Irvine Truck Accident Lawyer

Visit us by appointment at 15707 Rockfield Blvd., Suite 320, Irvine, CA 92618. Calls and online messages are answered 24/7, in English or Spanish. Directions, and the other Orange County practice areas we cover, are on our Irvine office page.

Truck cases our team resolved in Orange County:

• $2.8 million (2025, Anaheim): a big rig rear-ended a driver who was braking hard for a crash ahead on the 5 Freeway, causing neck and back pain and missed work.
• $2.6 million (2023, Anaheim): a package-delivery truck struck a driver pulling out of a parking lot, adding back and neck pain to an existing work injury.
• $2 million (2023, a freeway near Mission Viejo): a big rig driver suffered a brain injury after crashing while avoiding people from an earlier wreck.

See more on our settlements and verdicts page. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different.

Who writes the report. The CHP investigates freeway crashes. Its Santa Ana Area office lists the 5 and the 405 among the freeways it patrols, and its Capistrano Area office lists the 133, 73 and 241. Off the freeway, inside city limits, Irvine police take the report, and the department's Major Accident Investigation Team handles the worst collisions. Irvine police reports can be requested online or at the department's Business Desk, 1 Civic Center Plaza; a copy costs $10, plus a 2.4% fee when paid by card, and victims named in the report pay nothing.

The freeways. Caltrans' truck traffic counts put about 246,800 vehicles a day on the 5 at its junction with the 133 in Irvine, with an estimated 7% of them trucks: roughly 17,300 a day, about 7,400 of them rigs with five or more axles. The 405 at the 133 carries about 187,400 vehicles and 9,700 trucks a day. The 405 at its junction with the 5 carries about 181,300 vehicles and 9,100 trucks a day. Each count is for the busiest stretch beside its junction, and the truck shares are Caltrans estimates, from 2019 for the 5 and 2018 for the 405. Across Orange County, crashes involving trucks killed 7 people and injured 563 in 2021, according to the CHP's SWITRS annual report.

The court. Truck injury lawsuits from Irvine and the rest of Orange County are heard at the county's Central Justice Center (700 Civic Center Dr. W., Santa Ana), which takes the county's unlimited civil cases.

Public agency claims. When a city vehicle, a county road or a defective freeway ramp played a part, a written claim must be presented within six months of the crash (Gov. Code § 911.2):

• Caltrans (the 5, 405 and 133): claims up to $12,500 go to the District 12 office in Santa Ana; larger ones go to the state Government Claims Program.
• City of Irvine: Form 10-04, mailed to the City Clerk at P.O. Box 19575, Irvine, CA 92623-9575.
• County of Orange: filed with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, 400 W. Civic Center Dr., 6th Floor, Santa Ana.
• OCTA: the transit agency's Claim for Damage form, sent to its Risk Management office at P.O. Box 14184, Orange, CA 92863-9831.

Yes. The City publishes a map of designated and restricted truck routes set by its municipal code. The published version is dated December 2021. The Irvine Police Department's Traffic Unit also lists commercial vehicle enforcement among its programs.

Those routes can matter in a case. Federal rules for interstate trucking require every commercial motor vehicle to be operated in line with the laws, ordinances, and regulations of the place where it is driven (49 CFR § 392.2). If a truck was on a street where the City restricts trucks, that can help show the driver or the carrier did not follow the rules. We may review the route the truck took and the instructions the carrier gave.

More than one company can be responsible. Besides the driver, a case can reach the motor carrier, which is responsible for its driver's negligence on the job (Civ. Code § 2338), the company that loaded the cargo, a broker and a maintenance shop. Every commercial truck subject to federal rules must show the operating carrier's name and its USDOT number on both sides (49 CFR § 390.21), so a photo of that marking helps us identify the right company.

Driving-time rules. A federally regulated property-carrying driver may drive no more than 11 hours within a 14-hour window after 10 hours off duty, and needs a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving (49 CFR § 395.3). The federal rules on this page cover trucks in interstate commerce (49 CFR § 390.3T). Trucks that run only within California have the state's own hours-of-service rules (13 CCR §§ 1212, 1212.5), and their drivers may follow those rules or the federal limits, according to the CHP. Since January 1, 2024, intrastate carriers must also have each driver log hours on an electronic logging device, unless an exception applies. Our truck accident deadlines page lists the record rules for in-state trucks.

Insurance. Federal minimums run from $750,000 for general freight to $5 million for some hazardous loads (49 CFR § 387.9). Carriers that operate within California generally need a DMV Motor Carrier Permit, which requires liability coverage of $300,000 to $5 million, depending on the vehicle and cargo.

Evidence goes first. The truck's engine data and the carrier's logs and maintenance records are in the trucking company's hands, so we send a preservation demand right away. Our big rig accident page explains which records matter and how long carriers keep them.

Generally, the right-hand lanes. California's lane rule covers trucks with three or more axles and trucks pulling another vehicle, such as a trailer (Veh. Code § 21655). Where signs designate lanes for those vehicles, the truck must use them. Where no lane is designated, it must stay in the right-hand lane or as close as practicable to the right edge. On a divided highway with four or more marked lanes in one direction, it may also use the lane just to the left of the right-hand lane. To pass, the driver may use only those lanes. The rule does not apply to a driver who is preparing to turn, entering or leaving the highway, or who must use another lane to stay on route.

In 2021, an unsafe lane change was the primary factor in 373 California injury crashes where the truck driver was at fault, according to the CHP's SWITRS annual report. Photos, video, and witnesses can show which lane the truck was in.

Not to text, and not while holding the phone. Federal rules for commercial trucks in interstate commerce bar a driver from texting and from using a hand-held phone while driving (49 CFR § 392.80; § 392.82). They also bar the carrier from allowing or requiring either. Texting means typing or reading text on an electronic device. Using a hand-held phone includes holding it to talk and pressing more than one button to dial or answer. For these rules, driving includes being stopped briefly in traffic or at a signal. Contacting law enforcement or other emergency services is an exception, and using a GPS does not count as texting.

California has its own rule for every driver. No one may drive while holding and operating a phone, unless the device is built and set up for voice-operated, hands-free use and is used that way (Veh. Code § 23123.5). We may request the truck driver's phone records and the messages exchanged with the carrier.

Hazard flashers at once, then warning devices such as reflective triangles. Under the federal rules for interstate trucking, a driver who stops in a travel lane or on the shoulder, for anything other than a necessary traffic stop, generally has two duties (49 CFR § 392.22). The driver must turn on the hazard flashers immediately. The driver must also set out the warning devices as soon as possible, and within 10 minutes at the latest. On a divided highway, three devices go out. Two go toward approaching traffic, at 100 and 200 feet from the truck, and one sits on the traffic side within 10 feet of the rear.

When a stopped big rig had no warnings out and another vehicle struck it, that fact can matter in deciding who is responsible. Scene photos and dashcam video from other vehicles can show which warnings were in place.

Our Irvine office handles truck cases from across Orange County. Two of the three results above came from Anaheim crashes, one of them on the 5 Freeway.

Anaheim. Anaheim police investigate crashes on city streets. A claim against the City goes to the Office of the City Clerk, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd., Suite 217, on the original form, in person or by mail.

Santa Ana. Crashes in the city are investigated by the police department's Collision Investigative Unit, part of its Traffic Division. City claims go to the City Clerk at 20 Civic Center Plaza (mail to P.O. Box 1988), and the City requires the original signed form.

Lawsuits from both cities are heard at the same Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.

When several companies share fault, each pays its own share of non-economic damages such as pain and suffering, but each can be held liable for the full economic damages such as medical bills and lost earnings (Civ. Code §§ 1431, 1431.2). That is one reason we name every responsible company. If a crash is fatal, the family can pursue a wrongful death claim.

The clock:

• Two years from the crash to file an injury lawsuit against the driver, the carrier or other companies (Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1).
• Three years from the crash to sue over damage to your car (Code Civ. Proc. § 338(c)(1)).
• Six months from the crash to present a written claim to Caltrans, OCTA, the County, or the City of Irvine (Gov. Code § 911.2).
• If the agency rejects the claim in writing, six months to sue, counted from the day the notice is handed to you or mailed (Gov. Code § 945.6).