Miami Truck Accident Lawyer

Identity of the Truck Accident Defendant

The first challenge that often arises in response to a Florida trucking accident is identifying the proper defendant or defendants. Accomplishing this task will often depend on the nature of the truck driver involved in the accident in terms of his or her relationship with the trucking company. If the truck driver was an employee of a trucking company, then both the driver and the trucking company would likely be named as defendants. However, if the truck driver was operating as a sole proprietor or as an independent contractor, the situation becomes much less clear.

The Application of Trucking Regulations

Few industries are more heavily regulated than the trucking industry. The federal government requires trucking companies and drivers to adhere to a long list of these rules and regulations, and failure to meet these standards could be a relevant factor in a Florida personal injury lawsuit that follows a trucking accident.

For instance, there are regulations that deal with the type of load that’s being carried, how much the load weighs, the manner in which the load was placed inside the trailer, the amount of time the truck driver has been behind the wheel in recent days and hours and many other regulations that must be understood. If any of these regulations were violated and they were a contributing factor either to the cause of the Florida trucking accident or to the injuries that were ultimately caused, they need to be included in the case that’s being built for the person or people who were injured.

Overall, bringing a Florida personal injury lawsuit in the aftermath of a big rig accident involves several technicalities and potential challenges. However, if you or someone you love has been harmed in this type of situation and you seek the help of experienced Florida trucking accident lawyers

Challenges to Obtaining Justice in Trucking Accident Cases

Anyone who has spent any time on the roads in Florida understands that large commercial trucks are a nearly constant sight. While truck drivers are generally highly trained, very experienced and relatively skilled drivers, Florida trucking accidents can and do occur. If you or someone you love has been harmed in such an occurrence, you need to seek the help of experienced Florida trucking accident lawyers, as there are many challenges that could arise in the pursuit of justice. Below are a few examples of these challenges that could arise in a Florida personal injury lawsuit brought in response to a trucking accident.

Leading Causes of Semi Truck Accidents

Anyone who spends time on the roads in Florida understands that tractor trailers are a constant in traffic, in cities and on the highways. The trucking industry is always moving, even in a down economy. Unfortunately, large trucks face a difficult task in navigating through traffic conditions, and as a result Florida trucking accidents occur at an alarming rate. Below is a look at the leading causes of Florida trucking accidents as well as information regarding how you should proceed if you need the help of a Florida trucking accident lawyer.

Careless Driving

As difficult as it must be to imagine, careless driving is the leading cause of Florida trucking accidents. Many different mistakes will fall under this heading, but common actions that constitute careless driving include talking on phones or CB radios, adjusting the radio, eating, drinking or anything else that takes a driver’s attention off the road. In 2008, 13,680 Florida trucking accidents were attributed to careless driving.

Truck drivers are highly trained and generally highly skilled, which makes it surprising to learn that failure to yield the right-of-way to other vehicles is the second leading cause of Florida trucking accidents. These situations arise often, and include merging onto highways, changing lanes and dealing with intersections. Overall, 2008 saw almost 5,000 Florida trucking accidents attributed to this mistake.

Alcohol

It seems completely infeasible that alcohol would be a problem with professional truck drivers, but according to the Florida trucking accident statistics from 2008, alcohol is as much of a problem for truckers as it is for everyone else. Overall, more than 1,800 Florida trucking accidents were recorded with alcohol as a factor, and these situations clearly necessitate the help of an experienced Florida truck driving accident lawyer.

Following Too Closely

Trucks are enormous vehicles, and basic physics means that these vehicles need more time and distance to slow down and to avoid vehicles in front of them. However, following too closely was the third leading cause of Florida trucking accidents in 2008, as this mistake was responsible for 1,343 collisions.

Skilled Truck Accident Adjusters and Wealthy Companies

Insurance Adjusters typically work directly for a commercial truck insurance company. The adjusters handling Miami Florida truck accidents are highly experienced and licensed to adjust these cases. Their goal is to pay the smallest possible amount to the Miami Florida truck accident personal injury claimant. They are not representing you (even though they may seem very friendly), but rather they represent the truck accident insurance company who pays their salary. You should hire an experienced Miami Florida personal injury lawyer to work on your truck accident case to help with your car damage repair or with the payoff of your car if it is a total wreck. Many truck accident cases result in a car being a total loss, meaning it costs more to repair than your car is worth.

Our Miami Florida truck accident lawyers are experienced in handling truck accidents. This causes the truck accident adjuster to pay a higher amount of money for your personal injury case. If they don’t pay a fair amount after negotiations based upon our experience and your injuries, the Miami Florida Truck Accident adjuster is aware that our Miami Personal Injury lawyers who work at Bernstein and Maryanoff will file a lawsuit against the negligent truck company. This will cost the insurance company thousands of dollars to pay the lawyers. The attorney fees from the defense firm will continue each month until the case is settled. At Bernstein and Maryanoff, we file our own lawsuits. The local insurance companies know this and many times results in higher offers being made to our firm. They know that our firm has the money backing and experience to fight them on an even ground.

Tired Truck Drivers And Poorly Maintained Trucks

If our experienced truck accident lawyers file suit against a truck company, we require them to give us the individual driver’s time records. We have found many truck accidents result from driver tiredness caused by the truck company permitting the driver to work long hours without enough rest. If the records show this, the insurance company usually calls to work out a settlement of your Miami Florida truck accident injury case as soon as we pursue those records.

In other cases, we have found that trucking companies reduce costs related to maintenance of their trucks causing truck accidents. Sometimes they have bald tires, brakes that are worn out, and burned out lights. We handled a case where the drive shaft fell out of the truck causing the truck accident. We hired an expert who studied the maintenance records to determine this. We found they were aware of the need to replace the drive shaft and didn’t want to spend the money.

Overall, bringing a Florida personal injury lawsuit in the aftermath of a trucking accident involves several technicalities and potential challenges. However, if you or someone you love has been harmed in this type of situation and you seek the help of experienced Florida trucking accident lawyers