Auto accidents can be devastating. They can cause expensive damage to your vehicle, cost you time away from work, and worse, injuries that could last a lifetime. Truck accidents are even worse. The average semi-truck weighs a whopping 80,000 pounds, while the average midsize car weighs only 3,500 pounds. Add to that the force of the velocity at 60 or even 80 MPH on the highway and you can have untold and extremely costly damage. These damages can create a huge burden both physically and financially and after a trucking accident can be very hard to recover.
You Have A Right To Damages After A Trucking Accident
In Florida, if you are an accident with a semi-truck that wasn’t your fault, you are legally owed financial compensation for those damages. The damages should cover all the expenses as a result of the accident including, but not limited to, medical bills and treatments, lost wages and benefits, and even pain and suffering. However, the legalities of trucking accidents are very complicated and it can be nearly impossible to recover your losses on your own.
Four Reasons Why Trucking Accidents Are Legally Complex
Unlike an auto accident with another care, there are many reasons it is more difficult to recover your losses including: There May Be Multiple Parties Liable: In an accident with another car, there’s only a few parties that can be liable including the driver, the vehicle manufacturer, and possibly the government in charge of road maintenance. With trucking accidents, all of these parties can be liable but there are multiple other parties that could be liable including:
- The trucking company
- The company the truck is hauling good for
- The truck mechanic
- The trailer manufacturer
- The company that loaded the truck
All of these companies have a hand in the safety of the truck and could be responsible for what ultimately caused the accident. With so many potential defendants, it’s easy to get shuffled around between insurance companies and lose the ability to gain a settlement.
The Liable Party May Be Out Of State: Truck drivers often drive all over the country. So many of the potential defendants could be located in different states. The truck driver may live in one state, while the trucking company is in another state, while the trailer manufacturer is in another state. Pursuing a claim across state lines can be extremely challenging and may ultimately lead to the loss of a potential settlement.
Truck Accidents Cause More Serious Injuries: Since trucks weigh much more than cars, the resulting injuries are often far more severe. Extremely serious injuries can cost way more to treat and create extremely costly problems like the inability to work or the need for permanent care. In order to pay for all of these things, you need a fair settlement that covers all your expenses, not just what the insurance company thinks your expenses will be.
Trucks Follow Different Laws Than Other Motorists: Trucking is highly regulated by both the Florida state and federal governments. So the rules are very different. For example, it’s easy to determine fault in an auto accident. In most cases, it is whichever driver violated the rules of the road and create a hazardous situation that lead to an accident. While with truckers, they may have been following all the rules of the road, but they may have had an overweight load that caused the accident. The average person does not know these rules and does not have the ability to prove liability in these cases.
All of these reasons are why you need to work with a qualified attorney that specializes in trucking accidents like the team at Shapiro, Goldman, Babboni, and Walsh has over a century of combined experience determining who is at fault for the trucking accident and reclaiming a fair settlement from that party. If you’ve been in a trucking accident, you need legal representation.
