Florida Truck Accident Lawyer | Free Consultation

At Brooks Law Group, we understand that truck accidents can lead to life-changing injuries and overwhelming expenses. With years of experience in truck accident claims in Florida, we’re ready to take on trucking companies and insurers. Our goal is to recover full compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and future needs.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a truck accident, reach out to us today. Let our truck accident lawyers fight for the justice, compensation, and peace of mind you deserve.

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When you are involved in a truck accident, it can be complicated and stressful. Not only do you have to deal with the aftermath of the accident, but you also have to deal with insurance companies, the trucking company, and sometimes even the police. And if you’re injured, you have to worry about medical bills and time off work!

A crash involving a commercial vehicle is a much more complicated case than when two ordinary vehicles collide. And companies push much harder to label you at fault for the accident.
They may have vehicular technologies that hold crucial evidence for or against your case.

This technology may include:

This data is beneficial to commercial trucking companies looking to avoid car accident insurance fraud and can provide them with a simple way to prove that they are not at fault. But if they were negligent, they may keep this data quiet.

A commercial vehicle accident injury attorney will not only look into the telematics data of the truck company, but also the manufacturer of both the commercial vehicle and equipment involved in the accident. Our skilled truck accident lawyers can evaluate the truck’s driving logs and records of maintenance to figure out who was at fault for the accident.

But Florida is a no-fault state.

In a no-fault state, drivers are responsible for their own vehicle damage and medical claims, and their vehicle insurance covers them. An injured motorist must use their auto insurance, despite whether they caused the accident or not.
No-fault states like Florida mandate $10,000 personal injury protection (PIP) coverage which protects drivers from minor incidents.

Until it’s a major truck accident incident.

What are you supposed to do if your vehicle damages and medical care totals more than $10,000?

Your medical insurance may cover your medical expenses, and you should pursue a lawsuit with a personal injury attorney like those at the Law Office of Brooks.

If the collision caused serious injuries, you may be eligible to file a liability claim.

So what meets the standards of a “serious injury threshold” in a no-fault car accident case? Injuries that are permanent, such as those that disfigure, scar, or cause loss of body function.

This is why it’s so important to be properly represented by a Florida car accident lawyer after crashes involving large trucks.

Speak with an associate from Brooks Law Group today for a free consultation! We have been committed to serving accident victims throughout Florida since 1992.

Why are Commercial Vehicle Accidents More Dangerous?

When you consider that:

The average motor vehicle’s length is around 15 feet.
The minimum commercial truck trailer length is 48 feet in the trucking industry.

It becomes easy to understand why truck crashes are often the most catastrophic of auto accidents. Many times, the driver and the passengers are severely injured or killed.

Companies that own and drive commercial vehicles have to follow certain rules. People who get hurt badly or lose a loved one because of a trucking accident should hire an attorney to get money from the trucking company.

As cities in Florida continue to grow, many people have turned to raising their families in smaller communities. Unfortunately, 68 percent of fatal trucking accidents happen in more rural regions than big cities.

Substance Abuse and Drinking in Commercial Trucking Accidents

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration forbids truckers to have alcohol in the truck unless it is commercial cargo. Most reputable trucking companies inspect the driver’s cab to ensure that they do not have alcohol in their truck.

Simply sleeping in their cabs while under the influence is considered “operating while intoxicated,” and it is punishable by law. Still, some truckers choose to take that risk.

Statistics on Trucking Accidents

Polk County Commercial Vehicle Crashes in 2022: 1948

Hillsborough County Commercial Vehicle Crashes in 2015: 3132

Pinellas County Commercial Vehicle Crashes in 2022: 1389

Overworked truckers often work too many hours with too little sleep. A lack of sleep combined with poorly maintained or overloaded trucks can cause a very dangerous situation on the road.
This sort of negligence results in one out of every eight traffic fatalities involving a trucking collision.

How a Truck Accident Attorney in Florida Can Guide you through an Accident Case

Auto accident cases typically involve the people in each position in an accident and their respective parties. In the event of a trucking accident, the case becomes more complicated because the company that owns the truck or commercial vehicle is also involved.

A trucking accident attorney is able to file a car accident claim against the trucking company. To do this, the lawyer must be familiar with auto accident law and several layers of regulation that govern commercial vehicles as well. From there, your attorney is able to seek compensation for your injuries and losses.

Causes for tractor-trailer accidents

Unrealistic schedules
Aggressive driving
Driver fatigue
Failure to maintain tires, brakes, or lights
Tailgating

Long work shifts
Ignoring the reduced truck speed limit
Cell phone use
Failure to install blind-spot mirrors
Jackknifing

In 2015, There Were More Than 1,000 Commercial Vehicle Crashes in Polk, Hillsborough, and Pinellas County.

The Cost of Getting in an Accident with a Truck

over $1 million recovered in truck accident cases

Florida law requires drivers to have mandatory PIP coverage as part of their car insurance coverage. Personal injury protection insurance can help recover the cost of medical expenses and lost wages in the event of an accident.

However, it’s important to note that due to how severe truck accidents can be, you may exceed the amount of your PIP coverage. In this situation, you need the help of an experienced truck accident lawyer to make sure you get all the money you are owed.

It’s also good to keep in mind that you do not have to put down money or a deposit in order to get legal help for a trucking accident from Brooks Law Group. We only get paid if we help you win your case.

Featured Truck Accident FAQs

How long will my truck accident process take?

How Long Will My Truck Accident Process Take?

A lot of times we can get the case resolved within one or two years. You know, some insurance companies and adjusters want to resolve the case without incurring the cost of expensive litigation or defense on their end. However, trucking cases are very complicated and can take much longer than that. It’s important to hire an attorney who specializes in truck accident cases because most of the time these truck accident cases are much more complex than a typical car crash. The reason being, is you are dealing with corporate defendants who want to protect their company and their assets. Therefore, they have investigators and attorneys working on the case immediately after the truck crash. Most truck drivers, when they are involved in a crash, their first call is not to 911. It is to their corporate office to notify them that they have been involved in a wreck. That corporate office is immediately going to work to provide the best possible defense, so they pay out as little as possible. This is why it’s important to get an attorney as quickly as possible who specializes in truck accident cases because we want to make sure that we have a fair fight against the defendant to get you the best possible result.

Why do I need a truck accident lawyer?

Why Do I Need a Truck Accident Lawyer?

Well, first off, when you’re involved in a truck accident, most of the time these are significant impacts with a big multi-ton vehicle. Therefore, your brain is probably racing in a million different directions. How am I going to pay my bills? What do I do with my car? Am I going to be able to work? When you hire an attorney who specializes in these truck crashes, they can assist you in handling all these different things. And your main job is going to focus on your health. We’re going to make sure that you go and see the right doctors, that you get the right treatment, that the trucking companies are put on notice, that we are collecting evidence, information right away, that we are contacting any witnesses that may have seen the crash, getting the Blackbox data from the truck, getting the trucking logs because there’s certain rules that govern truck drivers much differently than car drivers. How long they can drive, how far they can drive, when they need to sleep, how much tonnage they are allowed to tow. And a lot of these can significantly increase the value of your case, if we can collect that data right away. So, it’s very important to hire an attorney that specializes in these cases so that the evidence can be preserved, that it can be collected, and that we can hold the trucking company accountable for causing injuries to you.
A lot of times in trucking cases, insurance companies and trucking companies want to minimize and pay out quickly because they know, unfortunately, when a truck is involved and hits a typical sedan, SUV, or truck. Unfortunately, a lot of times the semi-truck wins that crash and they know the person in the other vehicle, they are going to be severely injured. Therefore, it is important to contact an attorney because once you contact an attorney, we will send out letters of representation to all the defendants and their insurance companies. At that point, they can no longer contact you. They’re going to try to reach out to you directly before an attorney is involved to offer you money to resolve the case because they know, and studies have been done that show, if they can reach out directly to an injured party that that case is going to resolve for significantly less than what the case is worth. Also, it’s important to note right after a truck crash, the insurance company may offer you money, but what are your damages at that point? You don’t know how injured you are. You don’t know what your future medical treatment is going to be like. You don’t know whether you’re going to be spending the rest of your life in pain and suffering every single day.
Therefore, it’s important to get an attorney who handles these things because we want to make sure that we have a full picture of what your damages are, what your case is worth before ever negotiating with that company. The trucking companies know the sooner they can settle the case, typically within a couple days, that value is going to be significantly less than what they would have to pay in the future. At the end of the day, you want to get an attorney who handles these cases, that knows exactly how the process is going to go. Because the defense has attorneys that all they do is truck accident cases.

What should I do after being involved in a trucking accident?

What Should I Do After Being Involved in a Trucking Accident?

First off, you’re going to want to seek medical attention. A lot of times, your adrenaline is going right after a truck accident, and you may not think you’re that injured. However, when a multi-ton vehicle hits your car, the energy transferred through that, a lot of times, causes significant injuries. Therefore, it is important to go seek medical treatment. It is also important to contact the police so that they can come out, write a crash report, collect any evidence, get witnesses’ names and numbers. It is also important that you contact an attorney directly, right away. That attorney will pick up your case and immediately start working on it, collecting evidence, making sure that you are getting the right medical treatment. There are doctors who specialize in truck accident injuries and that know how to document these injuries, and we’re going to make sure that you are seen by the best. It is also important too that the attorney is going to collect all that information. The defense attorneys and trucking companies are immediately going to go to the scene. They’re immediately going to inspect the truck. They’re going to look at the Blackbox data. They’re going to look at the driver’s logs. They’re going to look at what the load was. And if you do not contact an attorney, you’d be surprised. Sometimes that information goes missing. Or if you contact an attorney who specializes in these cases right away, they can put the truck company on notice as well as their insurance company that any and all evidence needs to be preserved for us to inspect. We’ll immediately go into investigating, sending investigators to get the Blackbox data, to get the trucking logs, to get the cell phone, because sometimes you’d be surprised, truck drivers are on their phones. And make sure that we have all the information, because all this makes a difference in your case. Every trucking case is different, and you want to make sure that you have an attorney who knows specifically what to look for, what information, what data, what evidence they need to get you the best possible result.

How to document a truck accident?

How to Document a Truck Accident?

First off, it’s important, at the scene, to contact the police. Therefore, a car crash accident report can be written. It is also important to get any eyewitnesses information. Sometimes witnesses will get out and make sure that you are okay or that the other driver is okay but not wait around for the cops. You’re going to want to get a picture of their driver’s license, their address, their phone number, their email. So therefore, if they move or change their phone number, we still have ways to get in contact with them and get statements from them. You’re also going to want to take pictures of both the scene of your vehicle, all areas of impact, as well as the truck, and any damages to the truck that may have incurred. You’re going to want to take pictures of the truck itself, the driver’s license, the VIN number, the company name on the side of the truck. All of that is imperative that we get and that you collect from the scene. You also will want to take pictures of any injuries that you may have sustained. You may have bruising. You may have injuries sustained from the airbags deploying. You may have scrapes or cuts from hitting your arm, leg, head, or something inside the vehicle. It’s important to have documentation of all those and take pictures. Lastly, I encourage everyone to immediately start making a journal. Talk about how the crash occurred. Talk about how you immediately felt after the crash. Write down how you felt the next day when you woke up. Keep track of the days that you missed for work because sometimes these cases do take time and when you’re sitting for a deposition a year later, you may have forgot some of these things. However, if you’ve kept a journal from the day of the crash moving forward, you can use that to refresh your recollection and make sure that you remember every aspect of your case.

Who can be at fault in a truck accident?

Who Can Be at Fault for a Truck Accident?

The first area to look for is the driver. Obviously, they may have acted negligently. They may have failed to follow certain traffic rules or statutes. In trucking cases, truck drivers are held to a much higher standard than a typical driver because they have a commercial driver’s license, a CDL. So, the first area that we look for is the truck driver. Next, we are going to look at the actual trucking company because, a lot of times, the maintenance of the truck may not have been upkept. They may have negligently hired this truck driver; they may have a history of driving recklessly and causing crashes and should have never been hired. Lastly, we’re going to look at the truck manufacturer. Sometimes when these trucks are built, they are not built to the same standard as some other cars, and therefore there could be a case where the brakes were put on wrong, the steering column was put on wrong. So, we look at many different aspects including the truck driver, the manufacturer, as well as the trucking company. And a lot of times there may be multiple companies involved. Therefore, it’s important to hire an attorney who knows every aspect to look at and make sure that we look at every possible avenue to get you the best recovery, because sometimes it may seem like one area is at fault when, in fact, it’s completely another entity or company. And therefore, you are going to want to have experienced truck accident attorneys on your case.