Commercial truck drivers are held to higher licensing and certification standards than the average passenger vehicle driver, and for good reason: commercial semi-trucks and 18-wheelers are significantly larger than passenger vehicles, carry enormous weight, and travel long distances on a daily basis, all of which can contribute to an increased risk of accidents. Luckily, most truck drivers are extremely responsible and take great pride in how safely they operate their enormous vehicles as they criss-cross our country delivering important goods.
However, there is no commercial drivers’ license or trucking certification that can guarantee absolute safety, and even the most responsible truck driver may accidentally cause a crash that you are injured in. Whether you are in an accident caused by a reckless driver or due to some other type of mistake if you are in an accident with a truck that the other driver caused then you are entitled to compensation for your injuries.
Find a Truck Accident Lawyer in Boca Raton Today
Filing a claim with a commercial insurance company can be an overwhelming process – even though commercial trucking policies typically have coverage in excess of $1 million, this does not mean that getting the money you deserve is simple, only that it is there for you and your attorney to fight for. Too often, victims of truck accidents choose to file an insurance claim on their own in order to get the process finished with, collect their one-time settlement check, and move on with their lives, hopefully without any additional financial issues down the road.
Instead of risking a settlement that won’t cover your financial needs after your accident, working with an attorney is one way to be confident that you are taking all of the appropriate steps to get what you deserve. There are many financial issues that could arise months or years down the road that an attorney may have been able to help you anticipate and negotiate into your settlement, as well as a range of “intangible” damages that the insurance company will never simply offer you.
1-800-Injured is an attorney and medical referral service. Contact us now to be connected with an attorney in your area who is available to take your case today, and read more below to get a better idea of the complicated world of commercial truck accidents.
Common Causes of Truck Accidents in Boca Raton
The following are just a few of the many possible causes of truck accidents, both in Boca Raton and throughout the United States. Whether or not your accident seems to have been caused by any of the following, contact us now to connect with an attorney in your area for a free consultation where they can help you make sense of your situation.
Driver Fatigue
A commercial truck driver can drive over 100,000 each year, sometimes up to 650 miles in a single day and thousands of miles in a week. There are strict hours of service regulations meant to cut down on driver fatigue, but as with anyone who has ever been tired at work can attest, having a set and a reasonable number of working hours is never a certainty that you will not be tired at work. However, being tired at your desk is a lot less dangerous than being tired while operating a massive vehicle.
Distracted Driving
Commercial truck drivers are not immune to distractions like the rest of us, and a pinging smartphone alert, a GPS, or a dashboard radio can each cause a driver to take their eyes off the road and miss something that could help them avoid an accident. Since the driver is so high above you, it can be difficult to determine whether or not the driver was engaging in distracted behavior before the crash unless there is an onboard dashcam that was recording the driver as well as the road before the accident, which is not uncommon with trucks.
Speeding
When a driver is paid per mile or is incentivized to make more deliveries, then the temptation to speed is always present. When a driver is speeding with a fully-loaded trailer on the back of their semi-truck, this can lead to issues such as decreased stopping ability, an increased risk of rollovers or jackknifing, and other control problems that can lead to an accident with catastrophic results. Many trucks have a “black box” that can provide valuable information about things such as the driver’s speed at the time of the crash, but this is not something that you can rely on to provide the relevant information about your accident.
Maintenance Issues
As you can imagine, the combination of heavy loads and long distances lead to a lot of wear and tear on a commercial vehicle, which is why it is so important that they are meticulously maintained and inspected on a routine basis. Maintenance issues can lead to things like tire blowouts, brake failures, and other dangerous hazards that can lead to serious accidents on the open road. Truck drivers or the group responsible for maintaining the truck (not always the driver) maintain a highly-detailed maintenance log that can be reviewed in order to determine whether or not this was a contributing factor to the crash.
Determining Fault After a Truck Accident in Boca Raton
There are many complexities of a commercial accident claim that will be different from a passenger vehicle accident, but one of the most noticeable differences is the amount of available data and information that can lend to determining fault in a commercial crash. Truck drivers are required to maintain detailed logs of their travels, including distances driven, hours in operation, the weight and materials being transported, maintenance histories, and more.
While these documents can be nearly impossible for an individual to parse and make sense of, working with a truck accident attorney in Boca Raton is a great way to work with a professional who either understands these documents, or works closely with an industry professional who can help you make sense of them and determine what, if anything, in these documents could indicate an issue that led to your accident, and therefore determine fault.