Written and reviewed by Josh Kohanim, Esq., California Bar No. 328609 · Reviewed
What is different in Long Beach
We represent people hurt by a commercial truck in Long Beach, on the 710, the 405, or the surface streets that feed the port terminals, and families handling a fatal case. Crashes between passenger cars are on our Long Beach car accident lawyer page, and the wider set of local questions is on our Long Beach personal injury lawyer page.
Where Long Beach truck crashes happen
| Location | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| At Shoreline Drive | 113,000 |
| At Anaheim Street | 113,000 to 126,000 |
| At the junction with Route 1 | 126,000 to 145,000 |
| At Willow Street | 145,000 to 160,000 |
| At the junction with I-405 | 160,000 to 176,000 |
| At Long Beach Boulevard | 180,000 to 189,000 |
Volume rising in one direction, interchange after interchange, is the signature of a freight corridor: vehicles joining and not leaving, on a road built to move containers inland. Those are Caltrans annual average daily traffic counts, and the dataset carries no count year, so we publish them as the current figures rather than attaching a year we cannot see. The practical point for your case is that a Long Beach truck crash usually happens where a heavy vehicle is merging, slowing or changing lanes among traffic that is doing none of those things.
What the CHP file gives your case
The California Office of Traffic Safety publishes no truck category. It ranked Long Beach 1 of 15 for total fatal and injury in 2023, the worst rate among California's fifteen largest cities, with 3,774 people killed or injured. Even that number leaves the 710 out. The agency states that "if a crash report is taken by the CHP on a road with shared jurisdiction, it does not count against the city." The freeway where the trucks are is the freeway the city's numbers do not count.
So the evidence in a port case has to be built rather than looked up. The CHP South Los Angeles Area, 19700 Hamilton Avenue in Torrance, describes its territory as "home to the Port of Los Angeles, which is the busiest container port in the United States" and lists Long Beach among the communities it serves. That office writes the freeway report and runs commercial vehicle enforcement, and its inspection history for the truck that hit you is discoverable.
The rules the truck driver broke
Federal law governs the driver's hours, the truck's condition and the carrier's records, and our Los Angeles truck accident lawyer page sets out the hours of service limits in 49 CFR 395.3 line by line. Two California rules sit on top of them and matter more here than almost anywhere else in the county.
Vehicle Code 22406 caps a truck tractor or a motortruck with three or more axles, and any vehicle towing another, at 55 miles per hour, whatever the posted limit is for cars. On the 710 and the 405 that gap is where the collision happens. Vehicle Code 23152(d) makes it unlawful to drive a commercial vehicle at 0.04 percent blood alcohol, half the limit for everyone else. Break either one and negligence per se follows: a jury may presume negligence from the violation, and it receives that as CACI 418.
Who pays for a container truck crash
A drayage move puts several companies on the same trailer. The driver has a license. The motor carrier has coverage, and answers for the driver under respondeat superior, the rule that an employer is liable for what an employee does in the scope of employment, given to a jury as CACI 3720. The company's own hiring and supervision is a separate claim, CACI 426. The trailer or chassis owner, the shipper who loaded it and the shop that serviced the brakes each have their own exposure.
Expect one defense above all others: the driver was an independent contractor, so the carrier is not responsible. The federal leasing rule answers it, and the answer is on our guide to port and drayage truck accidents, along with how terminal appointment systems and chassis pools are pulled into discovery.
Why the evidence disappears in days
Electronic logging device data, dispatch messages, dashcam video and the terminal's gate records all exist on retention schedules that are shorter than your treatment. We send a preservation letter within days of being hired, before anyone has valued anything, and our post on the truck accident evidence preservation letter shows what it has to demand. The crash report itself comes later and settles less than people expect.
Your trauma center and your courthouse
Long Beach has two Level II trauma centers inside the city: MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center, 2801 Atlantic Avenue, 411 licensed beds, which is Level II adult and Level II pediatric, and Dignity Health St. Mary Medical Center, 1050 Linden Avenue, 360 beds. Both are on the California EMS Authority list updated October 22, 2025. The most severe injuries are transferred to a Level I center such as Harbor-UCLA in Torrance, and that transfer means a second hospital chart and a second set of liens, the rights to be repaid out of your settlement.
| What you are doing | Where or when | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Filing an unlimited civil suit | Deukmejian Courthouse, 275 Magnolia Avenue | Local Rule 2.3, South District |
| Suing for the injury or a death | Two years from the crash | Code of Civil Procedure 335.1 |
| Claiming against Caltrans or a city | Six months, in writing | Government Code 911.2 |
Code of Civil Procedure 335.1 and Government Code 911.2 set those two clocks, and the rest are collected in our table of California injury deadlines. None of them is the deadline that decides a truck case. The retention schedule is, and it is measured in days.
Situations that change a truck claim
- The road was the problem. A collapsed lane on a state route puts Caltrans in the case under Government Code 835, and a public entity claim is due in six months rather than two years.
- It was a delivery van, not a tractor trailer. Weight decides which federal rules apply, and a last mile van case is built differently. The distinction is covered on the Los Angeles truck pages.
- You were on foot when it happened. Long Beach ranks 2 of 15 for pedestrians and 1 of 15 for pedestrians under 15, and those cases run on the right of way statutes instead: see our Long Beach pedestrian accident lawyer page.
- The insurance is on a different scale. A for-hire interstate truck over 10,001 pounds carrying non-hazardous property must hold at least $750,000 in liability coverage under 49 CFR 387.9, against a $30,000 California car minimum. That cuts your way, and it is why these files are worth building rather than settling early.
- Insurer’s first offer
$100,000What we recovered$6,300,00063× the first offerTruck collision, concussion
Sideswiped on the freeway by a semi-truck. Settled on the eve of trial.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case depends on its own facts, injuries, and insurance coverage. Amounts shown are gross recoveries before attorney's fees, costs, and medical liens.
All case resultsWhat to do after a truck crash
You have a case against companies as well as a driver, and those companies keep the records that prove it. You have two years to sue and six months if a public agency is involved. You will be treated at a Level II trauma center a few miles from the freeway, and your case will be heard on Magnolia Avenue. The retention schedules do not wait.
Our headquarters are in Tarzana, and you do not have to make the drive. Tell us the date, the location on the 710, and any company name on the trailer. The preservation letter goes out from there.
Send us the report number and whatever you photographed. We will identify the carrier and put the records on hold.