 60 hours on duty in 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days. An electronic logging device in the cab records those hours. Interstate carriers hauling ordinary freight must carry at least $750,000 in liability coverage under 49 CFR 387.9, and carriers hauling hazardous materials must carry $1 million to $5 million. Those policies are why a semi-truck case is worked differently from a car case: the coverage exists to pay serious injuries, and the trucking company's insurer will fight over fault and the value of the injury from the first day. Our semi-truck accident attorneys obtain the logging device data, the truck's electronic control module, the driver's file and the dispatch records in the litigation.
FedEx, UPS and Amazon Delivery Truck Accidents
Delivery vans and box trucks crash in neighborhoods, parking lots and casino loading areas every day, and the first question in those cases is who actually employed the driver. The name on the truck is often not the company that owns it. FedEx contracts with independent businesses that use their own employees and their own vehicles to pick up and deliver packages, so a FedEx Ground van is usually owned and driven by a local contractor's employee. Amazon's branded vans are operated by Delivery Service Partners, independent businesses that hire and manage their own drivers, and Amazon's tractor trailers are often run by separate Amazon Freight Partner companies. UPS package drivers, by contrast, are generally UPS employees.
That structure decides which insurance policies apply and whose records count. A claim after a FedEx or Amazon van crash starts with the contractor's commercial policy, and it can reach the larger company when the contract, the delivery software, the route and schedule control, or the safety requirements show that the larger company controlled how the work was done or chose an unsafe contractor. Our delivery truck accident attorneys identify the contractor from the police report and the van's registration, obtain the route data, the driver's file and the vehicle's camera in the litigation, and pursue the policies that cover the crash. Our FedEx, UPS and Amazon delivery truck accident lawyers page covers each company's structure, Amazon Flex and rental trucks, and garbage, dump, cement, tanker and tow truck crashes.
North Las Vegas Truck Accidents
North Las Vegas is the valley's warehouse district, and it carries the truck traffic that goes with it. I-15 north of the Spaghetti Bowl passes the warehouse districts along Tropical Parkway, Lamb Boulevard, Craig Road and Cheyenne Avenue, where Amazon and other shippers run some of the largest distribution buildings in Nevada, and US-93 continues north to the industrial parks past the Speedway. Semi trucks, box trucks and delivery vans move in and out of those facilities around the clock, sharing Craig Road, Lamb Boulevard, Losee Road and the 215 Beltway with commuters.
A North Las Vegas truck accident follows the same Nevada law and the same federal rules as a crash anywhere else in the valley, but the crash report comes from the North Las Vegas Police Department, or the Nevada Highway Patrol on I-15, rather than the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and the warehouse, the trucking company and the driver's employer are often three different companies. Our truck accident attorneys handle North Las Vegas cases from our Las Vegas office; there is no need to look for a separate North Las Vegas firm.
Damages in a Truck Accident Claim
Truck crashes often cause severe injuries that affect health, work, and daily life for years. Damages may include medical bills, future medical care, missed wages, the money you can no longer earn in the future, pain, physical limits, scarring, disability, and loss of enjoyment of life. If the crash caused a death, Nevada law lets certain family members bring a wrongful death claim. See Nevada's wrongful death statute, NRS 41.085. Our Las Vegas wrongful death lawyers page explains who can bring the claim and what a family can recover.
Serious truck cases may need more than medical bills to show the full loss. A doctor may need to explain future treatment. A job expert may need to explain work limits. An economist may need to calculate future wage loss. For a broader damages overview, see our Nevada personal injury practice page.
Commercial Insurance and Company Defenses
Truck accident claims often involve commercial insurance policies with higher limits than typical car policies. Higher limits do not make recovery automatic. The insurance company may still dispute fault, whether the crash caused the injury, whether treatment was needed, what future care will cost, and whether the trucking company is responsible for the driver, truck, trailer, or cargo.
Common defenses include blaming the injured driver, arguing that the truck driver faced an emergency, claiming another driver caused the crash, or saying the driver was an independent contractor. Dispatch records, driver files, company safety records, maintenance records, shipping paperwork, and electronic data may show who controlled the work and whether safety failures caused the crash.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who pays for a truck accident?
Payment may come from the truck driver's policy, the trucking company's policy, the truck owner's policy, a trailer owner's policy, a maintenance company, a cargo company, or another at fault party. The answer depends on who caused the crash, who owned or controlled the truck, what the driver was doing, and which insurance policies apply.
Why do I need a lawyer for a truck accident?
Truck cases involve records and rules that car cases often do not. A lawyer can identify the at fault parties, obtain the company records in the litigation, review federal safety issues, and deal with commercial insurance companies. The goal is to keep the case from being decided only on the trucking company's version of events.
How soon should I act after a truck crash?
Immediately. Evidence such as electronic logging device data, dash camera video, dispatch records, maintenance records, and driver files can become harder to get with time. Early work also helps identify all parties before the deadline becomes a problem.
How long do I have to file a truck accident claim in Nevada?
Most Nevada truck accident injury lawsuits must be filed within two years of the crash. That deadline comes from Nevada's general injury filing deadline, NRS 11.190(4)(e). Do not wait until the deadline is close because trucking evidence can disappear long before the deadline. See our Nevada injury filing deadlines page for more detail.
What if the truck driver worked for an out of state company?
An out of state company can still be responsible for a Nevada crash if its truck or driver caused injuries here. The case may involve Nevada law, federal trucking rules, the company's home state records, and insurance policies issued elsewhere. Those facts need to be reviewed early.
Who is responsible when a FedEx or Amazon delivery van hits me?
Usually the local contractor that employed the driver and owned the van, through its commercial insurance policy. FedEx and Amazon both deliver through independent businesses that hire their own drivers, so the claim starts with that business and its insurer. The larger company can also be responsible when it controlled the route, the schedule or the safety rules, or when it put an unsafe contractor on the road, and those contracts and records have to be requested early.
How are truck accident settlements different?
Truck settlements often involve more serious injuries, larger policies, more than one at fault party, federal safety rules, expert review, and more records than a car crash. A fair review usually requires looking beyond the police report to the driver, the company, the truck, the load, and the insurance.
Can I recover if the trucking company blames me?
Possibly. Nevada law lets you recover if your share of fault is not greater than the fault of the person or people you are suing, but your recovery is reduced by your fault percentage. See Nevada's comparative fault rule, NRS 41.141.
Gallagher & Lipshutz's truck accident attorneys represent semi-truck, delivery truck and commercial vehicle crash victims in Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Summerlin, and throughout Clark County. For a free consultation, call (702) 381-3770 or contact Gallagher & Lipshutz. Early action helps gather and save the records that often decide a truck crash case.