Commercial Vehicle Crashes Are Different. Higher Stakes, Multiple Defendants
Why Truck and Bus Accident Cases Are More Complex
When a commercial vehicle hits you, the rules change. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations govern how truckers drive, rest, maintain their vehicles, and load their cargo. Violations of FMCSA hours-of-service rules, inspection requirements, or weight limits can establish negligence per se. Liable parties can include the driver, the trucking company, the vehicle owner, the shipper who overloaded the freight, and the maintenance company. Commercial policies often carry $1 million or more in coverage. Bus accidents in New York involve additional complexity: MTA and city bus claims require a Notice of Claim within 90 days under General Municipal Law §50-e. You have three years under CPLR 214 to file suit on most truck accident claims.
What you need to know
Plain-English answers to the questions that come up most often on these cases.
Federal FMCSA Regulations
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration sets binding rules for commercial truckers: hours of service, drug testing, vehicle inspection, and load limits. Violations are evidence of negligence. We pull driver logs, inspection records, and ECM data to find them.
Read moreMultiple Potential Defendants
Truck accident liability can reach the driver, the motor carrier, the vehicle owner, the freight broker, the cargo loader, and the maintenance company. We investigate the full corporate chain before filing so no responsible party escapes.
Read moreHigher Insurance Policy Limits
Commercial trucks must carry minimum federal liability coverage of $750,000 to $5,000,000 depending on cargo. Tanker trucks carrying hazardous materials carry even more. Higher limits mean larger potential recoveries for serious injuries.
Read moreNotice of Claim for Bus Accidents
MTA buses, school buses operated by public districts, and other government vehicles require a Notice of Claim filed within 90 days under General Municipal Law §50-e. You then have one year and 90 days to file suit. Miss the 90-day notice and the claim is barred.
Read morePreserving Black-Box Evidence
Commercial trucks have Electronic Logging Devices and Event Data Recorders that capture speed, braking, and driver behavior. This data can be overwritten within days. We send spoliation letters immediately to force the carrier to preserve it.
Read moreCatastrophic Injury Damages
Truck accidents cause traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, and fatalities. These cases require life care planners, vocational economists, and medical experts to calculate lifetime losses. We build that expert team at no upfront cost to you.
Read moreHow we handle these cases
Step 1
Send an immediate evidence preservation letter to the carrier, owner, and insurer within days of the crash.
Step 2
Subpoena driver logs, ECM data, inspection records, and drug test results before they disappear.
Step 3
Identify every defendant in the corporate chain and serve each one.
Step 4
Engage federal trucking regulations experts and accident reconstructionists to prove fault.
Step 5
Negotiate with high-limit commercial insurers and go to trial when they refuse fair value.
Real cases. Real results.
Three recent Personal Injury outcomes — case context and result. No client identifying information.
All liable defendants identified and served before evidence is destroyed.
FMCSA violations documented and used to establish negligence per se.
Full recovery against the highest available policy limits for catastrophic injuries.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is evaluated on its own facts. The case outcomes shown are representative examples; details have been altered or generalized to protect client confidentiality.
Related questions
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Other ways we help
Same firm, same approach — different practice areas under one roof.
Workers’ Compensation
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Retaliation, wage theft, harassment. Plaintiff-side only.
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Seven New York offices serving working clients across the state.
The attorneys who work your case
Not a call centre. The lawyer who signs you is the lawyer who shows up.
Brian M. Mittman, Esq.
Managing Partner · Markhoff & Mittman, P.C.
Call 866-205-2415 Schedule with Brian- Admitted in New York
- 30+ years in practice
- Attends Board hearings personally
Brian has personally handled New York workers' compensation, SSDI, and personal-injury cases for over three decades. Your case is never handed off to a paralegal.
- Admitted in New York and New Jersey
- Pace University School of Law, J.D.
- Litigates before the Workers' Compensation Board
Randy has litigated every type of claim before the Workers' Compensation Board on behalf of hundreds of claimants.
- Admitted in New York, 2008
- New York Law School, J.D. 2007
- With The Disability Guys since 2013
Benai has spent more than a decade fighting for injured workers before the Workers' Compensation Board and the New York State Employees' Retirement Board.
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