Motorists seldom walk away from an accident with a 70,000-pound moving vehicle. More than half of the more than 150,000 trucking accidents last year involving cars and trucks were the fault of the truck driver.

Drug use and sleep deprivation were the causes in more than half of those cases.  Speed, illegal maneuvers, aggressive behavior, inadequate evasive action and distraction make up the other fifty percent.

Further complicating the situation, truck accidents often involve drivers with out-of-state licenses, multiple insurance policies and companies cutting corners on tires, safety inspection and weight limits — putting profits before public safety.

The deadly facts:

• Collisions with large trucks are to blame for one out of eight traffic deaths.
• Two or more vehicles are usually involved in almost 80 percent of accidents involving large trucks.
• Truck accidents kill.  There were more than 4000 fatalities in the USA in 2009.

The New York and New Jersey truck lawyers at Hess & Leibowitz have been representing victims of auto, truck and motorcycle accidents for more than four decades. We have recovered money for our clients in 98% of the motor vehicle accident cases we have handled, which has amounted to many millions of dollars.

The partners have extensive experience representing victims of motor vehicle accidents. Steven Hess and Alan B. Leibowitz have been honored by their peers in the legal profession by being named super lawyers for multiple years.