Commercial Truck Accidents
Most Floridians are aware that a texting and driving ban has been in effect since 2013. Texting while driving is a secondary traffic offense, meaning that a police officer may not stop a car solely for texting; the driver must commit a primary driving offense – like speeding – and, if he or she was…
Last month, a tragic multi-vehicle accident took the lives of 5 promising young nursing students and injured two more. The young women were en route to St. Joseph’s/Candler Hospital in Savannah to begin their last day of their first clinical set of rotations, or hands-on instruction. The girls – Caitlyn Baggett, Morgan Bass, Emily Clark,…
The Tampa Bay and Central Florida regions are home to dangerous highways filled with a bustling transportation industry. The growing number of semi-trucks on our fast paced roads is good reason for knowledge about critical risk factors. Tractor trailers are an average of 53 feet in length, with 3 major blind spots, and carry loads…
You may find it shocking to hear that the federal government provides truck drivers who are partially blind permits to drive their trucks in certain circumstances. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the division of the U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates commercial trucking, actually has programs that allow truck drivers with certain medical…
The fatal trucking accident involving comedian Tracy Morgan this summer was one of the few times a fatal trucking accident actually received press coverage in this country. However, simply because trucking accidents don’t often get news coverage does not mean they do not present a problem. In fact, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety…
As reported on CNN.com, there was an accident last weekend that occurred on the New Jersey turnpike where Tracy Morgan along with another famous comedian, were hit in their limo bus by a tractor-trailer truck driven by Kevin Roper, who was alleged to have been driving for a straight 24 hours. He is employed as…
During 2012, more than 400 people were injured on Florida roadways when they were involved in a truck accident. An additional 20 of these motorists lost their lives. Hillsborough County alone had more than 1,000 accidents involving a commercial vehicle. Unfortunately, for victims these accidents almost always involve significant injuries due to the sheer size…
After you have been in a truck accident, it is important to remain calm and call for help if you able to, and you are conscious. Be sure to get the truck driver’s name, contact information, the name of the company that employs the driver, the license number of the truck and other identifying information…
Because large trucks typically travel on interstates, which are among the safest roadways, they generally have lower crash rates, about 1.1 fatal crashes per 100 million miles traveled compared to the 1.3 for passenger vehicles. (These trucks are defined as weighing more than 10,000 pounds and composed of either single units or one tractor pulling…
According to authorities, two people were killed after their car turned through an intersection and was struck on the driver’s side by a semi-truck at a Tampa Bay intersection sending both vehicles into the center meridian. The truck driver was not injured and no charges have been filed. Unfortunately, accidents similar to this one occur…
Bicycling is enjoyed year round here in Tampa Bay by sporting enthusiasts as well as those who use their bicycles to commute to and from work. Despite the many safety precautions that riders take such as wearing helmets, following traffic laws and watching out for other drivers on the roadways, many serious accidents involving cyclists…
At the end of October, an Orlando truck driver died after he collided with a tree on the side of I-75 in Hernando County. According to the Tampa Bay Times, the driver was not wearing a seatbelt and died at the scene of the accident. There were no other injuries or fatalities. While this was…
Accidents involving trucks are much more likely to cause severe injuries and even death than accidents between automobiles. In most truck accidents with a car, it’s the car driver who gets hurt the most. Some of the reasons for truck accidents are because of the truck. Other reasons are because of the truck driver. Still…
Florida ranks as one of the top 10 states for truck accidents. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), more than 1,500 people died in Florida truck crashes over five recent years. That’s over 1,500 preventable tragedies in our state. And it doesn’t even account for the thousands of people who suffered incapacitating…
Earlier this month, a flatbed truck accident on Selmon Expressway created a backlog of traffic after a truck driver collided with a barrier. The Tampa Tribune reported that “At 8:30 a.m., as the truck came to rest with its right-side wheels perched atop the barrier at the Kennedy Boulevard exit, cars behind it began to back up….
