
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that 4,761 people died in collisions with large trucks in 2017. The Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) reported that almost 31,000 accidents involved a heavy truck in 2017.
A Tampa big rig lawyer from the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine can help you with your claim so that you can focus on what matters. Our Tampa truck accident lawyer will work hard to potentially hold negligent trucking companies and truckers responsible for their careless actions. We can discuss your potential claim during a free case review, which you can receive by calling 1-800-747-3733.
Common Causes of Big Rig Accidents Often Involve a Driver Error
Truck drivers are human and are prone to make the same mistakes that other drivers make. However, the consequences are often much more dire when truck drivers make mistakes.
The NHTSA reports that the vast majority of fatalities in big rig accidents occur to occupants in other vehicles, not the truck driver. This is why it is so important that trucking companies and truck drivers carefully follow the rules that have been put in place to protect all motorists.
Some of the most common causes of big rig accidents include:
- Speeding: Truck drivers often try to get to their destinations quickly to meet tight deadlines and get paid faster. The NHTSA reports that 21 percent of truck drivers involved in fatal crashes had at least one prior speeding ticket.
- Impairment: The NHTSA also reports that three percent of commercial truck accidents that occurred in 2017 involved truck drivers with blood alcohol concentrations at or above 0.08 percent.
- Distractions: Driving for long hours at a time can be quite tedious, so truck drivers may reach for distractions, such as phones, food, music, or other objects, to help pass the time. The FLHSMV reported that distractions were present in 234 fatal motor vehicle accidents in 2017.
- Fatigue: Drivers who drive for thousands of miles every day may get tired while on the road, resulting in delayed reaction times and an increased risk of falling asleep at the wheel.
- Poor road or weather conditions: Poor road conditions—such as debris or obstructions on the roadway, damaged roads, and malfunctioning traffic signals—can also cause accidents. Additionally, dust winds, standing water, and rain can increase the likelihood of a crash.
- Poorly maintained trucks: Because commercial trucks drive thousands of miles in a short span of time, there are special rules that trucking companies must follow to ensure that they are safe on the road. If there was a mechanical issue that should have been addressed, but an inspection was delayed or skipped, this might have caused a mechanical failure on the roadway that harmed other drivers.
Our personal injury team can investigate how your accident occurred and work hard to establish the truck driver’s negligence.
A Lawyer Can Help You Prove Negligence in Big Rig Accidents
A Tampa big rig lawyer can work on your claim and may be able to prove the truck driver’s negligence by:
- Investigating your accident: Our team may investigate the scene of the accident for any details that might pertain to your case, such as traffic signs or debris on the road. We may also canvas the area for possible sources of surveillance footage that might have captured the accident.
- Collecting evidence: Our team is familiar with truck accident cases and know that if we do not act quickly to preserve evidence, it may get lost or destroyed. Commercial trucks are different than other types of vehicles in that they have computer systems that keep track of important information. Our lawyers can send spoliation of evidence letters to ensure important information gets preserved.
- Reviewing records: We can review employment, maintenance, and travel records for the trucking company and truck driver to see a pattern of behavior.
- Assembling records: Our lawyers may also review medical records and photographic evidence to determine the damage the accident caused you. We can assemble these records to establish how much compensation we should request from the insurance companies.
- Consulting with expert witnesses: In some truck accident cases, we may need to consult with an expert witness who can reconstruct the accident and show how it happened, testify about the economic losses you suffered because of the accident, or discuss how the trucking company records do not match up with other data.
Contact the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine at 1-800-747-3733 to learn all the ways we can help.
Contact the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine Today to Get Started on Your Claim
If you or a loved one was injured in an accident with a big rig, a Tampa big rig lawyer from the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine wants to help you with your claim so that you can focus on your recovery.
Act now, as your time to file a claim is limited. Personal injury lawsuits must be submitted within a certain timeframe set by the statute of limitations. Claimants who fail to file their lawsuit by the statutory deadline risk having their case be dismissed and might lose their right to compensation altogether. Our team can manage your case so that your lawsuit gets filed on time.
Contact us to learn more about your legal rights and options. We can answer any questions you have about the claims process in a free case review. We work on a contingency fee basis, so you pay no attorney’s fees unless we recover compensation for your claim.