SALT LAKE COUNTY
Hit by a tractor-trailer on I-215 or a delivery truck on State Street in Murray? Our legal team will review it free, and there are no attorney fees unless we win.
Murray is compact, but two interstates cross it and US-89 runs its full length as State Street. Freight moving around the valley on I-215 meets freight moving north and south on I-15, and trucks serving the retail and hospital districts spill onto city streets.
Semis changing between the two interstates share tight ramps with commuters, and ramp queues back onto the mainline at peak hours. Sideswipes during lane changes and rear-end crashes into stopped traffic are the typical truck collisions here, and highway speed makes them severe.
Five or more lanes, a nearly unbroken row of driveways and people walking between bus stops. Box trucks and tractor-trailers stop in the curb lane to unload or swing across lanes into loading areas, and a driver or pedestrian beside a turning trailer can end up under it.
Commuter routes from I-15 to the east side, lined with schools and parks. Delivery and service trucks turning at signals, or stopping without warning for an address, cause rear-end and turning crashes with the cars behind them.
The mall and the retail frontage along State Street depend on constant truck deliveries through lots and service drives. Backing trucks and trailers cutting across parking aisles injure shoppers on foot, and the property owner's layout can become part of the claim.
TRAX Blue and Red lines and FrontRunner connect at Murray Central, near 5150 South and just west of Intermountain Medical Center on Cottonwood Street. Supply trucks, ambulances and heavy foot traffic share the area, so crashes can involve UTA or a property owner as well as the trucking company.
Police jurisdiction and government claims
Murray City Police handle crashes on city streets, and the Utah Highway Patrol usually takes I-15 and I-215. A crash involving a TRAX or FrontRunner train, a UDOT work zone or a Murray City vehicle falls under the Governmental Immunity Act, which bars the claim without a notice filed within one year (Utah Code § 63G-7-402).
The first payer is your own auto insurer, through personal injury protection, regardless of who caused the crash. Utah Code § 31A-22-307 sets that coverage at a minimum of $3,000 for medical care, and it pays 85% of lost gross income up to $250 weekly for as many as 52 weeks. Learn how PIP works.
Emergency care at Intermountain Medical Center can go well past that in a single visit. You can pursue the trucking company for pain, suffering and lost quality of life only after crossing the Utah Code § 31A-22-309 threshold, meaning one of the following:
After that, the carrier's liability insurance is answerable for your whole loss, including care you will need later and reduced earning capacity. If the truck's policy is not enough, underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy may add to it; if the truck had none, your uninsured motorist claim does not need to meet the threshold. UIM coverage explained.
Under Utah Code § 78B-5-818, you can recover only if the combined fault of the defendants is greater than your own, and your share is deducted from what you receive.
A carrier's adjuster in a Murray case may argue that you tried to pass a turning truck on State Street, cut in on an I-215 ramp, or walked behind a backing trailer at a loading dock. Business video, the truck's electronic data and the driver's post-crash test results often decide those arguments.
Deadlines to protect your claim
Most injury suits from a motor vehicle crash have four years (§ 78B-2-307); wrongful death has two (§ 78B-2-304); a claim against UDOT, UTA, Salt Lake County or Murray City needs notice within one year. Our deadline guide lists the others.
A commercial driver may not use alcohol within 4 hours before going on duty, may not have any measured alcohol concentration while on duty, and a carrier may not let a driver work if the driver appears to have been drinking in that window (49 CFR 392.5).
Drivers may not be on duty while using or under the influence of Schedule I drugs, amphetamines, narcotics or any substance that makes driving unsafe, and carriers may not permit it (49 CFR 392.4). A prescription is an exception only when a medical practitioner has advised that it will not affect safe driving.
A commercial vehicle must display the operating carrier's name and its USDOT number on both sides, legible from 50 feet, and a leased truck showing another company's name must add “operated by” with the carrier's details (49 CFR 390.21). A photo of the door is often how the responsible company is found.
Carriers hauling general freight interstate must carry at least $750,000 in liability coverage, and hazardous materials require more: $1,000,000 for many hazmat loads and $5,000,000 for certain bulk hazardous substances (49 CFR 387.9). Tankers on I-15 and I-215 fall in those higher tiers. Read our Utah truck accident claims guide for more.
When a truck causes a crash and drives on, your uninsured motorist coverage may pay. If it never touched you, Utah Code § 31A-22-305(6) requires clear and convincing proof beyond your own testimony that it existed, so capture any name or number you saw on the door.
If a Murray truck case must be filed, it goes to the Third Judicial District Court for Salt Lake County, at the Matheson Courthouse, 450 South State Street, or the West Jordan courthouse on Redwood Road. Most are resolved before that point, but the carrier should be told in writing to preserve its records at once. Call (801) 921-5134 or request a free case review. Free consultation. No attorney fees unless we win. Hablamos Español. More: Murray car accident page and Murray personal injury page.
This is general information about Utah and federal trucking law for Murray residents and commuters, not legal advice on your case. The facts decide every claim, and earlier results do not guarantee a later one.