Trucking Accidents

The building boom seldom stops in Lee County. While the economy may ebb and flow, history has made Southwest Florida among the fastest-growing areas in the country, decade after decade.

Lee County had a population of about 100,000 when Bruce L. Scheiner founded his law firm in 1971 (up from fewer than 25,000 residents in 1950). Today, about 800,000 residents call Lee County home and more than 2 million visit annually, according to the Lee County Visitors & Conventions Bureau.

Nationwide, more than 35,000 commercial vehicle crashes kill about 3,000 motorists a year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports more than 80 percent of those killed are occupants of passenger vehicles, bicyclists or pedestrians.

Common causal factors cited in large truck crash reports:

• Tired truckers
• Inexperienced or poorly trained truckers
• Overloaded trucks, or improperly secured loads
• Poor truck maintenance
• Trucks with poorly-maintained safety systems (brake lights, head lights, turn signals, reflectors, etc.)
• Speeding
• Alcohol or drug use
• Truckers with dangerous driving records
• Distraction or inattention
• Truck driver distraction or inattention.

While trucking accidents do occur on freeways and divided highways, more than half of these crashes occur on other major urban roads. Common highways where trucking accidents occur in Lee County include Interstate 75, U.S. 41/Tamiami Trail/Cleveland Avenue, Statue Road 80, State Road 82 and State Road 884.

Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reports more than 1,000 commercial vehicle crashes in Lee County each year. In all, about 1 in 9 Lee County traffic collisions involves a large truck, or other commercial vehicle.

At Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured, our truck accident lawyers in Lee County understand these are among the most complex types of cases a personal injury or wrongful death law firm can handle.

• Proving fault: Trucking companies have long operated under a dizzying array of limited liability corporations and utilize other tactics to avoid accident liability, including the hiring of independent contractors for driving and maintenance, and using rented or leased trucks, trailers and equipment. Truck drivers are also subject to additional state and federal regulations governing everything from weight and maintenance to Hours-of-Service rules enforced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which aims to regulate daily and weekly drive-time to keep tired truckers off the road.
• Identifying responsible parties: At-fault parties may include a truck driver, an employer, owner of a truck or trailer, a maintenance company or the owner of a truck’s load. Each of these parties may be insured by one or more insurance companies. Under Florida Statute 768.81, Florida’s laws on comparative fault and joint and several liability will make each defendant only responsible for a portion of damages, based on findings of fault. Thus, failure to identify all responsible parties may significantly reduce a victim’s ability to collect damages.
• Fighting insurance companies: The trucking industry is insured by some of the world’s largest insurance conglomerates, which hire some of the best insurance defense firms to fight liability claims. Your Lee County truck accident law firm must have the knowledge, resources and experience to prevail.
• Determining damages: Trucking accidents typically result in very serious or fatal injuries to passenger vehicle occupants. At Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured, we work with leading professionals in the areas of medicine and economics to determine the full extent of your losses, including future costs of medical care, lost or reduced wages, disability or rehabilitative care.

If you are involved in a traffic collision with a tractor trailer, dump truck, bus or other large commercial vehicle in Southwest Florida, call us for a free and confidential consultation to discuss your rights, 24 hours a day/7 days a week. There are never any attorney fees unless we are successful in winning a recovery on your behalf.

If you or someone you care about has been hurt, contact the Lee County truck accident lawyers at Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured. You pay us no fees unless we win.