Truck Accident Lawyer

Those who have been involved in a truck accident often end up facing medical bills that are far beyond their own capacity and even that of their health insurance plans. These accidents can be so severe that they make working at the same level as before the accident or even working in the same occupation impossible. The long-term damage from these accidents can permanently diminish quality of life.

Take action to protect yourself against the costs of being a truck accident victim by contacting our Florida truck accident lawyers. We can help you get justice for severe injuries, disabilities, and wrongful deaths that are a result of negligence.

What to Do When You’ve Been Involved in a Truck Accident in the Tampa Bay Area

If you have been involved in an accident with a truck and plan to file a claim, here are some steps you can follow immediately after your injury to help your truck accident lawyer build a stronger case.

Don’t blame yourself when talking to witnesses or trucking insurance companies

Make sure that you do not claim fault when you are talking about the accident to anyone, especially if they represent the insurance company of the trucker who struck you. Insurance agents will do whatever they can to divert responsibility from their own clients. That means anything you say to them is going to be used against you. You may not be responsible for an accident even if you are aware you made some mistakes. After all, more than one person can make a mistake in an accident.

You are not legally required to speak to these insurance companies, and it’s best to let your lawyer handle any interactions with them if you plan to be represented. Provide them with contact information they can use to reach you or your lawyer, but no other details.

Have injuries from a truck accident evaluated quickly

Full medical examinations, complete with scans and x-rays may be necessary to understand the amount of damage caused by a collision fully. Truck accidents often result in injury to some of the body’s most sensitive areas, including the head, neck, and spine. Traumatic collisions can result in injuries that won’t even be obvious until later on. If you don’t identify them now, you may have trouble convincing a court that the injuries were caused by the accident.

File your claim within the required statute of limitations

From the day of the accident, you have four years to file an injury claim. Medical records should be produced long before that time. Personal injury consultations are free, so tight family budgets shouldn’t prevent a legitimate claim from going forward. If you choose to work with our lawyers on contingency, you won’t be responsible for lawyer fees.

Negligence Is Often a Part of Truck Accidents in the Greater Tampa Bay Area

Negligence often plays a role in a truck accident. Here are some of the ways that behavior by drivers and other parties has resulted in serious injuries in past cases.

Driver Negligence: Truck drivers take many risks to earn more money along their routes. This includes practices like using caffeine and other stimulants to keep driving even when physically exhausted. Drivers may also neglect to provide their vehicles with the sometimes expensive maintenance that is needed to keep them in safe working order. Like any driver on the road, truck drivers are also susceptible to becoming distracted by modern technology and may cause accidents because of poor attention to the road.

Company Negligence: Some drivers who make mistakes on the road do so because company practices make it difficult or impossible to do the job safely. Company practices that encourage dangerous behaviors, such as requiring that a route be completed faster than it can reasonably be completed (meaning speeding is nearly required), can encourage reckless road behavior. Companies may also make choices to cut corners in negligent ways when it comes to hiring drivers and maintaining the vehicles in their fleet.

Manufacturer Negligence: Not all accidents are the result of driver error. Sometimes, the equipment that’s rated for extremely heavy working vehicles, such as tires, navigation systems, and brakes, can fail because of defects and poor design. In cases like these, truck accident claims become something more like defective product claims.

City/Municipal/Business Negligence: Truck accidents can also occur because of damage on the roads and because of poor planning in high-traffic areas. In cases where crashes are the result of conditions around the scene, it may be appropriate to make a claim against the city or whoever is responsible for maintaining those roads in front of their business. Contact Hunter Law today.