According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, more than 33,000 crashes involving a commercial truck occurred in 2018—more than 8,000 in Miami-Dade County alone. As many as 1 in 10 of these crashes resulted in an injury or a fatality. Given that commercial vehicles weigh between 10,000 and 80,000 pounds, it’s easy to understand why truck accidents cause so much more injury and pain than a typical car accident.
Since trucks cause a great deal more damage than passenger vehicles, it follows that the victims of truck accidents often require more medical care, more recovery time, and more long-term support than the victims of other car accidents. When it comes to truck accidents, a passenger’s PIP insurance is insufficient to cover their medical costs and lost wages.
As Miami truck accident lawyers, our job is to help our clients explore every avenue of recovery available to them. Often, that includes holding trucking companies accountable for the negligence of their drivers.
Who Is Liable for a Truck Driver’s Negligence?
Under certain circumstances, you can hold a trucking company accountable for the negligence of an individual driver. Those circumstances include the following: (1) the driver must be an employee or “agent” of the trucking company, and (2) you must have been injured as a direct result of the driver doing their job. If the trucker who harmed you was in the middle of his or her duties as an employee, whatever those may be, then his or her employer can be held responsible for it.
There are some potential exceptions. For instance, trucking companies often use “independent contractors” to deliver goods. Strictly speaking, independent contractors are not employees, so trucking companies may argue that they are not responsible for the drivers’ actions. However, independent contractors may be deemed agents of the trucking companies and so there may still be a way to hold the trucking companies accountable.
Additionally, the trucking companies may be responsible for negligently hiring or retaining certain drivers based upon their driving histories.
Call Our Miami Trucking Accident Lawyers for Help
Trucking accidents often result in catastrophic injuries, which are injuries that permanently alter a person’s cognitive or physical abilities. These injuries often cost people their careers, their independence, and their quality of life. When a professional trucker drastically harms a person’s life to that degree, it’s only right that their company pay for the injured person’s care.
Our firm is wholly committed to representing plaintiffs in catastrophic cases. These cases often decide the direction of a person’s entire life, determining whether they’ll be able to provide for themselves, afford long-term care, or accommodate their disabilities. When it comes to litigation, the stakes of a trucking accident claim could not be higher.
Our firm takes a client-centered approach to taking cases. Focusing on a limited caseload allows us to commit all of our resources, effort, and attention to every individual case. As a result, our firm has been able to win hundreds of millions of dollars for our clients, getting results that provided for the rest of their lives.
To learn your options regarding your trucking accident, speak with our firm in a free consultation: (305) 770-6335.