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Truck accident victims suffer on multiple fronts. On an emotional level, you may feel frustrated, angry, and scared when you recall the incident. On a logistical level, you may feel overwhelmed and confused about how to rebuild your life, get medical and legal help, and hold careless drivers or other wrongdoers responsible. These frustrations are common, but once you obtain help from a skilled legal team, you will immediately begin to feel less stressed and more in control of your life.
You should not have to worry about finances, your health, and your family all because of an incident that wasn’t your fault. The experienced team of attorneys at DWK Law can help you get on the road to recovery.
Some people who are hurt in truck crashes don’t ask for help from lawyers because they think they can’t pay for it. But our Orlando trucking accident lawyers can help without you having to pay upfront. You only pay when we win your case, and that’s an amount that we’ll agree upon upfront. There is no need to worry about money when you work with us.
Think about the last time you drove next to a semi-truck. Unless you were also driving a semi-truck, you likely felt small and vulnerable, and that’s for good reason.
A semi-truck can legally weigh up to 80,000 pounds. Compared to the average passenger vehicle weight of 4,000 pounds, semi-trucks make up an extremely disproportionate size, weight, and risk on the road.
According to the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT), approximately half a million truck accidents occur on U.S. roads every year. Florida is one of the most dangerous states for fatal truck accidents.
On average, around 4,500 people die a year in Florida truck crashes. These incidents tend to be extraordinarily complex events. Your Orlando truck accident lawyer will need to probe the details of what happened to help you and your family obtain compensation for your injuries and medical bills, time off of work, and other costs.
If you get hurt in a truck crash, here’s what you should do:
Ask for the police and an ambulance. The police will make a report, and the ambulance will check you right away.
If you can move without getting more hurt, get out of the way of danger. Leave the car wreckage and stay away from traffic.
Make no mistake, most truck companies are sophisticated and will often have an investigator quickly visit the accident scene. Therefore, take pictures of the cars, where they are, and any damage. Also, take pictures of any injuries. Capture the whole scene, like traffic lights and the road, in your photos or videos. Get the names and numbers of people who saw the collision. If they have a video, ask them to send it to you.
Tell your insurance company about the incident. Keep it short and stick to the facts.
To improve the odds of obtaining good results, choose your legal representation wisely. Hiring a truck accident attorney as early as possible is crucial to ensure critical evidence is preserved. The attorneys with DWKMR&S have won the respect of peers and repeatedly demonstrated a high level of skill and service. Throughout your case, our lawyers will inform you, answer your questions, and resolve your concerns.
Our team has built a reputation on our ability to research and perform in court, and we leverage trusted investigative resources. We at DWK Law take Florida truck accident cases on contingency. Thus, you pay no fees or costs unless and until we win a trial award or settlement award for you.
If you want your case to be successful, you need to file it in time. Florida has a deadline, known as the statute of limitations, for filing a personal injury lawsuit. Typically, you have two years from the date of the accident to take legal action. Two years is the deadline for most claims, but in some situations, the deadline is shorter. Connect with our skilled Orlando truck accident lawyers to learn more about the specifics of your situation.
If you get hurt because someone else was careless you can take legal action to ask for payment. This payment is for the things you lost because of your injuries. Damages can include:
These have a clear cost, like bills you have to pay. Your Orlando truck accident lawyer will add up these costs, such as:
These do not have a specific cost, but they are still very important. They include things like:
Florida only allows these in special cases, like if a drunk driver caused the collision. In the case of trucking accidents, drivers can be penalized for not following certain regulations, such as driving on the road for longer than allowed. These damages are not to pay you back for what you lost. Instead, the damages are extra money to punish the person who caused the accident and to prevent the truck driver from repeating the behavior.
It’s important to figure out who is responsible for the crash to make your case successful. It’s not always the truck driver’s fault.
The company that owns the truck has to check and train their drivers, make sure unsafe drivers are not on the road, and keep the trucks in good shape. The rules for this are made by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
The people who load the truck have to follow weight rules and make sure the cargo is tied down safely. If the cargo moves around, it can make the truck unsteady or things can fall off and cause collisions.
The company that makes the truck or its parts can be responsible if they make or install things that don’t work right. Trucks have a lot of parts that need to work correctly, like steering, brakes, and loading systems, to prevent accidents.
Here’s how your Orlando truck accident lawyer will show who is responsible for the truck accident.
The person who caused the wreck had a legal job (duty) to keep you safe. Every driver has to follow the rules and drive safely to protect everyone on the road.
The person who caused the crash didn’t do their job (breached their duty) to keep you safe. Maybe they were driving too fast, not following traffic rules, or driving while drunk.
The reason the collision happened was because the person didn’t do their job, not because of something else. It is important to display that the injuries you have were caused by or exaggerated by the truck accident.
The incident caused things that cost money (economic) and things that you can’t put a price on (non-economic).
We cannot say for sure how long it will take because it depends on a few things. It’s based on how valid the evidence is, how skilled your lawyer is, and if the person who caused the accident is willing to be fair. Your Orlando semi-truck accident lawyer will work hard to gather strong proof and negotiate for you.
Every big truck has something like a “black box” called an event data recorder (EDR). This box keeps important info about how fast the truck was going and how the driver was driving. For example, it records things like how the driver turned the steering wheel just before an accident, how long they worked without a break and other details that can help your case.
Truck collisions involve innumerable variables. These can include (but are not limited to): whether the trucker was driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol or while fatigued; whether parts, such as tires or brakes, failed or underperformed; whether road signage was unclear; and whether safety features (e.g. airbags, seat belts) functioned appropriately.
Truck accidents can happen in different ways, and no matter how they happen, they can cause serious problems.
If a truck is going too fast, carrying too much, or if the stuff inside is not loaded right, the truck can tip over and crush cars, creating a big problem on the road.
Sometimes, when the driver can’t control the truck, it can turn and face the wrong way, making a shape like a jackknife across the road.
This occurs when a smaller car behind the truck slides underneath the trailer. These accidents are typically fatal and can result in death or serious injury.
If the things inside the truck are not tied down properly, they can fall off and hit other cars or block the road.
If a driver doesn’t change lanes correctly or forgets to look in their mirrors, they might hit the side of another vehicle.
Truck accidents can cause lasting injuries like problems with the brain, head, neck, spine, bones, cuts, or burns. Sometimes, these injuries stay forever, and people might have trouble moving, thinking, or dealing with pain. They might also look different because of scars or missing body parts.
Here are some things to do and not do when dealing with the insurance company after a crash.
The Florida personal injury attorneys at DWK Law have been serving victims of truck, car, and motorcycle crashes in Florida since 1989. We have the talent, experience, and deep familiarity with Florida law to help the injured understand their rights and help you recover from their collision as quickly as possible.
Our firm is founded on a unique philosophy. We review potential cases carefully. We only take on a very limited number of clients at any time to make sure you get the full value of working with the whole DWK Law team. We strive to maximize our attention on getting our clients results and holding wrongdoers accountable for negligent actions.
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When you team up with us, know that we are using all our legal know-how, experience, and resources to fight for you, and it makes a difference. You should have a lawyer who listens, knows their stuff, and cares about you, and you should get a fair amount of money to make up for what you’ve lost.
Speak with an Orlando truck accident lawyer now, for free, to get clear, methodical answers to all of your questions related to the incident.
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