Who Is Liable for a Truck Accident in Calabasas?

Arya Firoozmand, Esq. — Founding Partner

Local Calabasas Injury Attorney · UCLA Law

Arya Firoozmand is the founding partner at L&F Brown. He grew up in Woodland Hills — minutes from Calabasas — graduated from El Camino Real High School and UCLA Law School, and has spent his career representing injured clients across the West Valley.

Liability in a commercial truck accident is more layered than in a standard car crash. The driver is the obvious starting point, but commercial trucking involves supply chains, regulatory frameworks, and corporate structures that create additional defendants beyond the person behind the wheel. Here's how liability works in Calabasas truck accident cases.

The Driver's Direct Liability

Truck driver negligence is the most common cause of commercial vehicle crashes on the 101 near Calabasas. Fatigue from hours-of-service violations, distracted driving, speeding to meet delivery schedules, following too closely on the freeway - all of these are direct negligence by the driver. The driver is personally liable for their own negligence.

However, personal liability of the driver is rarely the most important coverage in a serious truck accident case. The trucking company and other parties typically carry far greater insurance.

The Trucking Company's Liability

Trucking companies face liability in two ways: vicarious liability for their drivers, and direct liability for their own negligence.

Vicarious liability (respondeat superior). When a driver is an employee and was acting within the scope of employment at the time of the crash, the employer is liable for the driver's negligence. This is automatic once the employment relationship and scope of employment are established.

Direct negligence. Trucking companies face liability for their own failures: negligent hiring of a driver with a problematic record, negligent training, failure to supervise for FMCSA compliance, inadequate drug testing programs, and failure to maintain vehicles properly. These direct negligence theories often produce larger damages because they involve corporate failures rather than just individual driver errors.

The Cargo Owner or Broker

If improperly secured or overloaded cargo caused or contributed to the crash - cargo shifting that caused the driver to lose control, falling debris that hit your vehicle, a jackknifed trailer due to weight distribution - the party responsible for loading or the cargo broker may be liable as an additional defendant. Cargo loading liability is separate from driver negligence and trucking company liability.

The Maintenance Contractor

If a mechanical failure contributed to the crash - brake failure, tire blowout from improper inflation, steering system failure - the party responsible for maintaining the truck may be liable. Commercial trucking often uses third-party maintenance contractors. Federal regulations require documented maintenance records. If a maintenance failure can be traced to a specific contractor's work, that party becomes an additional defendant.

Federal Regulations and Negligence Per Se

FMCSA regulations set standards for commercial trucking. When a trucking company or driver violates those regulations - exceeds hours-of-service limits, operates with expired medical certifications, skips required inspections - those violations can establish negligence per se. That means the violation itself is evidence of negligence without requiring additional proof that the conduct was unreasonable.

Accessing the records that document regulatory compliance requires formal legal process. ELD data, inspection logs, drug test records, driver qualification files - these are obtained through discovery in litigation or through preservation demands that an attorney issues immediately after the crash.

To understand all the potentially liable parties in your specific Calabasas truck accident, a Calabasas truck accident lawyer should evaluate the facts as early as possible after the crash. Missing a defendant can mean missing significant coverage.

Our Calabasas personal injury attorneys handle truck accident cases on contingency. Free consultation - call to discuss what happened.