South Florida Personal Injury Lawyers Blog
Personal injury lawsuits, especially those involving trucks, often entail various complex issues and multiple parties. Those injured in a Florida trucking accident, should seek representation from an attorney to protect their rights and help pursue their remedies.
Trucking accidents tend to result in the most severe injuries and significant damages. Although some accidents are unavoidable, most Florida trucking accidents are due to one or more parties’ negligence or recklessness.
Truck manufacturers, trucking companies, loaders, and drivers, all maintain a duty to ensure that they act safely in the manufacture, training, securing, loading, and operation of their vehicles. A failure at any of these steps may result in serious dangers to anyone in the vicinity of the truck. People often attribute accidents to a defect in the truck itself or truck driver operation error; however, many Florida trucking accidents occur because of insecure cargo that becomes detached while the truck is in motion.
The prevalence and severity of these accidents had led the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to issue a number of safety rules governing how trucks load and secure their cargo. The rules regulate:
- The weight that a truck may transport,
- The number of restraints and tie-downs a truck must have, and
- Specific requirements for particularly dangerous cargo, such as vehicles, construction materials, and logs.
When a trucking company or employee fails to meet these standards, cargo may become loose and pose a potentially deadly hazard. For example, a recent news report described a harrowing Florida trucking accident. Two people traveling from Pennsylvania died when their van collided with steel bars hanging off a tractor-trailer. The 27-year-old man was driving with his 80-year-old grandmother and 82-year-old grandfather, when the rebar went through the van’s windshield. The young man and his grandmother died, the grandfather suffered serious injuries, and the truck driver did not suffer any injuries.
When a person suffers injuries or dies in an accident because of unsafe cargo, several different parties may be liable. However, these cases often present challenges because each party may try and avoid liability by claiming that another entity was responsible for the actual loading. Despite these tactics, injury victims may pursue claims against any entity that failed to take reasonable steps to ensure the vehicle’s safety.
After a truck accident, victims and their families may seek and recover damages for their injuries and losses. Compensation often includes damages for medical expenses, lost wages and benefits, pain and suffering, loss of companionship, and funeral and burial expenses.
Have You Suffered Injuries in a Florida Trucking Accident?
If you or someone you love has suffered injuries in a Florida trucking accident, you should contact the experienced attorneys at Friedman Rodman Frank & Estrada, P.A. The Miami injury attorneys at our law firm understand the complexities of Florida trucking accident lawsuits. We use our skills, resources, and vast experience to successfully represent injury victims and aggressively pursue compensation on their behalf. We handle Florida car, truck, and motorcycle accident claims, in addition to product liability lawsuits, premises liability claims, and medical malpractice. Contact our office at 877-448-8585, to schedule a free initial consultation with a South Florida injury attorney at our office.