Providence Truck Accident Lawyer

Stretched along the busy Interstate 95 corridor and hemmed in by the Port of Providence, the capital sees a disproportionate share of heavy-truck traffic compared with most cities its size. Tractor-trailers hauling everything from scrap metal to refrigerated seafood feed the regional economy, but also introduce a degree of danger that ordinary passenger-vehicle crashes simply do not present. When an 18-wheeler rolled over at 2:38 a.m. on I-95 North, spilling 18 crushed cars across the roadway and closing the highway for hours, rush-hour commuter traffic was a vivid reminder of how quickly commerce can turn catastrophic.

Our personal injury attorneys at Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers have represented Rhode Islanders for decades. This guide explains why truck crashes require fast, sophisticated legal action, what laws govern claims arising in Providence, and how you can protect your right to full compensation.

• Constricted highway geometry. I-95, I-195, Route 6, and Route 10 all converge within a few square miles. Ongoing construction projects—such as the Washington Bridge traffic-shift that forces six lanes onto a temporary span—leave little room for error when a 70-foot rig drifts or stops suddenly.
• Port and industrial freight. The Allens Avenue marine terminals serve tankers and break-bulk carriers whose loads are transferred directly to trucks. Oversized and hazmat cargo increases both crash severity and cleanup complexity.
• Winter weather and short on-ramps. Maritime fog and lake-effect snow reduce visibility; legacy ramps onto I-95 and Route 146 give tractor-trailers little space to gain highway speed, creating dangerous speed differentials.

According to the Rhode Island Division of Statewide Planning, the state’s projected fatal-crash rate for 2024 is 0.736 fatalities per 100 million vehicle-miles traveled, underscoring why the Highway Safety Improvement Program targets heavy-truck corridors for enforcement and engineering upgrades.

• Greater forces mean greater harm. A loaded Class 8 truck can weigh 80,000 pounds—about 20 times the mass of a sedan. Even low-speed contact can cause spinal-cord or traumatic-brain injuries.
• Complex regulatory overlay. Tractor-trailers must follow the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) in addition to Rhode Island traffic laws. Violations of hours-of-service, drug-testing, or maintenance rules can create per-se liability for carriers.
• Multiple defendants. Liability may extend beyond the driver to the motor carrier, freight broker, truck manufacturer, maintenance contractor, and even the shipper that loaded the cargo.
• Evidence is ephemeral. Electronic logging devices overwrite data in as little as seven days; black-box modules capture seconds of telemetry that can disappear if the rig returns to service.

• Hours-of-Service. Drivers may drive up to 11 hours after 10 consecutive off-duty hours, must take a 30-minute break after eight hours of driving time, and may extend their window by two hours in “adverse driving conditions.”
• Minimum Insurance. Interstate if carriers muis st maintain $750,000–$5 million in liability coverage depending on cargo (or $300,000 for lighter, non-hazmat loads). Policies are backed by an MCS-90 endorsement that guarantees funds even where exclusions apply.
• Driver-Qualification and Maintenance Rules. Carriers must keep driver-qualification files, drug-test results, and systematic maintenance records; missing paperwork is evidence of negligent hiring or retention.

• Pure Comparative Negligence. Rhode Island follows pure comparative negligence—even a plaintiff 99 percent at fault can still recover the remaining one percent of damages. R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-20-4 abolishes the old contributory-negligence bar.
• Statute of Limitations. Most personal injury actions, including truck accident claims, must be filed within three years of the collision. For fatalities, a three-year clock runs from the date of death under the wrongful-death statute.
• Damage Caps. Rhode Island imposes no caps on pain-and-suffering or punitive damages in ordinary negligence suits. Claims against governmental entities, however, are limited to $100,000 unlis ess higher coverage is purchased.

• Driver: fatigue, distraction, substance impairment.
• Motor carrier: forcing unrealistic schedules, poor maintenance oversight.
• Freight broker/shipper: hiring unfit carriers or misloading cargo.
• Manufacturers: defective truck or component parts.
• Government entities: dangerous road design or failure to treat ice (subject to notice and damages caps).

• ELD downloads showing speed and hours driven.
• Engine-control-module data capturing throttle and brake inputs.
• Dashcam video is increasingly mandated by insurers.
• Bills of lading and scale receipts are especially valuable now that weigh-in-motion sensors on the Washington Bridge record axle loads weekly.
• Driver-qualification and maintenance files are preserved under the FMCSRs.

Successful plaintiffs may recover:

• Past and future medical expenses
• Lost wages and diminished earning capacity
• Property damage
• Pain, suffering, and emotional distress
• Punitive damages in egregious or fatal cases, expressly authorized in wrongful-death actions.

Pre- and post-judgment interest can dramatically increase awards; for example, prejudgment interest turned a $382,000 verdict into $631,374 in Roach v. State.

A fatal collision triggers a wrongful-death claim issued for the statutory beneficiaries. And a survival action (for the estate). Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers coordinates probate filings, identifies beneficiaries, and retains accident-reconstructionists and pathologists to document causation.

• Seek medical attention immediately.
• Call the police and insist on a crash-reconstruction unit.
• Photograph the scene, USDOT numbers, and cargo.
• Avoid speaking with the trucking company’s insurer before consulting counsel.
• Contact an attorney quickly so preservation letters can issue before electronic data is overwritten.

Our rapid-response protocol includes:

• Former FMCSA investigators on-scene within 24 hours.
• Subpoenas for ELD/ECM data, cell-phone records, and onboard-camera footage.
• Collaboration with biomechanical engineers and vocational specialists.
• Trial-ready preparation that maximizes settlement leverage.

• I-95 North/South. The 2024 scrap-metal rollover closed all lanes.
• I-195 West at Washington Bridge. March 4, 2025, a tractor-trailer struck about 12 vehicles in a chain-reaction crash.
• Route 6/Route 10 Connector. April 1, 2025 collision injured three passengers and ignited a vehicle fire.

Despite state seat-belt compliance reaching 90.5 percent in 2024, heavy-vehicle crashes remain a leading source of catastrophic injury.

Trucking companies deploy “catastrophic-loss teams” immediately after a wreck. ELD data can be overwritten in days, and skid marks vanish with the next rainstorm. Although Rhode Island’s statutory window is three years, waiting even three weeks can jeopardize critical evidence.

A serious truck collision can dismantle your finances, career, and family life—but it does not have to dismantle your future. Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers offers free, no-obligation consultations to crash victims statewide. Our contingency-fee commitment means you pay nothing unless we secure compensation for you.

Call today or use the online form to speak directly with a Providence truck accident lawyer who will fight for every dollar the law allows. Your road to recovery starts with a single conversation, take that step before evidence and opportunity disappear.