NYC Truck Accident Lawyer
Representing victims of commercial truck crashes, 18-wheeler collisions, and delivery vehicle accidents throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island.
Overview
What This Is and Who It's For
Truck accident cases involve commercial motor vehicles — tractor-trailers (18-wheelers), box trucks, delivery vans, tankers, dump trucks, garbage trucks, and construction vehicles. New York City has heavy commercial traffic at all hours: delivery vehicles throughout Manhattan, construction trucks in every borough, and interstate freight moving through the bridges and tunnels. When these vehicles are involved in collisions, the injuries are typically far more severe than in passenger-vehicle accidents because of the size and weight difference — a fully loaded commercial truck can weigh up to 80,000 pounds compared to 3,000 to 5,000 pounds for a standard car.
Common injuries in truck accidents include traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, multiple fractures, internal organ damage, amputations, and wrongful death. What makes these cases fundamentally different from ordinary car accident cases is the number of potentially liable parties — the driver, the trucking company, maintenance contractors, cargo loaders, and vehicle manufacturers may all bear responsibility. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations create additional grounds for liability that do not exist in standard motor vehicle cases. Trucking companies also carry substantially higher insurance coverage, but they deploy aggressive defense teams within hours of a crash. If you or a family member has been injured in a truck accident in New York City, call (917) 565-7286 — time-sensitive evidence starts disappearing immediately.
Legal Foundation
The Legal Framework
Truck accident cases in New York involve state common law, New York statutes, and federal trucking regulations. This overlap creates additional avenues for establishing liability that do not exist in ordinary car accident cases.
New York State law
The foundation of any truck accident case is the common-law negligence standard — the driver owed a duty of care, breached that duty, and the breach caused the plaintiff's injuries and damages. New York Vehicle and Traffic Law § 388 extends liability to the owner of the vehicle when it was operated with the owner's permission, allowing recovery from the trucking company or vehicle owner in addition to the driver. To recover non-economic damages (pain and suffering), the injured party must meet the serious injury threshold under Insurance Law § 5102(d), which requires one of nine categorical injuries including significant limitation of use, permanent consequential limitation, fracture, or significant disfigurement. The statute of limitations for personal injury is three years under CPLR § 214(5). Under CPLR § 1411, New York follows comparative negligence — partial fault reduces but does not bar recovery. Wrongful death claims carry a two-year deadline under EPTL § 5-4.1. If the accident involved a municipal vehicle (NYC Sanitation truck, MTA vehicle) or occurred due to a defective NYC road, General Municipal Law § 50-e requires a Notice of Claim within 90 days.
Common law doctrines
Several common law doctrines expand liability beyond the truck driver to the trucking company and other parties. Under respondeat superior, trucking companies are vicariously liable for the negligent acts of drivers acting within the scope of employment. Negligent hiring applies when the trucking company hired a driver with known safety issues or without conducting required background checks. Negligent retention applies when the company kept a driver after becoming aware of safety problems such as traffic violations, failed drug tests, or prior accidents. Negligent supervision covers situations where the company failed to adequately train or supervise its drivers. Negligent maintenance claims arise when the trucking company or a maintenance contractor failed to keep the vehicle in safe operating condition — worn brakes, defective tires, or malfunctioning lights can all form the basis of a negligent maintenance claim.
Federal regulations
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulates interstate commercial trucking under 49 CFR. These regulations create specific standards that, when violated, can establish negligence per se — meaning the violation itself proves negligence if it caused the accident. Key regulations include: Hours of Service rules under 49 CFR § 395 (11-hour driving limit within a 14-hour on-duty window, mandatory 30-minute break after 8 hours, 70-hour weekly limit); driver qualification requirements under 49 CFR § 391 (CDL, DOT medical certification, background checks); vehicle inspection, repair, and maintenance standards under 49 CFR § 396; drug and alcohol testing under 49 CFR § 382 (a stricter 0.04 BAC limit for CDL holders versus the standard 0.08); and minimum insurance requirements under 49 CFR § 387 — $750,000 for general freight, commonly $1 million, and up to $5 million for hazardous materials carriers.
How It Works
The Process, Step by Step
A truck accident case at Yazdi Law proceeds through the following stages.
Initial consultation
We begin with a free consultation to review the accident facts, identify potentially liable parties, discuss your injuries and medical treatment, and evaluate case viability. We handle truck accident cases on a contingency fee basis, so there is no upfront cost to retain representation. If we accept the case, we provide a written retainer agreement and begin work immediately.
Immediate investigation and evidence preservation
We send a spoliation/preservation letter immediately to the trucking company, its insurer, and any maintenance contractors demanding preservation of electronic logging device (ELD) data, driver logs, maintenance records, inspection reports, and physical evidence. We investigate the accident scene, request surveillance footage from nearby businesses (commercial systems typically overwrite footage within 30 to 60 days), review the police report, and identify and interview witnesses. ELD data is particularly valuable because it shows driver hours, speed, braking, and sometimes GPS location in the moments before the crash.
Medical treatment and documentation
Ongoing medical treatment continues throughout the case, and medical records document the injuries and their progression. In NYC, severe truck accident victims are frequently treated at major trauma hospitals including Bellevue, NewYork-Presbyterian, Mount Sinai, and Kings County. No-fault benefits under Insurance Law § 5103 cover initial medical treatment up to $50,000 per person, with a no-fault application (Form NF-2) filed within 30 days of the accident.
No-fault claim and serious injury threshold
New York's no-fault insurance system provides initial medical bills and lost wages up to $50,000 through PIP coverage regardless of fault. To sue for pain and suffering, the injured party must meet the serious injury threshold under Insurance Law § 5102(d) — significant limitation of use, permanent consequential limitation, fracture, significant disfigurement, or other specified categories. In truck accident cases, meeting this threshold is typically straightforward because the injuries are usually severe given the forces involved.
Identifying all liable parties
A defining feature of truck accident cases is that multiple parties beyond the driver may bear liability. Investigation typically identifies the truck driver as the primary defendant, the trucking company (through vicarious liability and direct negligence), the truck owner if different from the company, maintenance contractors, cargo loaders if improper loading contributed to the accident, the truck or component manufacturer if a defective part failed, and municipal entities if a road defect contributed to the crash.
Demand package and settlement negotiation
Once the medical picture is reasonably stable, we prepare a detailed demand package documenting injuries, medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, future medical costs, and liability evidence from all sources — ELD data, FMCSA violation history, maintenance records, and witness testimony. Most truck accident cases settle without trial, but trucking insurance companies are experienced defendants and negotiations are adversarial.
Litigation if settlement fails
If pre-suit negotiations do not produce an acceptable settlement, we file suit in the appropriate NY Supreme Court — New York County for Manhattan, Kings County for Brooklyn, Queens County, Bronx County, or Richmond County for Staten Island. The case proceeds through the standard CPLR discovery process including depositions of the driver, company representatives, and expert witnesses, followed by trial if settlement cannot be reached.
Realistic timelines
Straightforward truck accident cases with clear liability may resolve in 12 to 18 months. Complex cases with multiple defendants, extensive injuries, or disputed liability typically take two to four years. Cases involving wrongful death or catastrophic injuries often take longer due to the need to fully document long-term damages before settling. Settlement is possible at any stage of the process.
What to Watch For
Common Pitfalls and How We Avoid Them
Several recurring mistakes reduce recoveries or eliminate them entirely in truck accident cases.
Failing to preserve evidence immediately
Trucking companies have sophisticated incident response teams that investigate accidents within hours of occurrence. They interview witnesses, photograph scenes, download ELD data, and prepare their defense before the injured party even leaves the hospital. Without an immediate preservation letter and independent investigation, critical evidence — ELD data, maintenance records, driver logs — can be lost or altered. We send preservation letters within days of being retained and pursue court orders where necessary to prevent evidence destruction.
Missing federal regulation violations
Truck accident cases involving only state negligence claims often leave substantial recovery value on the table. FMCSA violations establishing negligence per se — Hours of Service violations, inadequate driver qualifications, maintenance failures, drug and alcohol testing failures — provide additional grounds for liability and often support punitive damages claims. Cases handled without familiarity with 49 CFR regulations frequently miss these claims entirely.
Settling before the full extent of injuries is known
Truck accident injuries often involve traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and other conditions whose full extent becomes clear only after months of medical treatment. Settling too early — before the injured party reaches maximum medical improvement — can leave them undercompensated for future medical costs. We wait until injuries are fully documented before entering substantive settlement negotiations.
Failing to identify all liable parties
Focusing only on the driver or only on the trucking company misses liability and insurance coverage available from maintenance contractors, cargo loaders, manufacturers, and other parties. Proper case evaluation requires investigating the entire chain of responsibility behind the commercial truck operation.
Free Consultation
Injured in a truck accident? Discuss your case with an experienced New York truck accident attorney. No fee unless we recover.
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Costs and What's Included
Yazdi Law handles truck accident cases on a contingency fee basis. You pay no attorney fee unless we recover compensation on your behalf. Our fee is a percentage of the recovery, calculated after case expenses, with the specific percentage discussed at initial consultation and set out in the retainer agreement.
The contingency fee covers all attorney time on the case: investigation, evidence preservation, medical records review, expert consultation, demand package preparation, settlement negotiation, and litigation through trial if necessary. Case expenses — filing fees, deposition costs, expert witness fees, medical records fees — are advanced by the firm and reimbursed from the settlement or judgment at the conclusion of the case. If we do not recover for you, you do not owe attorney fees.
The specific fee arrangement depends on case complexity, the stage at which the case resolves, and the extent of recovery. We discuss fees transparently at the initial consultation, provide a written retainer agreement before any work begins, and answer any questions about the fee structure before you engage the firm.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
How is a truck accident case different from a regular car accident case?
What evidence matters most in a truck accident case?
What if I was partially at fault for the truck accident?
What if the truck was a city vehicle — like a Sanitation truck or MTA bus?
Contact Yazdi Law About Your Truck Accident Case
If you or a loved one has been injured in a truck accident in New York City, contact Yazdi Law for a free consultation. We handle truck accident cases on a contingency fee basis — you pay no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you.
Truck accident cases require immediate investigation to preserve evidence. The sooner we can begin work on your case, the better positioned we are to identify all liable parties and pursue full recovery. Our office is located at 261 Madison Avenue, Suite 1035, in Manhattan. Representation is available in English and Farsi.
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Disclaimer: This page provides general information about truck accident cases in New York and does not constitute legal advice. Truck accident cases are fact-specific and outcomes depend on the particular circumstances of each matter. Every case is unique; prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Statutory citations, court procedures, and deadlines reflect New York law as of the date of publication and may change. Contacting Yazdi Law does not create an attorney-client relationship. Attorney Advertising.