A crash with a truck or semi tractor trailer on any road or highway can cause devastating injury. Our roads and highways throughout Florida are filled with trucks and semi trucks hauling trailers that are up to 70 feet long and weigh almost 80,000 lbs (36 tons). Many truck drivers are skilled professional drivers, who do an important job in transporting their cargo while obeying laws. Unfortunately, some drivers are simply motivated by profit and they ignore safety regulations and laws, so that they can earn more money by transporting more loads in an unsafe manner.

Recently the Department of Transportation has provided statistics regarding crashes involving large trucks. There are an average of about five thousand truck crashes each year that result in fatality. Of those crashes, seven hundred thirteen truck drivers were killed. One of the factors reported in many of these crashes was a truck driver who was dozing to sleep. The truck driver is required to keep a log book to document that they are complying with the appropriate driving “hours of service”, which have been effect in some form since 1939.

A trucking company has a duty to properly screen, test and train a potential employee before letting them drive a truck. During a claim involving a truck, we determine if companies are in compliance with Federal regulations during the hiring process. This includes knowing the correct investigations, familiar with trucking requirements to research and compile information that may be used in litigation. A trucking company cannot just put a driver on the road and disclaim responsibility of the trucking company. We also begin to make a determination whether a lawsuit will be filed in state or federal court. Information in the preliminary stages can be lost, such as the computer data in the truck, if we do not move quickly.

Furthermore, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that their responsibility is to “investigate safety defects in motor vehicles, enforce fuel economy standards, help state and local communities reduce the threat of drunk drivers, promote the use of seat belts, investigate odometer fraud, enforce vehicle anti-theft regulations and provide consumer information on motor vehicle safety topics”. All those are good goals. The problem that we see as Florida truck accident lawyers is that drivers and companies, many times, go into “cover up mode”. They send out a company representative called a “safety director”, who immediately begins working to reduce the responsibility of the company. If the truck driver’s log book is inaccurate, or there is driver alcohol use, sometimes the evidence begins to disappear.

If you or a loved one have been injured because of a truck crash, please contact us without delay! The TRIPP LAW FIRM – Personal Injury Law has attorneys and a licensed staff private investigator available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. Don’t delay! Call us toll-free at 888-392-5297 for an initial confidential FREE CONSULTATION.

Putting us to work soon after the crash allows us to gather key information and data to hold the at fault driver accountable. Evidence may be lost, if we can’t investigate in timely manner.