How Can You Prove Negligence in a Truck Accident Case?

After a Truck Accident in Florida, Can You Recover Compensation?

Whether you have experience behind the wheel or just received a license, finding yourself side-by-side with a large commercial truck can feel frightening. If you’re injured in a truck accident in Florida, seek help at once from an Apollo Beach truck accident lawyer.

In 2022, more than 5,000 fatalities and more than 160,000 injuries were reported in accidents involving large trucks in the U.S. In 2023, large trucks were involved in more than 300 fatal truck accidents in Florida, accounting for approximately 12 percent of the state’s traffic fatalities.

What are your rights if you are injured in a collision with a large commercial truck? How can you prove the truck driver (or another party) was negligent and recover compensation for your medical expenses, lost wages, pain, suffering, and other damages?

What Makes Truck Accidents So Dangerous?

Fully loaded commercial trucks can weigh more than forty tons, while the average automobile weighs two tons or less. It’s no surprise that truck accidents frequently cause devastating and disabling injuries.

The weight and size of a large truck make stopping that truck far more challenging than stopping an automobile, so if a car and a large truck collide, the truck will do far more damage, and the automobile will sustain far more damage. Survivors of these accidents may suffer:

1. traumatic brain injuries
2. spinal cord injuries
3. multiple fractures
4. multiple contusions
5. injuries that require amputations

If you sustain a brain or spinal cord injury, or if you lose part of your body to amputation after a truck accident that wasn’t your fault, you will need the maximum available compensation amount for your long-term treatment and care.

What Measures Should You Take After a Truck Accident?

Even the safest driver could be involved in a catastrophic truck accident. If this happens to you, and you’re able, seek medical and police assistance immediately. Make sure you will be able to obtain a copy of the written police accident report.

Swap insurance and contact details with the truck driver and obtain as much information as possible about the driver’s employer. Take photos of the vehicle damage, the crash site, and your visible injuries. If there are witnesses, ask for their names and contact details.

Photographs and witness statements are often powerful evidence in personal injury cases. With a strong and persuasive case, your Apollo Beach truck accident attorney can probably negotiate an acceptable out-of-court settlement and avoid going to trial.

Who May Be Liable for a Trucking Accident?

Trucking companies and drivers must make sure that trucks are properly maintained and cargo is loaded correctly and secured. When a truck’s cargo is unbalanced, it raises the risk of a rollover.

When truck owners and drivers ignore or overlook safety, they are negligent, and everyone on the highway is at risk. A contractor, freight company, subcontractor, leasing company, truck manufacturer, or parts manufacturer may also have partial liability for a truck accident.

If you’re injured in a truck accident because one or several of these parties were negligent, your Apollo Beach truck accident attorney will identify the negligent parties and fight on your behalf to recover the maximum available compensation amount.

How Will Your Truck Accident Attorney Assist You?

After a truck accident, if you’re injured, don’t communicate with the driver, the driver’s lawyer or employer, the employer’s insurance adjuster, or any other attorney or insurance company representative. Let an Apollo Beach truck accident lawyer do the negotiating and talking for you.

Don’t accept a settlement offer before consulting your lawyer. Especially in truck accident cases, an insurance company may offer a quick settlement for a sum considerably below your claim’s real value. Your lawyer can almost certainly negotiate a more generous settlement.

If you proceed with a personal injury lawsuit after a truck accident, your lawyer will work to negotiate an acceptable out-of-court settlement. If no settlement is available, your lawyer will take your case to trial and ask the jurors to order the liable party or parties to compensate you.

What More Should Truck Accident Victims Know?

A successful personal injury lawsuit can pay your medical bills and replace your lost wages. Injured truck accident victims have the right to compensation and the right to an attorney’s help. If your lawyer can prove another party directly caused your injury, the law will be on your side.

If a truck accident happens while you’re driving, obtain a full medical examination immediately, even if you feel perfectly healthy. Adrenaline may temporarily mask the signs of a serious injury, or you may have sustained a latent or difficult-to-detect injury.

What Deadlines Apply in Truck Accident Cases?

The “14-day rule” in Florida requires you to obtain a medical examination within 14 days of the accident date, or you will not be allowed to obtain the benefits from your Personal Injury Protection coverage of your auto policy. If you’re not treated at the scene or taken to a hospital, schedule an exam immediately after a truck accident.

You have two years from the accident date to take legal action, but you can’t wait two years to speak with an accident lawyer. Evidence deteriorates or gets lost over time. Witnesses forget details. After a medical provider treats your injury, call SouthShore Injury Attorneys immediately.

Take Your Truck Accident Case to SouthShore Injury Attorneys

At SouthShore Injury Attorneys, we represent our clients on a contingent fee basis. If you file a lawsuit based on a truck accident, you’ll pay no attorney’s fees to SouthShore Injury Attorneys until or unless we recover your compensation with an out-of-court agreement or a jury verdict.

We have extensive experience with insurance companies that try to blame accident victims and deny their claims. Our mission at SouthShore Injury Attorneys is to ensure that our injured clients receive fair and just treatment.

After a truck accident, learn more about your rights by calling SouthShore Injury Attorneys at 813-797-5998 and scheduling a free first legal consultation. If a truck accident injures you, the lawyers at SouthShore Injury Attorneys will fight aggressively for justice on your behalf.