New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the United States and is a massive trucking route on the East Coast. Unfortunately, trucking accidents occur frequently in New Jersey. Trucking accidents rarely feel like “accidents” to the people living through the aftermath. Most clients who walk into Scura Wigfield Heyer Stevens & Cammarota, LLP describe rough moments: the thunderous impact, the violent jolt, the sound of twisting metal, and then the unsettling quiet that follows when a vehicle weighing tens of thousands of pounds crashing into you.
What makes these collisions so devastating isn’t just the size of the trucks involved. It’s the reality that truck drivers operate under a very different and much stricter set of rules. The risks with a truck are so much higher. When a commercial driver cuts corners, pushes through fatigue, or makes a careless mistake, the consequences are magnified. Understanding this heightened duty of care is the first step in recognizing your rights after a crash. Even a brief review of the NJ Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) guidelines and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations reveal that heightened standard of care.
A fully loaded tractor-trailer can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. A typical passenger car weighs around 3,000. Put those numbers together and the imbalance is staggering. The physics alone explain why the law imposes greater responsibility on truck drivers. Large trucks require longer stopping distances, need more space to maneuver, and become far more difficult to control when something goes wrong. Even a small lapse can send a 40-ton vehicle careening across lanes or jackknifing without warning.
Because of these dangers, truck drivers don’t simply follow the same traffic rules as everyone else. They operate under an entire regulatory framework set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Those regulations govern how long a driver can be on the road without resting, how often the truck must be inspected, how cargo must be secured, and even what a driver must log throughout the trip. The purpose is straightforward: the public relies on these drivers to handle vehicles that have the power to inflict catastrophic harm.
When a truck driver, a trucking company, or both ignore these rules, the law treats that failure seriously. A driver who violates hours-of-service limits, for example, isn’t just tired. They are actively breaking a safety law designed to protect everyone around them. That violation can become a critical piece of a personal injury case, because it shows not just carelessness, but breach of a well-established duty of care.
Truck accidents usually aren’t the product of one random mistake. In many cases, there’s a chain that starts long before the crash—pressure from a dispatcher to meet a deadline, a company’s decision to delay maintenance because a truck is still “running fine,” or a driver who has been behind the wheel far longer than their body can safely handle.
One client described a truck drifting across the center line on a long stretch of highway. The driver later admitted he hadn’t slept in nearly thirty hours. Fatigue dulls reaction time, blurs judgment, and slows perception, but in an eighteen-wheeler, those effects become exponentially more dangerous. The same is true for distracted driving. Looking down at a phone for even two seconds at highway speeds means a fully loaded tractor-trailer will travel the length of half a football field with the driver essentially blind.
We had another case in which the driver pulled out with an 18-wheel Commercial Tractor Trailer without giving our client traveling on a highway enough time to pass. The driver pulled too far over the double yellow lines because trucks must make wide turns. The defendant driver claimed our client was speeding and that is why the accident occurred. Our firm obtained the video footage from a nearby business. Although the footage was not clear, we obtained enough information for our video expert to do a frame-by-frame analysis and calculate the speed of our client’s vehicle, revealing a speed 10 miles an hour under the speed limit. The case settled for $2.85 million within 18 months of the accident.
Mechanical failures also loom large in these cases. A truck with worn brake pads can lose stopping power with almost no warning. An improperly secured load can shift on a curve, pulling the trailer off balance. These aren’t simply mechanical mishaps. They’re often the result of skipped inspections, rushed maintenance, or training gaps—issues that point directly back to the trucking company.
People injured in crashes with commercial trucks often assume the insurance claim will work like any other motor-vehicle claim. Trucking cases are an entirely different landscape. Multiple parties may share responsibility: the driver, the trucking company, the company that loaded the cargo, the repair shop, even the manufacturer of a faulty part. Each one may have its own insurance carrier, legal team, and set of internal records that must be accessed quickly before they disappear.
Commercial insurance companies also tend to respond aggressively. Many dispatch rapid-response teams to the crash scene within hours, gathering evidence before the injured person even reaches a hospital bed. They understand the stakes and the potential for large verdicts, so they act fast to protect themselves.
This is where specialized experience matters. Trucking companies maintain driver logs, black-box data, GPS records, maintenance reports, and internal communications. Securing and interpreting that information requires familiarity with federal regulations and industry practices. An attorney who regularly handles truck cases knows what should exist, what is often missing, and what it means when a key document is suddenly “lost.”
At Scura Wigfield Heyer Stevens & Cammarota, LLP, the process of preparing these cases goes a step further. The firm built its own mock courtroom facility, where attorneys can test arguments, present evidence, and observe how real people respond. Two retired judges (Judge Brogan and Judge Chiocca) professionals who spent years presiding over exactly these types of legal disputes work within the firm, offering insight into how a case is likely to unfold when it finally reaches trial. This is a powerful Braintrust. Their perspective often shapes strategy early, helping identify the arguments that truly resonate and the ones that fall flat long before a jury ever hears the case.
The web of rules governing commercial drivers can feel overwhelming, but at the core, each requirement exists because a heavy truck magnifies danger. Under federal law, a truck driver must follow strict hours-of-service rules that dictate when they must rest and how long they may drive in each day or week. These rules exist to prevent fatigue, which remains one of the most common factors in truck accidents.
Drivers are also required to inspect their trucks before and after each trip. That includes checking brakes, tires, lights, coupling devices, and anything else that affects safe operation. If a problem arises, the driver cannot legally continue the trip until the issue is fixed.
Cargo securement rules go even further. Depending on the load, a driver may need a specific number of straps, tie-downs, or locking mechanisms. A shifting or unbalanced load can cause a rollover, jackknife, or lane deviation. When we investigate a case, evidence of improper securement often tells the story before a driver ever speaks.
Drug and alcohol testing is another critical component. Because of the catastrophic consequences of impaired driving in a commercial vehicle, federal standards are far stricter than those applied to everyday motorists. A driver can be disqualified for conduct that would not necessarily trigger consequences for someone driving a car.
When any of these regulations are ignored, the violation goes to the heart of the case. It shows a choice not to prioritize safety. Truck drivers understand these rules. Trucking companies understand them as well. When they fail to follow them, responsibility is not a close question.
Legal discussions often focus on regulations, liability, and evidence, but the human side of these accidents is impossible to ignore. Many clients come to our firm facing months of rehabilitation, mounting medical bills, and an inability to return to work. Some struggle with anxiety each time they approach a highway or hear a diesel engine. Others describe feeling overwhelmed because the insurance companies seem to be moving faster than they can.
A trucking accident doesn’t just disrupt a person’s life. It rearranges everything—daily routines, family dynamics, financial stability, and long-term plans. That’s why the legal process must account for the full impact, not just the immediate injuries. Future medical care, long-term pain, loss of earning capacity, and the emotional toll are all part of the picture.
Truck drivers and trucking companies know the harm these vehicles can cause when operated carelessly. The law expects them to act accordingly, and when they don’t, the injured person deserves a legal team capable of holding them accountable.
Every truck accident case turns on details. The reconstruction of the crash. The driver’s logbook. The vehicle’s electronic data. The history of safety violations by the trucking company. These aren’t items that fall neatly into place on their own. They must be gathered quickly, interpreted accurately, and presented clearly.
Scura Wigfield Heyer Stevens & Cammarota, LLP has built its practice around that level of preparation. Working with two retired judges provides an advantage few firms can offer. Their insight shapes how attorneys evaluate a case, what evidence a judge may consider most meaningful, and where the strongest arguments lie. The firm’s mock courtroom adds another layer, allowing lawyers to refine their approach in a realistic setting long before the case reaches a jury.
This isn’t preparation for the sake of show. It’s preparation that helps clients feel heard, understood, and supported in a process that can feel overwhelmingly stacked against them. When a case involves a commercial truck, the opposition will come prepared. Your legal team should come even more prepared.
If you’re recovering from a trucking accident, you may be trying to make sense of what happened, why it happened, and what your options are now. You don’t need to sift through federal regulations or negotiate with multiple insurance carriers on your own. What you need is clarity—an understanding of your rights, the strength of your case, and the path forward.
Speaking with an attorney doesn’t obligate you to file a lawsuit. It simply gives you the information you need to make informed decisions. At Scura Wigfield Heyer Stevens & Cammarota, LLP, we take the time to listen to your story, review the details, and explain how the law applies to your situation. If we move forward together, the firm’s resources—from our mock courtroom to the experience of our in-house retired judges—become part of your case from the very beginning.
A trucking accident may have upended your life, but you don’t have to navigate the aftermath alone. If you’re ready to understand your legal options or simply want to know where you stand, reaching out for guidance is a sensible place to start. The conversation is confidential, the guidance is straightforward, and the goal is always the same: helping you regain control of your life after a collision that never should have happened.