Truck Accident Lawyer in Pasadena

A loaded semi outweighs your car many times over. When those two meet on the I-210, the SR-134, or a Pasadena surface street, you are the one who gets hurt, and the trucking company's insurer goes to work the same day. Its adjuster calls you. Its investigators may reach the wreck before your family does. You need someone on your side just as fast. Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. represents people injured in truck crashes in and around Pasadena. Attorney Moe Abdallah takes your call himself, at any hour, and the consultation is free. You pay no fee unless he wins your case. Below you will find where big rigs and Pasadena traffic collide, the federal rules that govern truckers, the records that prove what happened, who can owe you money, and the deadlines that decide whether your claim survives.

Where big rigs and Pasadena traffic collide

Pasadena is served by the I-210 Foothill Freeway and the SR-134 Ventura Freeway, and the Arroyo Seco Parkway (SR-110) ends at Glenarm Street. Tractor-trailers cross town on the freeways, and delivery trucks, box trucks, and dump trucks work the city streets between them. The city's own analysis of 2020 to 2024 collision data found that 13% of Pasadena roadways account for 80% of fatal and serious-injury collisions. Lake Avenue, Washington Boulevard, Orange Grove Boulevard, and Colorado Boulevard are among those corridors, and the city's safety plan also lists community-requested projects on Sunset Avenue, East Colorado Boulevard, and Allen Avenue. On streets like those, a truck turning right, backing into a loading zone, or changing lanes can catch a car, a bike, or someone in a crosswalk. Pasadena ranked 7th of 62 comparable cities for total fatal and injury victims in the 2023 state rankings. The numbers do not single out trucks, so we do not claim trucks cause those crashes. What they do show: a heavy vehicle on these corridors leaves very little room for error. If a truck hurt you here, the exact spot of the crash tells us which agency wrote the report and which cameras might exist.

Federal trucking rules double as proof of negligence

Truckers do not follow the same rules as drivers of passenger cars. Federal regulations limit a property-carrying driver to 11 hours behind the wheel inside a 14-hour on-duty window after 10 hours off duty. The driver also needs a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving and cannot pass 60 hours in 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days (49 CFR 395.3). A driver who broke those limits was probably tired. Tired drivers rear-end traffic, drift across lanes, and run red lights. After certain crashes the employer must also test the driver for drugs and alcohol. If the crash was fatal, the surviving driver gets tested. If someone was treated away from the scene or a vehicle was towed, the test is required when the driver is cited. Alcohol tests must happen within 8 hours and drug tests within 32 hours (49 CFR 382.303). If the carrier missed a test, it has to document why, and a gap there tells a story. Carriers also owe duties on maintenance, loading, and driver hiring. On the I-210 or SR-134 through Pasadena, a long-haul driver may have been on duty for hours before reaching town, so Moe checks the logs against where the trip began. Every rule the company ignored becomes part of your case.

The truck's black box and the records a carrier can lose

Most big rigs record speed, braking, and engine data in an electronic control module. Many also run electronic logging devices that track hours, plus dash cameras, GPS, and dispatch messages. Carriers overwrite or delete some of that on a schedule, and a repaired or scrapped truck can wipe the rest. That is why Moe sends a preservation letter right away. It tells the carrier and its insurer to keep the truck, the data, the logs, the maintenance file, and the driver's hiring and training records. Next comes the proof. He downloads the module before anyone repairs the truck. He compares the logs against fuel receipts, toll records, and delivery times, since falsified logs show up in those gaps. He pulls the driver's record and any prior crashes. You can protect your own evidence too. Photograph the truck, its plates, the company name, and the U.S. DOT number on the door. Shoot photos of skid marks, debris, and your injuries. Save your phone's location history. Write down witness names. Businesses on Colorado Boulevard, Lake Avenue, and Washington Boulevard may have cameras, and those clips are often erased within days.

Driver, carrier, broker, or city: who owes you money

A truck crash often has more than one defendant, and each one brings its own insurance. The driver is the obvious target. The trucking company is usually the better one. It carries the larger policy and answers for what its employee does on the job. Others may share blame: the owner of the trailer, a company that loaded the cargo badly, a shop that did a poor repair, or a freight broker that hired an unsafe carrier. Federal minimums for for-hire interstate carriers hauling non-hazardous freight in vehicles over 10,000 pounds start at $750,000, and hazmat carriers must carry more (49 CFR 387.9). Those are floors, not ceilings. If a city, county, or other public truck hit you, a different clock applies. You must present a written claim to the public entity within six months (Government Code 911.2), and if it rejects the claim in writing, you generally have six months from that notice to sue (Government Code 945.6). In Pasadena, the City Attorney's Liability and Claims office handles claims against the city. The same rule can apply when a defective road or a missing sign played a part. Moe identifies every possible defendant in the first days. A missed party can mean missed money.

Pasadena police, CHP, the courthouse, and your deadlines

Who writes your report depends on where the crash happened. The Pasadena Police Department, headquartered at 207 N. Garfield Avenue, takes collision reports for city streets, and you request a copy through its public records page on the City of Pasadena website. The California Highway Patrol normally handles crashes on the I-210, SR-134, and SR-110. We could not confirm current fees, phone numbers, or portal steps because the city's site blocked our review, so check them in your own browser or let our office request the report for you. California also requires drivers to report an injury crash, or one with more than $1,000 in damage, to the DMV within 10 days on an SR-1 form. You generally have two years from the crash to sue for injury or wrongful death (Code of Civil Procedure 335.1), and three years for vehicle damage. Cases that need a lawsuit go to Los Angeles County Superior Court. The Pasadena Courthouse sits at 300 East Walnut Street, but its page does not say whether injury cases are filed there, so we check the court's locator first. California follows pure comparative negligence, so partial blame cuts your award but does not erase it.

Truck injuries, Huntington Hospital, and how Moe runs your case

Truck crashes cause injuries that change a life: spinal damage, brain injuries, crushed limbs, internal bleeding, and death. Huntington Hospital at 100 W. California Boulevard says it has the largest emergency department and the only Level II trauma center in the San Gabriel Valley. Get checked even if you feel steady. Adrenaline hides pain, and an insurer will use any gap in treatment to say the crash did not cause your injury. Follow your doctor's plan, keep every bill, and tell each provider that a truck hit you. Never give a recorded statement to the trucking company's insurer before you talk to a lawyer. Moe answers your call himself and keeps you updated by call and text. He secures the evidence first, then builds your damages: medical care, future treatment, lost income, and pain. Past results do not predict a similar outcome, but in one case Moe recovered $75,000 after the at-fault insurer offered $900. He also asks what your life looks like now, so the claim covers the work you miss and the help you need at home. You pay nothing unless he wins.

Talk to a Pasadena truck accident lawyer

Call (323) 716-1992 for a free, no-obligation case review. You pay nothing unless we win, and we'll handle the insurance companies for you. Learn more about our truck accidents representation →

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