Truck accidents on Long Island can cause serious and catastrophic injuries, and often involve FMCSA and federal safety regulations, multiple liable parties, and insurance policies far larger than standard auto coverage.

Our Long Island truck accident lawyers handle claims against trucking companies, commercial carriers, and negligent drivers across Nassau and Suffolk County. We investigate driver logs, carrier safety records, and vehicle maintenance histories to build the strongest cases against trucking companies (not just individual drivers) to pursue maximum compensation and justice for our clients.

Conveniently located near the Long Island Expressway (I-495) and the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway (Route 135), our Long Island office serves truck accident victims across Nassau County, Suffolk County, and the surrounding communities. We also offer home and hospital visits for clients whose injuries prevent travel.

Call (212) 268-3222 for a free, confidential consultation — available 24/7.

Quick Answers About Truck Accident Claims on Long Island

Truck accident cases are more complex than standard car accident claims. Federal regulations, corporate defendants, and high-value insurance policies create a legal landscape that requires immediate, specialized action. Here is what Long Island truck accident victims need to know.

Why Long Island Clients Choose Raphaelson & Levine for Truck Accident Cases

Truck accident cases require a firm that can match the resources of corporate defendants and their insurers. We've earned the trust of thousands of New Yorkers through verified outcomes and real client feedback, not marketing slogans and billboards.

Our Core Values: The Four R's

Results. Our clients have recovered over $1 billion in compensation across all practice areas.

Resources. Truck accident cases demand legal expertise: accident reconstructionists, trucking industry safety consultants, federal motor carrier compliance specialists, and forensic economists. We retain these experts and advance all costs.

Reputation. Hundreds offive-star reviews and industry recognition including Best Law Firms Tier 1 rankings, Best Lawyers recognition for 7 attorneys, and New York Law Journal Verdicts & Settlements Hall of Fame.

Respect. Every client is treated as a priority. We make sure every truck accident victim understands the federal regulations that may apply, the parties that may be liable, and the compensation that may be available; so they can make informed decisions about their case.

What Truck Accident Clients Say

"Raphaelson & Levine matched the trucking company's lawyers at every turn..." — William H., Truck Accident (Google Review)

"I was on my scooter and got hit by a Box Truck and it change my life . Andrew and his team was there for me." — Herbert H., Truck Accident (Google Review)

Reviews reflect individual experiences; results vary.

Truck Accident Case Results

• ‍$1.15 Million — Garbage Truck Rear-End Collision. A driver was rear-ended by a New York City garbage truck, sustaining a serious neck injury that required surgery. We proved the garbage truck operator was entirely at fault and recovered the full available compensation.‍
• $1 Million — Construction Truck Crash. Our client was struck by a construction van, resulting in a back injury requiring surgery. After years of litigation and on the eve of trial, we recovered a million-dollar settlement (the maximum available insurance compensation).‍
• $865,000 — Dump Truck Accident in Kings County. A driver was struck by a dump truck while operating a company vehicle, sustaining hip and back injuries that required surgery. After aggressive litigation in Kings County Supreme Court, we filed a motion for a liability judgment. The court agreed and granted our client summary judgment on liability.‍
• $825,000 — Tow Truck Wrongful Death. Our firm represented the estate of a parent who was struck and killed by a tow truck. We established that the victim experienced pre-impact terror based on the tow truck driver's own testimony. At mediation prior to the start of trial, our attorneys secured an $825,000 recovery for the family.‍
• $450,000 — Truck Rear-End on City Highway. A parent and two children were struck from behind by a truck on a city highway. The impact caused a neck injury requiring ambulance transport and separation from the children at the scene. We recovered $450,000 for the family's medical treatment and ongoing care.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique.

We Handle All Types of Truck Accidents on Long Island

Long Island's highways carry heavy commercial traffic — tractor-trailers, dump trucks, garbage trucks, delivery vans, tankers, and construction vehicles move through Nassau and Suffolk County daily on the Long Island Expressway, Northern State Parkway, Southern State Parkway, and Sunrise Highway.

Each type of truck accident involves different liable parties, different federal regulations, and different insurance structures.

Tractor-Trailer and 18-Wheeler Accidents

Tractor-trailers operating in interstate commerce must comply with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations, including hours-of-service limits under 49 CFR Part 395 that restrict how long drivers can operate without rest. Violations of these rules — falsified electronic logging device records, exceeded driving hours, skipped mandatory breaks — are powerful evidence of negligence.

We subpoena ELD data, dispatch communications, and driver qualification files to determine whether the carrier pressured the driver to exceed safe limits. Under VTL § 388, the registered owner of the truck can be held vicariously liable for injuries caused by any operator driving with the owner's consent — even if the owner was not present and was not personally negligent.

Dump Truck Accidents

Dump trucks operating on Long Island construction projects and roadways pose distinct hazards: blind spots larger than passenger vehicles, unsecured loads that spill debris onto highways, and hydraulic failures that cause raised beds to strike overpasses.

We recovered $865,000 for a client struck by a dump truck whose injuries required surgery — after obtaining a summary judgment ruling on liability in Kings County Supreme Court. Dump truck accident investigations focus on the truck's maintenance records, the contractor's safety protocols, and whether the load was properly secured before transport.

Garbage Truck Accidents

Municipal and private garbage trucks make frequent stops, often blocking lanes and creating blind spots that endanger other drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians. We have recovered $1.15 million for clients rear-ended by garbage trucks, proving the operators were entirely at fault.

These cases may involve government entities — if the truck is operated by a municipal sanitation department, a Notice of Claim must generally be served within 90 days under GML § 50-e.

Delivery Van and Box Truck Accidents

The growth of e-commerce has dramatically increased delivery van and box truck traffic on Long Island roads. These vehicles are often driven by contractors or gig workers operating under tight delivery schedules, which can lead to speeding, distracted driving, and failure to obey traffic signals.

Liability may extend beyond the driver to the delivery company, the fleet owner, or the retailer that contracted the delivery service. We investigate the contractual relationships between drivers and carriers to identify every party responsible for the crash.

Tanker Truck Accidents

Tanker trucks carrying fuel, chemicals, or other hazardous materials present catastrophic risk in a collision — fires, explosions, and toxic spills can cause severe burns, respiratory injuries, and environmental contamination. These cases involve additional federal hazardous materials transportation regulations and may trigger multi-agency investigations.

We coordinate with hazmat experts and accident reconstructionists to establish liability and document the full scope of injuries.

Construction Vehicle Accidents

Concrete mixers, flatbed trucks hauling steel, and oversized construction vehicles share Long Island roads with passenger cars daily. Construction vehicle accidents often involve unsecured loads, equipment protruding beyond the truck bed, or drivers unfamiliar with residential routes.

We recovered $1 million for a client struck by a construction van whose back injury required surgery, pursuing the claim through years of litigation until we secured the maximum available insurance on the eve of trial.

Filing Deadlines for Truck Accident Claims in New York

Under New York law, most personal injury claims must be filed within three years of the date of injury (NY CPLR § 214). Wrongful death claims must generally be filed within two years of the date of death (NY EPTL § 5-4.1). Medical malpractice claims carry a two-year-and-six-month deadline from the act or from the end of continuous treatment for the same condition (NY CPLR § 214-a).

Claims against government entities — including municipalities operating garbage trucks, sanitation vehicles, or transit buses — must generally be commenced within one year and 90 days of the incident (NY GML § 50-i). When the injured person is a minor, filing deadlines may be extended (NY CPLR § 208), though notice-of-claim requirements for government entities still apply regardless of age.

Because specific circumstances can shorten or extend these timeframes, consulting an attorney promptly after a serious injury is strongly recommended.

Notice of Claim Requirements for Government-Operated Trucks

If your truck accident involved a government-operated vehicle — a municipal garbage truck, a county highway department vehicle, a state DOT truck — you must generally serve a formal Notice of Claim within 90 days of the incident (NY GML § 50-e).

For claims against New York State itself, a claim or notice of intention must be filed with the Attorney General within 90 days under the Court of Claims Act § 10. The Notice of Claim must include your name, the nature of your claim, and the time, place, and manner of the incident. Failure to meet these deadlines may permanently bar your claim, even if the underlying statute of limitations has not yet expired.

Why Truck Accident Evidence Requires Immediate Action

Beyond legal deadlines, truck accident cases face a critical evidence preservation problem. Electronic logging device data can be overwritten within days. Dashcam footage from the truck and surrounding vehicles may be recycled on short cycles.

Dispatch records, driver communications, and GPS tracking data are controlled by the trucking company — which has every incentive to let unfavorable evidence disappear. We send preservation letters within hours of engagement, putting the carrier and its insurer on notice that all records must be retained.

How Much is my Long Island Truck Accident Case Worth?

Most Long Island truck accident cases settle from tens of thousands into the multi‑millions, with severe or permanent injuries often exceeding $1 million depending on fault, commercial insurance limits, and damages.

Truck accident claims on Long Island often involve higher compensation than standard car accident cases. The injuries are more severe, the insurance policies are larger, and federal regulations provide additional grounds for liability. Understanding these factors is essential to evaluating what your case may be worth.

New York's Serious Injury Threshold

New York's no-fault insurance system generally requires your own auto insurance to cover medical expenses and lost wages up to $50,000, regardless of who caused the accident. To pursue a lawsuit for pain and suffering against the at-fault driver or trucking company, your injuries must meet the "serious injury" threshold defined by NY Insurance Law § 5102(d).

Qualifying injuries include fractures, significant disfigurement, dismemberment, permanent loss of use of a body part, or a medically determined impairment that prevented you from performing substantially all of your usual daily activities for at least 90 of the 180 days following the accident. Given the mass and speed of commercial trucks, most truck accident injuries meet this threshold — but insurers still challenge the classification aggressively.

Commercial Insurance Coverage

Federal law requires interstate carriers to maintain minimum liability insurance of $750,000, and most trucking companies carry $1 million or more. Trucks hauling hazardous materials may carry $5 million in coverage.

Unlike standard auto accident cases limited to $25,000 or $50,000 policies, truck accident claims often access substantial insurance pools — which is precisely why trucking company insurers fight these cases so aggressively from the outset.

Comparative Negligence in Truck Accident Cases

New York follows a pure comparative negligence rule (NY CPLR § 1411), meaning your recovery may be reduced by your percentage of fault but is never completely barred.

Trucking company defense teams routinely argue shared fault — claiming you were following too closely, changed lanes unsafely, or failed to see the truck. We counter these arguments with accident reconstruction, electronic data from both vehicles, and traffic camera footage that establishes exactly what happened.

Damages in Truck Accident Cases

Compensation in truck accident cases typically covers past and future medical bills, lost wages and diminished earning capacity, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and emotional distress. Truck accidents frequently produce catastrophic injuries — spinal cord damage, traumatic brain injuries, amputations, severe burns — that require lifelong medical care and dramatically reduce earning capacity.

Life care planners and forensic economists calculate these future costs so that any settlement reflects the true long-term impact. In wrongful death cases, the estate may recover funeral expenses, lost financial support, and loss of parental guidance for surviving children.

How We Build a Truck Accident Case on Long Island

Trucking companies and their insurers begin building their defense within hours of a crash. Often dispatching rapid response teams to the accident scene, securing the truck's data, and preparing their version of events. We match that urgency with our own investigation.

1. Preservation Demands and Evidence Seizure

Within hours of engagement, we send formal preservation letters to the trucking company, its insurer, and any third-party logistics providers demanding retention of all electronic logging device (ELD) data, GPS tracking records, dashcam and rear-facing camera footage, dispatch communications, driver qualification files, drug and alcohol testing records, vehicle inspection reports, and cargo manifests.

Federal regulations require carriers to retain certain records, but without a timely preservation demand, critical evidence — particularly dashcam footage and internal communications — can be overwritten or deleted.

2. Federal Regulatory Compliance Investigation

We examine the carrier's compliance with FMCSA regulations, including hours-of-service limits under 49 CFR Part 395.

Our investigation reviews whether the driver exceeded maximum driving hours, whether the carrier's ELD records show discrepancies that suggest falsification, whether the driver passed required pre-employment and random drug testing, whether the truck met federal vehicle inspection standards, and whether the carrier had a history of safety violations documented in the FMCSA Safety Measurement System (SMS) database.

Regulatory violations do not just support negligence claims — they can establish negligence per se, meaning the violation itself constitutes proof of fault.

3. Accident Reconstruction and Expert Analysis

Our Long Island accident reconstructionists analyze vehicle speeds, braking distances, impact angles, and crush damage to determine exactly how the collision occurred. For truck accidents, reconstruction also examines stopping distances (a loaded tractor-trailer traveling at 55 mph requires approximately 300 feet to stop), jackknife dynamics, rollover mechanics, and cargo shift patterns.

Trucking industry safety experts assess whether the carrier's training, supervision, and maintenance practices met industry standards.

4. Medical Documentation and Long-Term Damages

Truck accident injuries are frequently catastrophic; spinal cord damage, traumatic brain injuries, crush injuries, and severe burns that require years of treatment. We coordinate with your treating physicians and retain independent medical experts who document the full scope of your injuries. Life care planners project your future medical needs and costs over your remaining life expectancy.

Forensic economists calculate lost earning capacity. This comprehensive documentation ensures that any settlement or verdict accounts for the true lifetime cost of your injuries.

Frequently Asked Questions About Long Island Truck Accidents

Local Resources for Truck Accident Victims on Long Island

After a truck accident on Long Island, you will likely interact with local courts, hospitals, and law enforcement. These are the institutions most commonly involved in truck accident injury cases across Nassau and Suffolk County.

Courts That Handle Truck Accident Cases

Personal injury lawsuits arising from truck accidents on Long Island are typically filed in Nassau County Supreme Court or Suffolk County Supreme Court, depending on where the accident occurred. We secured a summary judgment on liability in Kings County Supreme Court for a dump truck accident case that resulted in an $865,000 recovery. Cases involving government-operated trucks may require proceedings in the New York Court of Claims if the state is a defendant.

Hospitals and Trauma Centers

Truck accident injuries are frequently severe enough to require Level I trauma care. On Long Island, victims are most commonly treated at Stony Brook University Hospital (Level I trauma center) in Stony Brook, Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore, Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, and North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset. The treating facility's medical records — especially the initial trauma assessment — become central evidence documenting the severity of your injuries.

Law Enforcement and Accident Investigation

Truck accidents on Long Island are investigated by the Nassau County Police Department, the Suffolk County Police Department, or New York State Police (for highway and expressway crashes). Serious truck accidents involving fatalities or hazardous material spills may also trigger investigations by the FMCSA or the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The police accident report (MV-104) and any supplemental commercial vehicle inspection reports are critical early evidence that we obtain as part of our initial investigation.

Related Long Island Personal Injury Practice Areas

Truck accidents often overlap with other injury categories. If your situation involves any of the following, we handle these cases with the same depth of investigation and resources.

• Long Island Car Accident Lawyer — Multi-vehicle collisions involving trucks and passenger cars require coordinated claims against multiple insurers.
• Long Island Motorcycle Accident Lawyer — Motorcyclists struck by trucks face catastrophic injuries due to the extreme size and weight disparity.
• Long Island Pedestrian Accident Lawyer — Pedestrians struck by delivery trucks and commercial vehicles in crosswalks and parking areas.
• Long Island Wrongful Death Lawyer — Fatal truck accidents involving families who have lost a provider or parent.
• Long Island Brain Injury Lawyer — Traumatic brain injuries from truck collisions require specialized medical documentation and long-term care planning.
• Long Island Construction Accident Lawyer — Construction vehicle accidents on Long Island roads and worksites.

Speak With a Long Island Truck Accident Lawyer Today

Trucking companies deploy rapid response teams within hours of a crash. Securing the vehicle, downloading data, and building their defense before you have even left the hospital.

Every day you wait is a day closer to critical evidence being overwritten, recycled, or destroyed.

Partners Howard Raphaelson and Andrew Levine have spent decades handling commercial vehicle accident cases across New York, including recoveries against trucking companies, municipal sanitation departments, and commercial carriers in Nassau County Supreme Court, Suffolk County Supreme Court, and Kings County Supreme Court.

A short phone call with our legal team can clarify whether you have a truck accident claim, which federal regulations may apply, and what your case may be worth — without pressure. No fee unless we recover compensation for you. Available 24/7.

Call (212) 268-3222 today for a free consultation with a Long Island truck accident lawyer at Rapahelson & Levine.