SALT LAKE COUNTY
Hit by a commercial truck on Bangerter, Redwood Road or Mountain View Corridor? Free case review from a Utah injury firm, and no attorney fees unless we win.
West Jordan has grown west quickly, so the same arterials carry commuters, school traffic, delivery fleets and the dump trucks and concrete mixers that serve new subdivisions. The busiest truck routes are the ones the city's growth depends on.
Freeway-style interchanges at 7000 South and 9000 South now alternate with signals and driveways. A loaded truck carrying interchange speed into a signalized section needs far more room to stop than the cars around it, and rear-end and lane-change crashes follow.
The newest route on the west side, crossing Old Bingham Highway near 10200 South. Long gaps between signals let trucks and cars build speed, so a vehicle turning across the lanes or entering from a side street faces a high closing speed.
A wide arterial lined with apartments, businesses, bus stops and the district courthouse at 8080 South. Trucks turning into commercial lots and people crossing between distant signals are a dangerous combination, especially after dark.
Subdivision streets and collector roads carry gravel, concrete and material trucks to active building sites, often near schools and parks. Unsecured loads, trucks backing without a spotter and trucks pulling out of dirt access roads raise questions about the contractor as well as the driver.
The retail grid off Bangerter draws tractor-trailers and box trucks to loading docks behind the stores. Backing trucks and wide turns across parking aisles endanger shoppers walking to their cars.
Who responds
West Jordan Police respond to crashes inside the city, including on Bangerter, Redwood Road and Mountain View Corridor, and the Utah Highway Patrol may handle some highway incidents. A government-owned truck, a road hazard or a work zone can bring in the one-year notice of claim required by Utah Code § 63G-7-402.
Your own auto policy's personal injury protection pays first under Utah law, whatever the truck driver's fault: at least $3,000 of medical expense and lost income at 85% of gross, up to $250 each week for as long as 52 weeks (Utah Code § 31A-22-307). Here is PIP in plain terms.
After a truck impact, the ambulance and emergency workup at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray can pass that figure before you are admitted. Utah Code § 31A-22-309 lets you pursue the at-fault party for non-economic losses once you have:
At that point, the at-fault carrier's liability insurance is responsible for the whole claim, including future treatment and lost earning capacity. Your UIM coverage can add to a policy that is too small, and an uninsured motorist claim is exempt from the threshold. Read about underinsured motorist claims.
Under Utah Code § 78B-5-818, fault is divided among everyone involved; you recover only if the defendants together are more at fault than you, and your percentage is subtracted.
In West Jordan, a carrier's adjuster will ask whether you pulled out in front of a truck on Mountain View Corridor, changed lanes too close at a Bangerter interchange, or walked behind a backing truck at Jordan Landing. Business video and the truck's own data resolve those disputes when saved in time.
Deadlines
Four years for most crash injury claims (§ 78B-2-307); two years for wrongful death (§ 78B-2-304); one year for a notice of claim against UDOT, UTA, Salt Lake County or West Jordan City. See Utah filing deadlines.
Federal cargo securement rules require every truck and trailer carrying cargo on public roads to be loaded and secured so the load does not leak, spill, blow or fall off, and does not shift enough to affect the vehicle's stability (49 CFR 393.100). Gravel, rock or construction debris on the road can point to a violation.
Every commercial vehicle, including each trailer in a combination, must have passed a periodic inspection within the preceding 12 months, with documentation on the vehicle (49 CFR 396.17). An expired inspection decal is worth photographing at the scene.
Carriers keep maintenance records for a year and for six months after a vehicle leaves their control (49 CFR 396.3(c)), and an accident register for three years (49 CFR 390.15(b)). The register can show whether the same truck or driver had crashed before.
A construction-truck crash can involve the truck's owner, the hauling company, the business that loaded it and the contractor running the site, each potentially carrying part of the fault. Our guide to Utah truck claims explains how fault is traced.
If the truck that caused the crash drives off, your UM coverage may respond. If it never touched you, Utah requires clear and convincing proof beyond your own testimony that it existed, so note any company name you saw and report it at once.
West Jordan truck suits are filed in Salt Lake County's Third Judicial District Court, which sits at the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City and at 8080 South Redwood Road in West Jordan. Most settle, but the carrier should receive a preservation letter within days. Call (801) 921-5134 or request a free case review. Free consultation. No attorney fees unless we win. Hablamos Español. See our West Jordan car accident page and West Jordan personal injury page.
General information about Utah and federal trucking law for West Jordan drivers, not legal advice about your claim. Every outcome depends on its facts, and past results do not guarantee another.