Truck accidents differ from standard car crashes. Federal trucking regulations, multiple liable parties, and commercial insurance policies create complex legal challenges. A Midvale truck accident lawyer who understands these cases helps you fight for fair compensation against well-funded trucking companies.
Parker & McConkie represents truck accident victims throughout Midvale and the Salt Lake County I-15 corridor. We investigate trucking company negligence, preserve critical evidence before it disappears, and pursue fair compensation from all responsible parties.
Key Takeaways for Midvale Truck Accident Claims
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations govern commercial trucking operations, and violations of hours of service, maintenance, or driver qualification rules create liability pathways.
- ELD/HOS data, telematics, and maintenance files are typically retained only for limited periods and might be overwritten or purged absent a preservation demand.
- Multiple parties, including drivers, trucking companies, cargo loaders, and maintenance contractors, might share liability, providing access to multiple insurance policies.
- Utah Code § 78B-2-307 establishes a four-year statute of limitations, but evidence degrades rapidly after truck accidents, making prompt legal action critical.
- Commercial trucking insurance policies carry substantially higher limits than personal auto policies.
Why Choose Parker & McConkie for Your Midvale Truck Accident Case
We move fast when it matters most. Within hours of engagement, we send preservation letters, seek court orders when needed, and secure ELD, ECM, and telematics data before it’s overwritten or the truck is repaired.
We know the rules that win these cases. Our team applies FMCSA regulations on hours of service, vehicle maintenance, driver qualifications, and cargo securement to prove violations and build liability.
We chase every responsible party. Driver, motor carrier, loader, maintenance contractor, broker, shipper, parts manufacturer—we map the full logistics chain to access every available insurance policy.
We know Midvale. From I-15 and I-215 to 7200 South and Union Park Avenue, we understand local traffic patterns, courts, and medical providers throughout Salt Lake County.
Trial-ready, start to finish. If negotiations stall, we’re prepared to try your case. That leverage helps drive fair settlements.
No upfront fees. We work on a contingency-fee basis—you pay attorney fees only if we obtain compensation. We advance case costs (experts, downloads, reconstruction, records). Case costs may apply.
Talk to us now. Evidence preservation begins immediately. Call (801) 616-3080 or contact us online for a free consultation, 24/7.
How Much Is My Midvale Truck Accident Case Worth?
Truck accident compensation depends on injury severity, liability strength, available insurance coverage, and how the accident affects your life. Commercial trucking policies carry substantially higher limits than personal auto insurance, often ranging into millions of dollars.
What Damages You Can Recover
Your claim’s value depends on medical expenses from emergency treatment through ongoing care, prescription costs, medical equipment, and future medical needs. Lost wages include income missed from the accident date through settlement. Lost earning capacity addresses permanent limitations that prevent you from returning to your previous work.
Non-economic damages compensate for physical pain, emotional distress, permanent disability, disfigurement, and loss of life enjoyment. Utah no-fault provides initial PIP benefits, commonly $3,000 per person. You may pursue non-economic damages after meeting the $3,000 medical-expense threshold or sustaining a qualifying injury such as a fracture, permanent disability, dismemberment, or permanent disfigurement.
Wrongful death damages compensate surviving family members for funeral expenses, loss of financial support, and loss of companionship. Utah Code § 78B-3-106 establishes a two-year statute of limitations for wrongful death claims.
Multiple Insurance Policies Strengthen Your Recovery
Multiple liable parties provide access to multiple insurance policies. When drivers, trucking companies, cargo loaders, and maintenance contractors share fault, each party’s insurance coverage becomes available. MCS-90 is a surety endorsement that can obligate the motor carrier to satisfy a judgment even if the policy would otherwise not respond; the carrier may later seek reimbursement.
Midvale’s High-Risk Truck Accident Locations and Local Factors
Midvale’s position along major freight corridors creates frequent truck accident risks. The city sits at the intersection of Interstate 15 and Interstate 215, two of Utah’s busiest commercial trucking routes. Salt Lake County consistently reports among the state’s highest commercial vehicle accident rates.
Dangerous Corridors and Intersections
I-15 carries heavy commercial traffic connecting northern and southern Utah, where jackknife accidents, rear-end collisions, and rollover crashes occur frequently. The I-215 and I-15 junction creates congestion and merging conflicts where trucks navigating heavy traffic produce frequent accidents.
The 7200 South corridor carries significant truck traffic serving business districts and distribution centers, creating wide-turn accidents and blind spot collisions at intersections. Midvale’s proximity to warehouses means constant truck traffic on Union Park Avenue and surrounding residential streets.
Our Midvale office at 7090 Union Park Ave provides immediate access to accident scenes, local court systems, and medical providers throughout Salt Lake County. We understand local traffic patterns and work with accident reconstruction experts who are familiar with Midvale intersections.
Common Causes of Midvale Truck Accidents
Truck accidents result from specific driver errors, company negligence, and mechanical failures. Federal trucking regulations create strict standards, and violations establish liability.
Driver fatigue from hours-of-service violations creates dangerous conditions. FMCSA hours-of-service rules require rest periods after 11 hours of driving. Companies that pressure drivers to exceed these limits bear liability. Distracted driving, inadequate training, and aggressive driving also cause devastating crashes.
Poor maintenance leads to brake failures, tire blowouts, and steering malfunctions. FMCSA maintenance regulations require systematic inspection and repair. Companies that skip required maintenance bear liability when mechanical failures cause accidents.
Improper loading and cargo securement affect truck stability and cause rollovers. FMCSA cargo securement rules establish specific standards. Third-party loading companies that violate weight limits or securement standards share liability.
Injuries From Midvale Truck Accidents
Commercial trucks deliver massive impact forces when they strike passenger vehicles. The weight differential between an 80,000-pound tractor-trailer and a 3,000-pound car creates devastating injury patterns.
Common injuries include traumatic brain injuries that cause cognitive impairment and memory loss, spinal cord injuries that cause paralysis, multiple fractures that require surgery and create permanent limitations, internal injuries including organ damage and internal bleeding, severe burns that require skin grafts, and amputations from crush injuries.
These injuries may require emergency surgery, extended hospitalization, months of rehabilitation, and often lifetime assistive care. Treatment costs accumulate quickly and may continue for years.
Who Can Be Held Liable in a Midvale Truck Crash
Multiple parties often share responsibility for truck accidents. Federal trucking regulations create liability for various entities in the commercial transportation chain:
- Truck Driver: Creates liability through traffic violations, driving while fatigued beyond legal hours, operating trucks while intoxicated, or distracted driving
- Motor Carrier (Trucking Company): Bears liability for negligent hiring of drivers with poor records, pressuring drivers to violate hours of service regulations, or failing to maintain trucks properly
- Cargo Loader or Warehouse: Bears liability when improper securement causes loads to shift or overloaded trucks exceed federal weight limits
- Maintenance Contractor: Faces liability when brake failures, tire blowouts, or steering malfunctions result from inadequate maintenance they performed
- Parts or Component Manufacturer: Faces liability when defective brake systems, tires, or steering mechanisms cause accidents
- Broker or Shipper: Faces liability for negligent selection of carriers with poor safety records or unsafe routing practices that contribute to accidents
Each responsible party carries insurance coverage. Pursuing all liable parties strengthens your claim and provides access to multiple sources of compensation.
Fighting the Insurance Company After Your Truck Accident
Trucking companies deploy experienced legal teams and insurance adjusters immediately after crashes. These teams arrive at accident scenes within hours, gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses to build defenses against claims.
Early Settlement Tactics
Insurance adjusters contact victims while they’re still hospitalized, offering quick settlements before victims understand their injuries’ full extent. These early offers rarely reflect actual damages and typically represent a fraction of fair compensation.
Adjusters may use recorded statements against claimants. They ask leading questions designed to elicit responses suggesting comparative fault or minimizing injury severity. Commercial insurers employ investigators who examine social media profiles and conduct surveillance to find evidence contradicting injury claims.
How Legal Representation Protects Your Rights
Your attorney counters these tactics by issuing immediate preservation demands to prevent evidence destruction, documenting the full extent of your injuries through medical experts, investigating federal trucking violations that establish liability, and negotiating from a position of strength backed by evidence.
Legal representation creates accountability. Insurance companies treat represented claimants differently because they know attorneys understand policy limits, recognize low-ball offers, and possess resources to litigate cases through trial.
Critical Evidence to Preserve After Your Midvale Truck Accident
Truck cases are won on records and devices. Without immediate preservation, electronic modules cycle data, vehicles are repaired, and routine retention periods expire.
Electronic logging device data shows driver hours, speeds, braking events, and whether the driver exceeded legal driving limits. ECM and telematics systems record months of operational data proving hours of service violations.
Driver qualification files document license history, traffic violations, training records, and drug testing results. Maintenance records show whether the company performed required inspections and addressed known mechanical issues. Physical evidence from vehicles, cargo loading documents, and inspection reports provide additional proof.
ELD/HOS data is typically retained for required periods (often six months), on-truck telematics can cycle sooner, and vehicles are often repaired quickly. Prompt preservation letters compel carriers to copy and retain data before routine purges. If cooperation stalls, we seek a court order or temporary restraining order to inspect, image, and download ECM/telematics before repairs or salvage erase physical proof.
Protecting Your Rights After a Truck Accident
Once you’re safely home from the hospital, take specific steps to protect your legal claim:
- Follow all medical care and document everything: Attend every follow-up appointment and keep detailed records of medical bills, prescription receipts, and correspondence with insurance companies
- Freeze the vehicles before repairs: Don’t authorize truck repairs or release vehicles for salvage before your attorney inspects them, as physical evidence disappears once repairs begin
- Don’t give recorded statements: Avoid giving recorded statements to the trucking company’s insurance adjusters before consulting an attorney
- Notify your insurer for PIP only: Report the accident to trigger Personal Injury Protection benefits, but avoid detailed discussions of fault before consulting an attorney
- Avoid early settlements: Don’t accept early settlement offers, as these come before you understand your injuries’ full extent
- Hire counsel immediately: Contact a truck accident lawyer so your attorney can send preservation demands protecting critical evidence
Maintain a daily journal documenting pain levels, limitations, and how injuries affect your daily life. This contemporaneous record becomes powerful evidence.
How We Build Your Truck Accident Case
We obtain the truck’s electronic logging device data showing driver hours, speeds, and braking events. This electronic evidence proves hours of service violations and establishes the driver’s actions immediately before impact.
We review driver qualification files documenting the driver’s license history, traffic violations, and training records. These files reveal whether the trucking company negligently hired dangerous drivers. We examine maintenance records to identify deferred maintenance that created mechanical failures.
We work with accident reconstruction experts who analyze physical evidence, calculate speeds, and recreate the accident sequence. We consult medical experts who explain your injuries and project future medical needs. Life care planners calculate lifetime care costs for catastrophic injuries.
Serving Midvale and Surrounding Salt Lake County Communities
Parker & McConkie represents truck accident victims throughout Midvale and the surrounding Salt Lake County area. Our service area includes Midvale neighborhoods such as East Midvale, Union Heights, Midvale Center, and the Fort Union area.
We also serve surrounding cities, including Murray, Sandy, West Jordan, South Jordan, Draper, Riverton, Cottonwood Heights, and Holladay. We represent clients injured on Interstate 15, Interstate 215, 7200 South, State Street, Union Park Avenue, and Redwood Road.
FAQ for Midvale Truck Accidents
How soon after a truck accident does evidence start disappearing?
ELD/HOS data is typically retained for required periods (often six months), on-truck telematics can cycle sooner, and vehicles are often repaired quickly. Your attorney must send preservation demands within days to prevent evidence destruction or routine purges.
What if the truck driver says the accident was my fault?
Driver statements don’t determine liability. Your attorney investigates actual accident circumstances using physical evidence, witness statements, electronic data, and expert reconstruction. Electronic logging devices and damage patterns reveal what actually occurred.
Can I sue if the truck driver was an independent contractor?
Yes. Trucking companies remain liable for independent contractor actions in many circumstances. The company that hired the contractor, dispatched the load, or maintained the truck might share liability regardless of the driver’s employment classification.
The truck was leased—who do I sue?
You can sue both the motor carrier operating authority and the entity exercising control over the truck. Your attorney reviews lease agreements and dispatch documents to identify all responsible parties. Federal leasing regulations under 49 CFR Part 376 create liability for lessors in specific circumstances.
Can I still recover if I’m partially at fault?
Utah’s modified comparative negligence bars recovery if you’re 51% or more at fault. If you’re less than 51% at fault, your recovery reduces by your fault percentage. Your attorney presents evidence minimizing your fault and establishing the truck driver’s greater negligence.
What if my injuries didn’t appear until days after the accident?
Delayed injury onset doesn’t eliminate your claim. Many serious injuries, including traumatic brain injuries and internal bleeding, show symptoms gradually. Seek medical attention immediately when symptoms appear, and your attorney links delayed symptoms to the accident through medical evidence.
Get Experienced Legal Help After Your Midvale Truck Accident
Parker & McConkie represents truck accident victims throughout Midvale and Salt Lake County. We understand federal trucking regulations, investigate company negligence, preserve critical evidence, and fight for fair compensation from all liable parties.
Schedule a free consultation to discuss your Midvale truck accident case. Call our office at (801) 616-3080 or contact us online. We’re available 24/7 because truck accidents happen at any hour and evidence preservation begins immediately.
Contact us today to protect your rights and pursue the compensation you need for your recovery.
