Kent, Washington Truck Accident Lawyer

The Kent Valley is one of the largest freight hubs on the West Coast. Tractor-trailers run the warehouse district day and night, then merge onto I-5, SR 167, and SR 18 with the rest of us. When an 80,000-pound truck and a 4,000-pound car collide, the car loses.

A truck wreck is not a bigger car wreck. Federal rules, multiple companies, and seven-figure insurance policies all come into play. The trucking company sends investigators to the scene within hours, and they work for the truck, not for you.

Goldberg & Loren represents people hurt by commercial trucks in Kent and across King County. Below are the facts, the federal rules, and the Washington deadlines worth knowing before you talk to anyone's insurer.

Why a Truck Crash Is Not Just a Bigger Car Crash

The physics alone change everything. A fully loaded tractor-trailer can weigh up to 80,000 pounds on the Interstate, set by federal rule and the bridge formula (FHWA, 23 CFR 658.17). That is roughly 20 times a typical passenger car.

That weight gap shows up in the death toll. In two-vehicle crashes between a large truck and a passenger vehicle, 97% of the people killed were in the passenger vehicle, not the truck (IIHS, 2023 data).

The legal picture is just as lopsided. A truck case can involve the driver, the carrier, a separate trailer owner, a broker, a cargo loader, and a parts maker. Each may carry its own insurance and its own lawyers. Sorting out who pays is a job for someone who handles these cases.

Who Gets Hurt When Trucks Crash?

Nationwide, 5,472 people died in crashes involving large trucks in 2023, down about 8% from 5,969 in 2022 (NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts). About 70% of those killed were occupants of other vehicles.

The IIHS breaks down a similar pattern. Of everyone killed in large-truck crashes in 2023, most were occupants of other vehicles, and a smaller share were people walking, biking, or riding motorcycles.

Who was killed in large-truck crashes	Share (2023)
Occupants of cars and other passenger vehicles	65%
Pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists	17%
Large-truck occupants	16%

Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Fatality Facts 2023, large trucks. These shares are based on the IIHS count of 4,354 large-truck crash deaths in 2023. IIHS and NHTSA count these crashes differently, so the IIHS total differs from the NHTSA figure above. Percentages are rounded and may not total 100%.

Federal crash counts also confirm how often big rigs are involved. The FMCSA counted 5,837 large trucks in fatal crashes in 2022, and truck tractors (tractor-trailers) made up about 59% of them, roughly 3,444 trucks (FMCSA Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts).

What Causes Truck Crashes?

The landmark federal study on this is the FMCSA Large Truck Crash Causation Study. It examined a national sample of serious truck crashes and ranked the factors most often linked to them (FMCSA Report to Congress).

Factor linked to the truck	Share of trucks in the study
Brake problems	29%
Traveling too fast for conditions	23%
Unfamiliarity with the roadway	22%
Roadway problems	20%

Source: FMCSA Large Truck Crash Causation Study. The study sampled crashes from 2001 to 2003, and remains the most-cited federal causation research; the FMCSA is building a modern replacement, the Crash Causal Factors Program.

Most of these trace back to choices made before the wreck. A skipped brake inspection, a load run too fast down SR 18, a driver pushed past safe hours. Those are the threads a good truck case pulls on.

• Fatigue and hours violations: Drivers paid by the mile have a reason to keep rolling. Federal hours-of-service limits exist to stop that, and the logs show when they were broken.
• Blind spots and no-zones: Large trucks have deep blind spots on all four sides. A lane change in Kent traffic can put a car where the driver simply cannot see it.
• Bad maintenance: Worn brakes, bald tires, and broken lights cause wrecks. Inspection and repair records often tell the story.
• Improper loading: An overloaded or unbalanced trailer can jackknife or roll. The company that loaded it may share the blame.

The Federal Rules Every Trucking Company Must Follow

Interstate trucking runs on federal safety rules from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. When a carrier breaks them, that violation can become powerful evidence in your case. Two sets of rules matter most.

Hours-of-service limits

The hours-of-service rules cap how long a driver can stay behind the wheel. They are written into federal law at 49 CFR Part 395 and summarized by the FMCSA.

Limit	The rule for property-carrying drivers
11-hour driving limit	May drive up to 11 hours after 10 straight hours off duty
14-hour window	May not drive past the 14th hour after coming on duty
30-minute break	Required after 8 cumulative hours of driving
60/70-hour limit	No driving after 60 hours in 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days, reset by 34+ hours off

Source: FMCSA Hours of Service and 49 CFR Part 395. Most trucks now log these hours electronically, which makes violations easier to prove.

Size and weight limits

Federal law caps a truck at 80,000 pounds gross on the Interstate, with a 20,000-pound single-axle limit and a 34,000-pound tandem-axle limit (23 CFR 658.17). An overloaded rig brakes longer and rolls easier, and the weigh-station and shipping records can show it.

Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Truck Crash?

One of the biggest differences in a truck case is the number of parties who may owe you money. A careful investigation looks past the driver to everyone whose choices put that truck on the road.

• The driver: For speeding, distraction, impairment, or driving past legal hours.
• The trucking company: For pushing schedules, skipping maintenance, or hiring a driver they should not have.
• The cargo loader or shipper: For an overloaded or poorly secured load that caused a rollover or spill.
• A maintenance contractor: For brake, tire, or repair work done wrong.
• A parts manufacturer: For a defective tire, coupling, or brake component that failed.
• A broker: For arranging freight with a carrier it knew, or should have known, was unsafe.

Each added defendant can mean another insurance policy to draw from. That matters when injuries are severe and one policy is not enough to cover the harm.