Experienced Florida Truck Accident Attorneys
Truck accidents are among the most devastating collisions on Florida's highways. When an 80,000-pound commercial vehicle collides with a passenger car, the results are often catastrophic, leaving victims with life-altering injuries or claiming lives. At Roselli & McNelis, our trial attorneys have spent decades holding negligent trucking companies, drivers, and their insurers accountable for the destruction they cause.
Florida's position as a major transportation corridor means that thousands of commercial trucks travel our highways daily, including I-95, the Florida Turnpike, and I-75. When trucking companies cut corners on safety, maintenance, or driver training, innocent motorists pay the price. Our attorneys understand the complex federal and state regulations governing the trucking industry, and we use that knowledge to build powerful cases for our clients.
Types of Truck Accident Cases We Handle
Commercial vehicle accidents involve unique challenges that require specialized legal knowledge. Our team has extensive experience handling:
- 18-Wheeler and Semi-Truck Collisions: The most common type of truck accident, often caused by driver fatigue, speeding, or impaired driving. These collisions frequently result in catastrophic injuries due to the extreme size and weight differential.
- Jackknife Accidents: When a truck's trailer swings out at an angle to the cab, often sweeping across multiple lanes and involving several vehicles in the resulting wreck.
- Rollover Accidents: Overloaded or improperly loaded trailers, excessive speed on curves, and tire blowouts can all cause a commercial truck to roll over, crushing nearby vehicles.
- Underride Accidents: Among the most lethal truck accidents, these occur when a smaller vehicle slides beneath the trailer of a truck, often resulting in fatal injuries to the car's occupants.
- Blind Spot Accidents: Large trucks have significant blind spots on all four sides. When drivers fail to check these areas before changing lanes or turning, devastating side-impact collisions occur.
- Cargo Spill Accidents: Improperly secured or overweight cargo can shift during transit, causing the driver to lose control or spilling hazardous materials onto the roadway.
- Delivery and Box Truck Accidents: Not all truck accidents involve tractor-trailers. Amazon, FedEx, UPS, and other delivery vehicles are increasingly involved in serious collisions.
- Tanker Truck Accidents: Trucks carrying fuel, chemicals, or other liquids present explosion and toxic exposure risks in addition to collision injuries.
Why Truck Accident Claims Are More Complex
Truck accident cases differ significantly from standard car accident claims. Multiple parties may share liability, and the trucking industry aggressively protects its interests. Key factors that make these cases complex include:
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations: Trucking companies must comply with FMCSA rules governing hours of service, vehicle maintenance, driver qualifications, and cargo securement. Violations of these regulations are powerful evidence of negligence.
- Multiple Liable Parties: The truck driver, trucking company, cargo loader, vehicle manufacturer, and maintenance provider may all share responsibility for an accident.
- Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs): Federal law requires most commercial trucks to use ELDs to track driving hours. This data can prove a driver was fatigued or exceeded hours-of-service limits.
- Black Box Data: Modern trucks are equipped with event data recorders that capture speed, braking patterns, and other critical information in the moments before a crash.
- Rapid Evidence Destruction: Trucking companies often repair or destroy vehicles quickly after an accident. Our attorneys act fast to preserve vital evidence, including maintenance records, driver logs, and vehicle data.
Common Causes of Truck Accidents in Florida
Understanding what caused your accident is essential to building a strong claim. The most frequent causes of truck accidents in Florida include:
- Driver Fatigue: Despite federal hours-of-service rules, many truck drivers are pressured by their employers to exceed legal driving limits, leading to drowsy driving and slower reaction times.
- Distracted Driving: Texting, using GPS systems, eating, or other distractions at highway speeds in a commercial vehicle can be deadly for surrounding motorists.
- Inadequate Maintenance: Brake failures, tire blowouts, and steering malfunctions are often the result of deferred maintenance or cost-cutting by trucking companies.
- Impaired Driving: Drug and alcohol use, including prescription medications and stimulants used to stay awake, impair a truck driver's judgment and reaction time.
- Improper Loading: Overloaded trailers or improperly secured cargo can cause a truck to become unstable, leading to rollovers, jackknifes, or cargo spills.
- Aggressive Driving: Speeding, tailgating, and unsafe lane changes by truck drivers are particularly dangerous given the stopping distance required for large commercial vehicles.
Damages Available in Truck Accident Claims
Due to the severity of truck accident injuries, the compensation available in these cases is often substantial. Our attorneys pursue full and fair recovery for:
- Medical Expenses: Emergency room visits, surgeries, hospitalization, rehabilitation, physical therapy, and all future medical care necessitated by your injuries.
- Lost Income and Earning Capacity: Wages lost during recovery and the diminished ability to earn a living if your injuries are permanent or long-term.
- Pain and Suffering: Physical pain, emotional distress, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and the overall diminished quality of life resulting from your injuries.
- Wrongful Death Damages: If a loved one was killed in a truck accident, surviving family members may recover funeral expenses, loss of financial support, and loss of companionship.
- Punitive Damages: When a trucking company or driver acted with reckless disregard for safety, Florida law allows punitive damages to punish the wrongdoer and deter future misconduct.
Why Choose Roselli & McNelis for Your Truck Accident Case?
Truck accident cases require attorneys who understand federal trucking regulations, know how to investigate commercial vehicle collisions, and are willing to stand up to well-funded trucking companies and their insurers. Here is why victims throughout Florida trust our firm:
- Civil Trial Lawyers: Our attorneys hold the highest certification available from the Florida Bar for trial advocacy, placing us in the top 1% of Florida lawyers.
- Aggressive Investigation: We immediately send preservation letters to trucking companies, retain accident reconstruction experts, and secure all available evidence before it can be destroyed.
- Resources to Fight Big Trucking Companies: Trucking companies and their insurers spend millions defending claims. We have the financial resources and legal expertise to match them.
- No Fee Unless We Win: We handle all truck accident cases on a contingency fee basis. You pay nothing upfront and owe no attorney fees unless we recover compensation for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Multiple parties may be liable in a truck accident case. The truck driver can be held responsible for negligent driving, but the trucking company is often liable as well under the legal doctrine of vicarious liability. Additionally, the company that loaded the cargo, the truck or parts manufacturer, and the maintenance provider may all share responsibility. Our attorneys thoroughly investigate every potential source of liability to maximize your recovery.
Florida's statute of limitations for personal injury claims, including truck accidents, is generally four years from the date of the accident. However, critical evidence in truck accident cases, such as electronic logging data, black box recordings, and maintenance records, can be lost or destroyed quickly. It is essential to contact an attorney as soon as possible after a truck accident so we can take immediate steps to preserve this vital evidence.
Truck accident cases are significantly more complex than typical car accident claims. They involve federal regulations (FMCSA rules), multiple potentially liable parties, corporate defendants with aggressive legal teams, and specialized evidence such as electronic logging devices and event data recorders. The injuries tend to be more severe, and the damages are typically much higher. An attorney experienced in trucking litigation understands how to navigate these complexities and build the strongest possible case.