Truck Accidents
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According to National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration statistics, more than 10 percent of all motor vehicle accidents which resulted in death involved large trucks such as a semi-truck or 18-wheeler. Learn about your rights when dealing with truck accidents.
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How Truck Accidents Differ
The major difference between a truck accident and a regular car accident is that truck is much larger, weighing around 18,000 pounds which is 5 to 7 times the size of an average car. For this reason, truck drivers are required to be more diligent when driving a massive truck. Big vehicles require better driving, which means more control and awareness of your surroundings.
How Truck Accidents Happen
The major causes of truck accidents include:
- Exhausted drivers (who are usually on the road for long hours at a time without rest).
- Intoxication
- Poor vehicle maintenance (i.e., brakes, safety systems, lights, turn signals, etc.)
- Speeding
- Aggressive driving
- Distracted driving
- Overloaded or improperly loaded trucks
How to Avoid a Collision with a Truck
As a driver on the road, there are things you can do to reduce the risk of injury or death in the event you are involved in a truck accident.
- Know where the truck’s blind spots are and stay clear of them.
- Make sure your airbags are working. Regular maintenance of the brakes and other safety features in always helpful.
- Give yourself room to swerve. Don’t tailgate or drive too closely to a truck.
What Are the Most Common Injuries?
The types of injuries resulting from truck accidents are often catastrophic due to the disproportionate size of vehicles. A mid-sized sedan is no match for a 20-ton truck no matter how you slice it. The most prevalent types of injuries victims suffer from truck accidents include traumatic brain injuries, broken bones and fractures, spinal cord injuries, paralysis, and death.
Damages You Can Recover from Truck Accidents
Typically, when you file a lawsuit or seek to recover damages from an insurance company or at-fault driver, you can receive restitution for medical costs, lost wages, pain and suffering, and even punitive damages.
However, since Florida is a comparative negligence state, a party may provide a defense to your case in order to argue that you were partially at fault thus limiting the amount of damages you can obtain. Some other defenses to your personal injury case involving a truck accident are
- Statute of limitations has passed (you have 4 years after the date of the incident to file)
- Failure to mitigate damages (you didn’t follow doctor’s orders, thus exacerbating your injuries and medical costs)
- Dangerous road conditions show that a reasonable person wouldn’t have been able to avoid the accident.
- Pre-existing injury (you have aa physical problem that was caused prior to accident and thus can’t recover for it).
Why an Attorney is Needed
Truck accidents are treated separately than other car accidents and can be quite complicated. Which is why you need an expert in personal injury and property damage law to help you with your complex case.
We can help. Our Florida legal experts are ready to assist you with your case, from conducting our own investigation of the accident, determining who is at fault, talking to insurance companies, gathering medical information and documentation, and negotiating a settlement with insurance companies, at-fault drivers, and third parties. Give us a call to discuss your truck accident case.
How the Right Lawyer Can Help with Truck Accidents
Our firm conducts its own investigation to determine who was at fault and who was negligent in causing or contributing to your accident. We review all of your property damage repairs and receipts, your medical bills and expenses, proof of your loss of economic wages and other financial expenses incurred due to your accident and we use that to litigate on your behalf and get the maximum payout you deserve for pain and suffering including hospital bills, emergency bills, prescription drugs, lost wages, rental car costs, vehicle repairs.
Our attorneys are experienced in all aspects of personal injury law and ready to litigate on your behalf. That’s why our Florida attorneys are passionate about fighting your case, so we can alleviate some of that financial burden and give you peace of mind. Call our Florida experts to discuss your personal injury or property damage matter. We are here to listen.