Van Nuys Truck Accident Lawyer

A loaded tractor-trailer can weigh many times more than your car. When a truck hits you on the I-405 through Van Nuys, near the US-101 or SR-118 connections, or on a boulevard like Sepulveda or Victory, the injuries are often severe. The trucking company's insurer starts working the case within hours, and its adjuster may call you before you have called anyone. Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. represents people hurt in truck crashes in Van Nuys, Panorama City, North Hills, and across the San Fernando Valley. Attorney Moe Abdallah takes your call himself, day or night, and the first conversation is free. You pay no fee unless he wins. This page walks through the roads trucks use here, the federal rules truckers must follow, the records that prove what happened, who may owe you money, and the deadlines that can end a claim.

Freeways and boulevards that bring big trucks into Van Nuys

The I-405 San Diego Freeway runs through Van Nuys. The US-101 Ventura Freeway, SR-170, SR-118, and the I-5 sit close by, so a truck headed anywhere in the Valley can pass through on its way. Off the freeway, delivery trucks and semis can use Van Nuys Boulevard, Sepulveda Boulevard, Victory Boulevard, Oxnard Street, Sherman Way, Vanowen Street, and Roscoe Boulevard to reach deliveries and job sites. Those streets also hold bus stops, crosswalks, and driveways, so a turning semi can meet a walker, a rider, or a family car in a few seconds. We have no truck-crash counts for Van Nuys, so we will not call any road a truck hotspot. The physics are the same anywhere. A heavy truck needs far more room to stop than a car, it swings wide on right turns, and it has blind spots along both sides and behind the trailer. A driver on a tight schedule can cut across your lane while merging on or off the 405. Tell us which road, which direction, and whether the truck had a company name or a USDOT number on the door. That detail tells us who to chase and which cameras may exist.

Hours, drug tests, and insurance minimums in federal trucking law

Truck drivers answer to federal safety rules that car drivers never face. A property-carrying driver may log only 11 hours of driving inside a 14-hour on-duty window after 10 straight hours off duty. A 30-minute break comes due after 8 hours of driving, and weekly caps are 60 hours in 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days (49 CFR 395.3). A driver who breaks those limits is likely tired, and tired drivers miss brake lights and drift. After certain crashes the employer must test the driver for alcohol and drugs. That includes a fatal crash, and a crash where someone is treated away from the scene or a vehicle is towed and the driver is cited. Alcohol tests must happen within 8 hours and drug tests within 32 hours, and missing a test must be documented (49 CFR 382.303). Federal law also sets minimum liability insurance for for-hire interstate carriers of non-hazardous freight in trucks rated at 10,001 pounds or more at $750,000, with higher floors for certain hazardous loads (49 CFR 387.9). These are minimums, not caps. A carrier may hold more coverage than the floor, so we ask early what policies exist.

Records a trucking company can lose: ECM, ELD, dash cam, and the truck

Evidence in a truck case disappears fast. The engine control module can store speed, braking, and hard-brake events. The electronic logging device records driving hours. Many fleets run forward and driver-facing cameras, and GPS dispatch records show the route and the schedule pressure. Carriers also keep driver qualification files, maintenance records, and load paperwork. Some of that gets overwritten on a routine schedule, and a repaired or scrapped truck cannot be inspected. So we move at once. We send a preservation letter to the driver, the carrier, and anyone who loaded or hauled the trailer, telling them to keep the data and the vehicle. Next we request the full records in discovery or through counsel, and we hire accident reconstruction help when the facts need it. Your own steps matter too. Photograph the truck, its markings, the plate, the trailer number, and the road. Get the names of witnesses. Look for businesses along the boulevard whose cameras may have caught the crash, because many stores erase footage within days. Do not sign a release or give a recorded statement to the carrier's insurer before you speak with us.

Driver, carrier, owner, load broker, or the City of Los Angeles

A truck crash can involve more than one company. The driver is the obvious target, but not the only one. The carrier that employs or dispatches the driver may be responsible for the driver's work, and for hiring, training, or maintenance failures. The owner of the truck or trailer, a loading company that packed it badly, or a freight broker that picked an unsafe carrier may also share blame. Each is a separate insurance policy and a separate set of records. If the truck was a city, county, or other government vehicle, the rules change sharply. A public entity is liable for injuries caused by an employee's negligent operation of a motor vehicle within the scope of employment (Vehicle Code 17001). You must present a written claim within six months (Government Code 911.2). For the City of Los Angeles, claims go to the City Clerk on the Claim for Damages form, filed online at claims.lacity.org or at 200 North Spring Street, Room 395. If the entity rejects the claim in writing, you then have six months to sue (Government Code 945.6). Insurers also lean on California's comparative fault rules, so we collect proof that the truck side caused the crash.

LAPD, the SR-1, the court, and your deadlines after a Van Nuys truck crash

LAPD's Van Nuys Community Police Station at 6240 Sylmar Avenue serves the area, and the Valley Traffic Division at 7870 Nollan Place in Panorama City supports collisions across the Valley Bureau. LAPD asks you to wait at least 45 days after the crash before requesting a collision report online. Reports involving an arrest, a fatality, or a juvenile must be requested by mail, and victims and their representatives may request reports under Vehicle Code 20012. If the crash happened on the 405, CHP may write the report instead, so confirm which agency responded. Drivers must also report to the DMV within 10 days any crash with an injury, a death, or more than $1,000 in property damage (Vehicle Code 16000). For the lawsuit, you generally have two years for injury or wrongful death (Code of Civil Procedure 335.1) and three years for vehicle and property damage (Code of Civil Procedure 338(c)(1)). Which court takes your case depends on the facts. The Van Nuys Courthouse East at 6230 Sylmar Avenue is part of the Northwest District of Los Angeles County Superior Court, but your lawyer confirms venue before filing. You cannot undo a missed deadline.

Truck injuries, Valley Presbyterian, and how Moe runs your case

Truck impacts often leave people with broken bones, spinal injuries, brain injuries, internal bleeding, and burns. Valley Presbyterian Hospital at 15107 Vanowen Street in Van Nuys is a 350-bed hospital with an emergency room, and your ambulance may take you there or to another hospital. Wherever you end up, tell staff a truck hit you and report every symptom. Gaps in treatment give the insurer something to argue. Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. handles motor-vehicle injury cases only, and Attorney Moe Abdallah talks to clients himself and sends updates by call and text. We start by locking down the truck's data and the video, then we gather your medical records and work out what the injuries will cost over time. That includes future treatment, lost income, and pain and suffering. Past results are no promise of a similar outcome, but Moe has recovered $30,000 in policy limits where a head-on crash caused femur and ankle fractures needing surgery, and $75,000 after an insurer first offered $900. We take cases on contingency, so you pay no fee unless we win. Moe also reviews the insurer's offers with you in plain language, so you know what a settlement would cover before you decide. Se Habla Español.

Talk to a Van Nuys 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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