A California family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a California big rig truck driver and his employer after a loved one on a bicycle died in a fatal 18 wheeler accident.

The family claims that the death of cyclist Lauren Perdriau Ward in November was the fault of trucker Gabriel Manzur Vera and the trucking company that employs him, Randazzo Enterprises.

The California Highway Patrol has ruled otherwise, issuing a report that concludes Vera was not at fault. However, the family has gathered evidence it claims contradicts this, and it wants a jury to decide the case.

The family also emphasizes that the Nov. 4 semi truck accident was the third fatal truck accident involving driver Vera. In 2003 he was exonerated in the death of a motorist who collided head-on with his tractor trailer. In 2007, a big rig truck Vera was driving collided with a bicyclist who also was killed.

In each of those large truck traffic accidents, Vera was not blamed by police or other authorities. Yet after the 2007 big rig traffic fatality, the victim’s survivors filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Vera and his employer, who settled by paying them $1.5 million.

Big rig drivers, by definition, drive big vehicles, and these are harder to stop and to maneuver. Large trucks also are like monsters on wheels, apt to kill anyone or anything that they strike. Large truck drivers also tend to work long hours -- often more than legally allowed -- and their vehicles frequently have maintenance problems leading to big rig crashes.

Such barreling behemoths are involved in 12 to 13 per cent of America’s fatal traffic accidents per year, despite the fact that big rigs represent only 3 per cent of registered vehicles, reports the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Thus, big rigs are involved in four times more fatal accidents than their numbers alone would warrant.

In recent years, almost 5,000 Americans annually have died in big rig truck accidents, and another 100,000 have been injured, many of them seriously. Of those who died in tractor trailer accidents, only 15 per cent were occupants of the large truck, whose size protects it while threatening others.

Indeed, in two-vehicle crashes involving a big rig and an automobile or passenger vehicle, 97 per cent of fatalities were persons in the passenger vehicle.

If you or a loved one has been harmed in a big rig, semi truck, tractor trailer, 18 wheeler, diesel truck or other large truck accident, alert a truck accident lawyer or attorney with Jim S. Adler & Associates today. The veteran Texas personal injury law firm has a long history of helping victims of catastrophic truck accidents and other collisions.

Call toll-free to 1-800-505-1414 or send in the free case evaluation form on this Web page, and an Adler legal representative will respond promptly to assist you in assessing your truck accident case. You may be legally entitled to seek financial compensation in an 18 wheeler lawsuit.