Why Truck Accident Cases Are Different
A car crash usually has one driver to look at. A truck crash can have several responsible parties. Depending on what happened, they may include:
- The truck driver
- The trucking company, which is generally responsible for an employee's careless driving on the job
- The shipper or loading company, if cargo was not properly loaded or secured
- A repair shop, if poor brake, tire, or other repair work played a part
- The manufacturer of a defective truck, trailer, tire, or part
- A government agency, if a city or county truck caused the crash
Florida generally makes each at-fault party pay only its own share of the damages, so it matters to find every responsible party early.
A consultation with us is free, and there is no obligation. If we take your case, you owe no fee and no costs unless we recover money for you.
Common Causes of Truck Accidents
- Driver fatigue and driving longer than the legal hours allow
- Speeding or driving too fast for traffic or weather
- Texting or using a hand-held phone while driving
- Blind spots on the front, back, and sides of the truck
- Unsafe wide turns
- Following too closely, given a truck's longer stopping distance
- Brake and tire failures caused by poor maintenance
- Cargo that shifts or is not properly secured
- Driving under the influence of drugs, including some prescription medications
Trucking Safety Rules and the Records That Can Prove a Violation
Trucks that carry freight across state lines must follow federal safety regulations, and Florida applies most of the same rules to trucks that stay inside the state. Under Florida law, a violation of a safety regulation can be used as evidence of negligence.
Hours of service
A driver hauling freight across state lines generally may not drive more than 11 hours after 10 straight hours off duty. The driver also may not drive once 14 hours have passed since coming on duty, and may not drive more than 8 hours without a 30-minute break. Weekly limits apply too.
Electronic logs and truck data
Many trucks must use an electronic logging device (ELD), which automatically records the date, time, location, engine hours, and miles driven. Many trucks also have an engine control module, sometimes called a "black box," that can capture speed, braking, and throttle data around the time of a crash. This data can show speeding, late braking, or hours violations.
Driver files and maintenance records
Trucking companies must keep a file on each driver, including the job application, driving record, road test, and medical examiner's certificate. They must also inspect, repair, and maintain their trucks and keep records of that work, and they must fix safety defects that drivers report before the truck goes back out. Gaps in these records can point to an unfit driver or an unsafe truck.
Why the evidence must be saved quickly
Federal rules require trucking companies to keep drivers' hours-of-service records for only six months, and drivers' vehicle inspection reports for only three months. Some electronic data can also be recorded over. A lawyer can send the trucking company a letter demanding that it preserve this evidence.
What to Do After a Truck Accident
- Call 911 and get medical help: Get help for anyone who is hurt and ask for police to come to the scene. The crash report is an important record of what happened.
- Document the scene: If you can do it safely, photograph the truck, the company name and USDOT number on its side, the damage, and your injuries. Get the driver's employer and insurance information and witnesses' phone numbers.
- See a doctor within 14 days: If you were in a car, on foot, or on a bicycle, Florida's personal injury protection (PIP) coverage generally covers your medical bills only when you are first treated within 14 days of the crash. Go even if you feel fine; some injuries take time to show up.
- Be careful with insurers: Report the crash to your own insurer and meet your policy's requirements, but don't give the trucking company's insurer a recorded statement or sign anything before talking to a lawyer.
- Call a lawyer quickly: Driver logs, inspection reports, and electronic data can be lost if no one demands that they be saved.
Florida Truck Accident Laws You Should Know
Trucks must carry more insurance
Florida generally does not require drivers to carry bodily injury liability insurance, which pays for injuries they cause to others. Commercial trucks are different. Florida requires commercial trucks weighing 26,000 pounds or more to carry $50,000 to $300,000 in liability coverage per crash, depending on weight. Trucks covered by federal insurance rules must carry at least the federal minimum: $750,000 for a for-hire company hauling ordinary freight across state lines, and $1 million or $5 million for some hazardous loads.
No-fault insurance and PIP
If you were in a car, your own coverage generally pays first. Your personal injury protection (PIP) coverage (or a family member's) generally pays 80% of your reasonable, medically necessary medical bills and 60% of your lost income, up to the policy limit, no matter who caused the crash. Medical benefits up to the full $10,000 are available only if a medical doctor, osteopathic physician, dentist, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse finds that you had an emergency medical condition. Without that finding, PIP pays no more than $2,500 for medical care.
When you can recover for pain and suffering
If you were in a car and the truck's insurance includes Florida no-fault (PIP) coverage, Florida limits pain and suffering claims against the truck's owner, driver, and employer the same way it does in car crashes. The crash must have caused a permanent injury (within a reasonable degree of medical probability), significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, a significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, or a death. Even if your injury does not meet that standard, you can still claim the medical bills and lost income that PIP does not cover.
Shared fault
Florida uses modified comparative negligence. If you are partly at fault, your recovery is reduced by your share of the blame. If you are found more than 50% at fault, you generally cannot recover anything from those at fault. Insurance companies know this rule well, which is why they often argue that you caused the crash.
Deadline to file a lawsuit
For truck accidents that happened after March 24, 2023, Florida generally gives you two years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit. Crashes on or before that date generally have four years. If you miss the deadline, you can lose your claim entirely. Wrongful death claims and claims against a manufacturer follow different rules, and claims against a government agency have notice requirements that must be met before a lawsuit can be filed, so talk to a lawyer as early as possible.
What Compensation Can You Recover?
Depending on your case, compensation can include:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Lost wages and lost earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish and emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Property damage to your vehicle
Where Florida's no-fault injury standard applies, pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and scarring can be recovered only if the injury meets it. Medical bills and lost wages can be recovered to the extent PIP has not paid them. If a crash took a loved one's life, the family may be able to recover through a wrongful death claim, which has its own rules.
We work with your doctors to understand your future medical needs before advising you on any settlement offer.
How We Build Your Truck Accident Case
- Free consultation: Tell us what happened. We'll tell you in plain terms whether you have a claim and what comes next.
- Preserving evidence: We send preservation letters to the trucking company and others who hold records, so logs, data, and video are not lost.
- Investigation: We gather the crash report, witness statements, truck data, and driver and maintenance files, working with accident reconstruction engineers when needed.
- Finding every policy: We identify every company that may share the blame and every insurance policy that may apply.
- Demand, negotiation, and trial if needed: We present your claim and negotiate for a fair settlement. If the insurers won't make a fair offer, we file suit and get your case ready for a jury.