Truck Accidents and Personal Injury Law in Florida
Sometimes, to express that they are very tired, people say that they feel like they got hit by a truck. Why don’t they say they feel like they got hit by a car? In short, truck accidents are worse. Of course, it is possible to get seriously injured in a car accident, even if both of the cars involved are small, but almost everyone you know has been in at least one car accident, but most car accidents are minor and do not result in injuries. By contrast, trucks are so big and take so long to slow down that they almost always cause major damage in an accident. If you get injured in a truck accident, it is possible to recover damages for your injuries and financial losses. Contact a South Florida trucking accident lawyer to find out more.
Safety Standards for Truck Drivers
Keeping a truck roadworthy is a lot of work; as Finn Murphy’s truck driving memoir shows, truck drivers spend a considerable portion of their work week making sure that their trucks and the loads they carry comply with the strict safety standards for trucks and truck drivers. In fact, there are even strict regulations about the number of hours a commercial truck driver can spend on the road in any given day and every given week, as well as the minimum amount of time a driver must rest between shifts. Furthermore, every time a truck driver makes a trip that exceeds 150 miles, he must keep a written log about his driving times and rest times, as well as the condition of various parts of his truck. These rules help prevent accidents, and when accidents do happen, the detailed records are valuable evidence in a truck accident injury lawsuit, because they help reconstruct exactly what went wrong to lead to the accident.
Who Is the Defendant in a Trucking Accident Lawsuit?
In most traffic accidents, insurance companies decide what percentage of fault belongs to which driver involved in the collision, but that is not the deciding factor in naming a defendant in a trucking accident. In most cases, the company that owns the truck is legally responsible for accidents that its drivers cause. Meanwhile, if the accident was the result of egregiously reckless behavior on the part of the driver, he could face criminal penalties. This is especially true if the truck driver was driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Personal injury lawsuits are civil cases and are unrelated to criminal proceedings, but if the driver faced criminal charges for causing the accident, documents from the criminal case could be used as evidence in your truck accident injury lawsuit.
Contact an Attorney Today for Help
A personal injury attorney can help you get the compensation you need to help you take care of your health and support your family after being seriously injured in a collision with a truck. Contact a Sunrise truck accident lawyer at the Law Offices of David M. Benenfeld to discuss your truck accident case.
Resource:
finnmurphy.net/
flhsmv.gov/florida-highway-patrol/specialized-areas/commercial-vehicle-enforcement/intrastate-hos-rules/
