Karlin & Karlin
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When a truck trailer is excessively loaded and overweight, it can greatly increase the chances of a crash. These overloaded/overweight truck accidents in Corona can lead to a serious situation that risks bodily harm to others. You can better understand your legal options by speaking with an attorney who knows how to handle personal injury lawsuits. An experienced truck accident attorney could represent your interests in requesting compensation for all of the harm that came to you.
For trucks traveling through Corona and the surrounding areas, they are limited in the amount of weight that they may carry. The California Vehicle Code states that no vehicle may weigh more than 80,000 pounds. The code also states that 20,000 pounds is the maximum gross weight allowed on any one axle of the vehicle.
A maximum of 34,000 pounds is permitted in an axle group less than eight feet and six inches between outer axles. Other specific requirements apply to axle groups that exceed this size based on a chart provided by Caltrans. Overweight and overloaded trucks in Corona have the potential to be incredibly destructive on the road, which is why they are so heavily and closely regulated.
A company might overload a truck for several reasons. The first could be pure negligence when they fail to properly load the vehicle and check its weight. This may be a systemic problem with the company’s systems or due to a single employee error. Even when it is an accident, violations of truck weight limits still have the potential to lead to extremely serious accidents on the road.
Other companies might choose to do overload on purpose. They can save money if they put more product on a trailer and do not have to send another truck out. However, this practice not only violates the law—it is a major roadway hazard. Overweight trailers are harder to handle and are more likely to cause serious incidents.
Trucks are only designed to handle a certain amount of weight. Cargo that is overloaded might not be properly secured and may shift during travel, causing a dangerous situation that leads to jackknife accident or a rollover. This not only threatens the trucker, it could seriously injure pedestrians or other motorists nearby. The truck’s frame and other associated parts may not be able to handle an overweight load. This can cause axles to fail or tires to explode. Many other potential problems can occur because the weight is too much for the truck to handle.
A driver’s job is much more difficult when their vehicle is overloaded. The more weight that a truck carries, the more difficult it is to handle. A heavy trailer is more susceptible to windy conditions and increases the odds that the driver could lose control. Overweight vehicles are also much harder to stop in time to prevent an accident. Truck brakes and systems are only designed to handle so much. When they are forced to do more, even a responsible truck driver in Corona might not be able to prevent a serious collision from an overloaded/overweight vehicle.
Compensation is often available for those who sustained damages in overloaded/overweight truck accidents in Corona. A proper investigation of your particular case might reveal where the trucking company violated the rules and how you could prove their negligence. To get started with your claim, discuss your options with one of our attorneys as soon as possible.
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