On February 5th, 2020, a fiery accident affected traffic on the Howard Frankland Bridge in Tampa. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a vehicle rear-ended a dump truck in the southbound lanes of Interstate 275. Just the day before, on February 4, 2020, one man died after a crash involving a dump truck in Cocoa, according to police.
Soon after on January 20, 2020, the driver of a dump truck died when his dump truck caught fire in a crash on I-275 in Manatee County. The Florida Highway Patrol said the driver lost control of the vehicle and overturned just off the roadway, trapping the driver.
Two St. Petersburg officers tried to free the driver from the vehicle, but the truck caught fire, forcing the officers to retreat.
Do Dump Trucks and Tractor Trailers Have Issues That Cause Accidents?
Dump trucks and tractor-trailers can be especially dangerous in the event of an accident because of their size and weight. As a result, commercial vehicle accidents often result in significant damage to other vehicles and serious injuries to others.
Dump trucks and tractor-trailers are taller than most other vehicles, causing serious injury or death to people who might be in a car. These are just some of the many factors to be considered in a commercial vehicle crash.
An accident with a dump truck or tractor-trailer can leave you with serious mental trauma and physical pain. If you were hurt in a truck accident, you are not alone.
Our legal team of attorneys and professional staff can take care of deadlines and deal with insurance companies while you focus on healing. Call us at 813.755.9500 or go online to set up your free case evaluation.
What Are the Most Common Causes of Dump Truck and Tractor-Trailer Crashes?
Most often, the causes of dump truck and tractor crashes are issues with brakes and truck drivers traveling too fast. Not to mention overall fatigue as well as increasing pressure from the carrier, various tire problems, and challenging distractions. All of these factors make up for a significant number of commercial vehicle crashes.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is the leading federal government agency responsible for regulating the safety of commercial vehicles like trucks and tractor-trailers. The FMCSA’s website has information that driver distraction can be a major problem for commercial truck drivers. The biggest distractions are usually texting as well as cell phone use.
Dump trucks and tractor-trailers are also driven without proper driver training or vehicle maintenance, which can increase the risk of a crash. If a crash happens due to negligence, then a driver and their employer (or the owner of the truck) can be found responsible for any injuries or deaths that result.
How Often Do Dump Truck and Tractor-Trailer Accidents Happen?
According to the FMCSA, more often than they should be. There were 415,000 reported commercial vehicle crashes across the United States in 2015. Unfortunately, they caused a total of 3,852 fatalities.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, has stated that 531,000 large trucks crashed in America in 2018, causing a staggering 4,951 fatalities and 151,000 personal injuries.
Simply put, errors and negligence make up for over 50% of all crashes involving commercial vehicles including dump trucks and tractor-trailers. It is estimated that of the 15.5 million trucks operating throughout the U.S., there are about 2 million tractor-trailers.
Getting into a crash with a commercial vehicle is bad. Getting injured from one could be devastating–especially if it was not your fault.
You could be legally entitled to recover for what you have been through. The experienced personal injury attorneys at Fernandez & Hernandez could tell you what your claim may be worth. Reach out to us by phone at 813.755.9500 or contact us online for a free case review.
Can a Driver’s Employer Be Held Responsible for an Accident?
If a driver is an employee of a company, the company could be considered ‘at-fault’ for a crash, under certain conditions. Specifically, the company could be held responsible for an accident if it was 1) caused by driver negligence, and 2) if the driver was on the clock when the collision happened.
In this type of work setting, negligence would mean operating the truck or working the job in a way that is less than reasonable.
Some ways a trucking company can be held at-fault for a negligent crash are:
- Failure to properly train drivers
- Lacking safety inspections
- Going beyond the legal limit for truck weight with cargo
- Putting pressure on drivers to go dangerously fast to meet deadlines
Companies that employ truck drivers to work under a contract may also be held responsible if they:
- Have trucks that would fail safety standards in an inspection
- Hire drivers that are not skilled to do the work or under-trained
- Allow drivers to travel with oversized loads without a proper permit
- Set unrealistic deadlines for drivers, causing them to rush
- Pressure drivers to communicate on their phones while driving
Any trucking company could be liable (legally responsible) for a crash caused by a driver because of bad hiring practices, incomplete training, or failing to maintain a truck to keep it in safe and operable condition. It is an unfortunate truth that commercial vehicle accidents can lead to horrible, catastrophic injuries.
We have met with so many victims of these trucking accidents. Many suffer from having huge medical bills, as well as permanent disabilities, scarring, and disfigurement.
If a victim loses their life in a trucking accident, their family or their estate may want justice. The best way to achieve that could be filing a wrongful death claim. We have experience with many of these cases and can sensitively work with you to determine what options you have based on your individual case.
An attorney with trucking accident experience is the best person to have by your side in a dump truck or tractor trailer case. If you or a loved one have been hurt from an accident with a dump truck or tractor trailer and want to know if you can recover, call us. We can help you. Contact Tampa Personal Injury Attorney Martin J. Hernandez of Fernandez & Hernandez at 813.755.9500 or online through our website. Our one-on-one attorney case reviews are 100% free and confidential–get yours today.
