Fresno Truck Accident Attorney

Attorney Michael Rehm — (800) 978-0754

Attorney Michael Rehm represents people injured in truck and commercial vehicle accidents throughout Fresno and Fresno County. Highway 99 runs the length of Fresno County and carries one of the highest concentrations of commercial truck traffic in California. The San Joaquin Valley is the country's most productive agricultural region, and the trucks that move produce, equipment, and freight through Fresno operate under a regulatory framework that creates multiple avenues of liability when a collision occurs. This page explains the legal standards that govern trucking cases filed in Fresno County Superior Court.

Fresno County and the Highway 99 Corridor

In 2023 (the most recent year for which data is currently available), Fresno County recorded 5,377 fatal and injury victims in traffic crashes, with 923 involving speed-related factors — ranking 57th out of 58 California counties for speed-involved crash victims. The county logged 4,167 DUI arrests and 384 hit-and-run crash victims. These figures are drawn from the California Office of Traffic Safety 2023 Annual Report.

Highway 99 between Fresno and Bakersfield and between Fresno and Modesto is among the most commercially active freight corridors in the state. Loaded agricultural haulers, refrigerated trailers, flatbeds carrying farm equipment, and long-haul carriers transit this corridor daily. Dust storms are a recurring hazard in Fresno County's agricultural areas — the California Office of Traffic Safety, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and industry safety organizations all recognize the Central Valley counties of Kern, Tulare, and Fresno as areas where dust significantly reduces visibility for commercial drivers.

Federal Regulation of Commercial Trucks

Commercial trucks operating in interstate commerce are regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, codified at 49 C.F.R. Parts 380 through 399. California intrastate carriers — those operating solely within California — are also required to follow FMCSR safety rules under California Code of Regulations, title 13, section 1202.2. Effective January 1, 2024, California Vehicle Code section 34500.7 further requires that motor carriers, drivers, and vehicles comply with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations in Part 392 for state operations. The FMCSR are not optional safety suggestions — they are minimum mandatory standards. Every motor carrier is required to know and comply with these regulations and ensure its drivers and equipment comply as well. 49 C.F.R. § 390.3(e)(1)–(3).

Key FMCSR sections relevant to Fresno truck accident cases include:

49 C.F.R. Part 382 — Drug and alcohol testing requirements, including pre-hire, random, and post-accident testing. 49 C.F.R. Part 391 — Driver qualification requirements, including medical certification, driving history review, and minimum competency standards. 49 C.F.R. Part 392 — Rules governing the actual operation of commercial motor vehicles, including the prohibition on driving while fatigued under section 392.3 and the extreme caution requirement under section 392.14. 49 C.F.R. Part 395 — Hours of service rules, including the 11-hour daily driving limit, 14-hour driving window, and 60/70-hour weekly limits. 49 C.F.R. Part 396 — Vehicle inspection, repair, and maintenance requirements, including daily pre-trip and post-trip inspection obligations.

The Extreme Caution Standard in Dust and Hazardous Conditions

Federal law imposes a heightened duty on commercial truck drivers operating in hazardous conditions. 49 C.F.R. section 392.14 requires truck drivers to use “extreme caution” when hazardous conditions — expressly including dust storms — adversely affect visibility or traction. If conditions become sufficiently dangerous, the regulation requires the driver to exit the roadway as soon as it is safe to do so.

This is a higher standard than ordinary reasonable care. The California Court of Appeal in Weaver v. Chavez (2005) 133 Cal.App.4th 1350 held that the FMCSR extreme caution standard is not consonant with a reasonable person standard — “extreme” means the greatest, highest, strongest degree of care. Where section 392.14 applies, the reasonable care standard is incorrect, and instructing a jury on reasonable care only is reversible error.

Dust storms in the Fresno County agricultural corridor are a foreseeable hazard. A truck driver who sees a dust storm ahead and drives into it rather than pulling over cannot claim sudden emergency. The sudden emergency doctrine, set out in California Civil Jury Instructions 452, is unavailable to a party whose own negligence created or contributed to the dangerous situation. Shiver v. Laramee (2018) 24 Cal.App.5th 395. In an unpublished decision, Rickman v. FedEx Freight, Inc. (Cal.Ct.App., Oct. 8, 2024, No. G063921), the Court of Appeal rejected a sudden emergency defense where the truck driver had observed a dust storm five miles ahead and continued driving into it instead of pulling over.

Hours of Service and Driver Fatigue

Fatigued driving is among the most common causes of serious commercial truck accidents. The FMCSR impose specific limits designed to prevent fatigued operation. A property-carrying driver may not operate a commercial vehicle after the driver's ability or alertness is so impaired through fatigue, illness, or any other cause as to make it unsafe to continue. 49 C.F.R. § 392.3. Property-carrying vehicles are subject to an 11-hour daily driving limit within a 14-hour on-duty window following 10 consecutive hours off duty. 49 C.F.R. § 395.3(a). Drivers must take a 30-minute break after eight hours of consecutive driving. 49 C.F.R. § 395.3(a)(3)(ii). Weekly limits cap driving at 70 hours in eight consecutive days for carriers operating every day. 49 C.F.R. § 395.3(b).

Electronic logging devices are now mandatory for most commercial carriers, replacing paper logs that were more susceptible to falsification. ELD data, telematics records, engine control module downloads, and dispatch communications are all discoverable evidence in a Fresno truck accident case. These records must be preserved immediately — some ECM data is overwritten as soon as the truck moves after a crash. The FMCSA's Safety and Fitness Electronic Records system at safer.fmcsa.dot.gov provides public access to a carrier's safety record, inspection history, violation data, and insurance information.

Who May Be Liable in a Fresno Truck Accident

Truck accident liability in California is not limited to the driver. Multiple parties may bear responsibility depending on how the collision occurred.

The motor carrier is vicariously liable for a driver's negligence committed within the scope of employment. Federal regulations treat independent contractor owner-operators as statutory employees of the motor carrier when operating under the carrier's authority. 49 C.F.R. §§ 390.5, 376.11, 376.12. A carrier's admission of vicarious liability bars negligent entrustment claims under Diaz v. Carcamo (2011) 51 Cal.4th 1148, but does not bar independent negligence claims directly linked to the carrier's own conduct — including negligent maintenance, training failures, and hours-of-service violations. The Diaz rule does not apply to punitive damages claims. CRST, Inc. v. Superior Court (2017) 11 Cal.App.5th 1255.

Freight brokers who select and dispatch motor carriers may be liable for negligent hiring of an unsafe carrier. The Ninth Circuit held in Miller v. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (9th Cir. 2020) 976 F.3d 1016 that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act's safety exception preserves state-law negligent hiring claims against freight brokers from federal preemption. The Supreme Court denied review of that decision.

Vehicle and component manufacturers may be liable under California's strict products liability doctrine, established in Greenman v. Yuba Power Products (1963) 59 Cal.2d 57, where a defective component — a tire, a brake assembly, a trailer coupling, an underride guard — caused or contributed to the collision or worsened the injuries.

Staffing agencies that place commercial drivers with trucking companies may be liable for negligent hiring and retention where they placed an unqualified or unsafe driver and the driver's conduct caused injury. California courts apply a multi-factor control test to determine whether a borrowed driver remains the general employer's employee. Bowman v. Wyatt (2010) 186 Cal.App.4th 286; Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Dept. of Industrial Relations (1989) 48 Cal.3d 341.

Federal minimum insurance for trucks carrying property in interstate commerce is $750,000 under 49 U.S.C. section 31139(b)(2). California's minimum for intrastate trucks is also $750,000 for most carriers. Where catastrophic injuries exhaust these limits, pursuing all available defendants — carrier, broker, manufacturer, shipper, staffing agency — is essential to full recovery.

Damages

California Civil Code section 3333 provides that the measure of damages for a tort is the amount that will compensate for all detriment proximately caused, whether it could have been anticipated or not. The full text of Civil Code section 3333 is published at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Recoverable damages in a Fresno truck accident case include medical expenses incurred and future medical care, lost wages and diminished earning capacity, physical pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life. In cases involving oppression, fraud, or malice, punitive damages may be available under Civil Code section 3294.

Filing a Lawsuit in Fresno County Superior Court

Truck accident lawsuits arising from Fresno County crashes are filed in the Fresno County Superior Court, B.F. Sisk Courthouse, 1130 O Street, Fresno, CA 93721. Electronic filing is mandatory for represented parties in unlimited civil actions under Code of Civil Procedure section 1010.6(g). Fresno County Local Rules require ADR completion before the mandatory settlement conference, personal appearance by trial counsel and insurance carrier representatives at the MSC with full settlement authority, and in-person attendance at the Trial Readiness Hearing held the Friday before trial.

Statute of Limitations

The statute of limitations for personal injury claims is two years from the date of injury under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. Missing this deadline can potentially bar a lawsuit. The statute of limitations is an affirmative defense the defendant must raise and prove — it does not operate automatically. Tolling doctrines may apply depending on the facts. Claims against a government entity require a government tort claim within six months of the incident under Government Code section 911.2. Contact Attorney Michael Rehm to assess the specific timeline in your case.

Attorney Michael Rehm handles truck accident cases throughout Fresno and Fresno County on a contingency fee basis. No fee without a recovery. Call (800) 978-0754 for a free consultation.

The information on this page is general legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case turns on its own facts. The law can change — statutes are amended, cases are decided, and regulations are revised; nothing on this page should be relied upon as a statement of current law without verification. Deadlines and legal bars discussed on this page are general guides — whether a particular deadline applies, has run, or is subject to tolling, and whether a particular doctrine bars or limits recovery in your case, requires individual analysis. Contact Attorney Michael Rehm to discuss the specific facts of your situation.