Quirk Accident & Injury Attorneys, APC, helps families earn justice after a family member has been killed due to a truck driver’s mistake. We make sure drivers and their employers are held fully responsible for helping loved ones prepare for a future without the deceased.
Our skilled wrongful death lawyers offer a free, confidential case consultation to all family members. It’s a no-risk opportunity for grieving families to determine how to earn the support they desperately need as soon as possible. Contact our office to schedule a no-obligation case review as soon as possible.
When Families Need a Lawyer
California empowers families who lose a loved one in a traffic accident to seek support from the responsible driver. Unfortunately, insurers for those at fault can do everything they can to avoid accepting fault. They might even resort to twisting the evidence to make it look like the deceased victim caused the accident.
When a truck driver or delivery driver is to blame, families may also have to take on corporate lawyers for the employer. These lawyers might try to change the facts of what happened, and can even make families wait for support on purpose. They do this hoping families get so desperate for financial support, they will accept any “lowball” settlement offer they are sent.
A skilled Santa Barbara Wrongful Death Lawyer is a safeguard for the memory of the victim and protects the family at every step of the claims process. Quirk Accident & Injury Lawyers would fully investigate the accident and the truck driver at fault.
We would have the evidence ready to keep a trucking business from escaping blame. Our experienced attorneys can often win much more for families than they could by filing a claim themselves.
Free Case Consultation and No Upfront Fees
Quirk Accident & Injury Attorneys wants to stand with families and make sure they have what they need to rebuild their lives. It’s why we provide a free, confidential case consultation to all family members after a tragic accident.
It’s an easy way for families to find out the type of benefits they can earn to help them through such a difficult time. It’s a good idea to speak to a lawyer before a company can convince them that they don’t have to provide anything for an employee’s deadly mistake.
Support for Families After a Fatal Truck Accident
How much help families receive after an accident is always up in the air, because commercial truck insurers will argue for the lowest amount available. But families should receive all the support they need to cover all their immediate costs and their hardships that can be expected in the years ahead.
A Santa Barbara Truck Accident Lawyer would demand these and other benefits on behalf of the family:
- Support to reimburse funeral expenses
- Support to cover leftover hospital bills
- Support to replace the income the deceased may have contributed to support loved ones each month
- Support for the loss of the guidance and care a loved one always provided
- Support for the sense of protection and home stewardship that a loved one may have provided
- Support for the loss of special life events with a loved one, like family gatherings, weddings, and the birth of children and grandchildren
- The loss of companionship parents will feel after losing a child to a truck collision
- Any money needed to pay for grief counseling and other mental health services
Liability in a Fatal Truck Accident
A team of lawyers for a trucking company or delivery company like Amazon might tell families that they don’t have to provide any support after a deadly accident.
However, companies are liable for the actions of their employees. They must provide restitution if a careless error by a truck driver in a semi-truck or a worker in a delivery van gets careless and causes an accident.
These are a few of the parties that families could hold responsible after a careless truck driver’s error:
- A truck driver could work for themselves as an owner/operator, but they’d still have to have commercial truck accident insurance covering their rides
- A local trucking company that employs many drivers and likely has a truck accident insurance policy with higher limits
- A local farm that might send large produce trucks and equipment out on the road
- A corporation like Walmart or Amazon that puts many different sizes of trucks on the road with employees behind the wheel
- A truck manufacturer that designs and builds a truck with defects that cause an accident
Businesses sending trucks out on local roads might also be liable for any negligence in training drivers and failures in background checks that keep them from hiring safe drivers.
Companies are also responsible for the routine maintenance of trucks and vans, and can be liable if a tire blowout or brake failure causes a deadly crash.
Quirk Accident & Injury Attorneys helps families identify every party that might bear some blame in a tragic accident. In some cases, claims against multiple parties could be necessary.
Family Members Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim
California permits close relatives to file wrongful death claims. It’s usually one person filing on behalf of the entire family.
These parties would have the first right to file a wrongful death claim:
- Spouse or domestic partner
- Children of the victim
Generally, any family member who can prove they were financially dependent on the victim can take part in a wrongful death claim. That can include step-children, parents, siblings, and grandchildren of the deceased.
A skilled attorney could represent the family or individual members to help ensure that a negligent company provides enough to loved ones. A lawyer can also see that all family members receive their fair share of support.
Santa Barbara Truck Accident Dangers
With one look, it’s easy to see why a big rig on narrow Santa Barbara lanes can pose a dangerous accident risk. Semi-trucks and delivery vans are harder to keep in a single lane. Their shape, weight, and height also put people in smaller vehicles or those walking or biking at risk of more powerful impacts and more dangerous crash angles. Victims can even end up underneath a tractor-trailer, trapped and waiting for medical care.
The dangers extend to truck drivers who may be stressed and behind schedule, and become reckless. They can also be distracted by their cellphones and alerts from their employers. This is attention that should be paid to the road ahead, especially when it takes longer to stop heavy trucks, and more attention should be paid to keep other drivers safe.
According to California’s Transportation Injury Mapping System (TIMS), Santa Barbara County recorded 89 serious truck accidents (involving injury) in 2025. That was an increase from 2024, when there were 79 serious truck accidents.
- TIMS found that there were 28 serious truck accidents on Highway 101 through Santa Barbara County in 2025.
Contact a Santa Barbara Fatal Truck Accident Lawyer Soon
Families are permitted to wait up to two years after a deadly truck accident to file a wrongful death claim. But it’s never a good idea to wait long to contact a lawyer. You’ll want to allow your family’s attorney to collect evidence and track down witnesses before too much time passes. Evidence can get thrown out, and witnesses might become harder to find.
Schedule a free case review with the Wrongful Death Lawyers here at Quirk Accident & Injury Attorneys, APC. We have served grieving families in the area for over a decade now. We can also help you if your loved one was killed in a truck accident as a pedestrian, as a cyclist, or while on a motorcycle.
There’s no obligation for your free consultation, but if you feel we can help your family earn more for the future, you won’t need to worry about how you’ll pay us. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for you and your family. Then our fee comes out of the settlement your family receives from a commercial truck insurance company.