If you were hit by a large commercial truck and you were able to walk away with your life you can consider yourself lucky. Most often when a passenger sedan is driving alongside a commercial truck and something goes wrong where the truck impacts that smaller vehicle, those occupants inside the passenger sedan sustain the most serious and debilitating injuries. Many times there are fatal outcomes for these individuals too. Much of the reason has to come down to physics. Commercial trucks with their extensive weight and massive size are simply far too big for a passenger sedan to bear the impact. Large trucks are crushing and they have a greater likelihood that when they hit a smaller vehicle the devastation will be significant.

After a large truck accident, if you are able to get out of your vehicle or even if you have to be rushed to the emergency room for rapid medical treatment, there is still the existence of liability. While the first thing in your mind may not thinking about a legal challenge to get compensation for your harm, soon, when you can think clearly again and realize the extent of your damages, this may change. Medical expenses even when they are minimal medical interventions can be quite costly. The cost to repair the property or replace it like could be the case with a smashed vehicle, the personal pain, and suffering you experienced, and all of the pay you lose out on when you have to miss work can start to add up fast.

Your first priority after a crash is to follow your doctor’s orders to get better as soon as possible so you can return to your normal life as much as that is feasible. But, doing so means you have to focus on your health and well-being and this could be difficult if you do not have the funds to pay for the treatment you need to get better. A Florida personal injury claim may help you get the compensation you need to cover all of your costs. Legal challenges like injury claims can be difficult to navigate. Especially when it comes to commercial truck accidents, figuring out where liability lies is not always straightforward and there can be many parties who hold some amount of responsibility for paying for your damages. 

The Jacksonville truck accident attorneys at The Law Offices of Sheftall & Associates can help you with the legal component of the aftermath of your Florida truck accident injury event.

Common Reasons for Truck Accidents

There are several factors that can be behind why large truck accidents happen. Some of them include:

• Distractions while driving
• Being too tired or sleepy while operating a truck
• Driving at excessive speed
• Tailgating other drivers
• Not keeping up with maintenance and then having technical issues or truck failures
• Defect truck components
• Tire blowouts
• Inebriated truck drivers
• Inexperience operating a commercial truck and making mistakes maneuvering it like cutting corners too close
• Blind spots
• Aggressive driving
• Ignoring the rules of the road
• Violation of established safety guidelines by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
• Bad truck company management
• Hazards on the road
• Inclement weather
• Truck driver health problems

As you can see, there are many ways that a truck accident can happen but this list is not inclusive by any means. This is why when you are driving near a truck you take extra caution to keep yourself and others in your car safe.

Hiring Practices By Trucking Companies Is Critical

Driving a large commercial truck is very different than driving a passenger vehicle and this is why there are specialized training and licensure requirements that are necessary to legally operate one of these rigs. Still, just because a prospective truck driver has a commercial driver’s license or CDL, that does not mean that they are qualified to be a professional truck driver. There are many other components that should be assessed before a person is put into the role of a professional truck driver. 

And even though this is true, time and time again, stories of negligent truck drivers who should never have been behind the wheel in the first place causing crashes come about incessantly. Truck companies are known for engaging in less than ethical or appropriate practices, this includes the way they screen for and hire new drivers.

For trucking companies, getting more cargo back and forth to various destinations increases their bottom line. Because of this, more truckers on the road means increased profits, and so there can be a tendency to overlook proper hiring practices and put a questionable person in charge of operating a large truck.

Some examples of hiring practices that are not just frowned upon but very unsafe include:

• Disregarding a driver’s history of alcohol or substance issues
• Not performing appropriate and thorough background checks
• Allowing drivers that have multiple road violations on their records
• Not providing appropriate oversight or training to drivers before they hit the road

It may seem like poor hiring practices is not that big of a deal. However, when you think about what that really means, putting people in charge of operating dangerous massive commercial trucks who are unprepared and entirely precarious, it becomes more clear how perilous this actually is.

The Law Offices of Sheftall & Associates has truck accident lawyers in Jacksonville who understand how to pick apart a complicated truck accident and define who is to blame and who is responsible for recompense to victims. Getting the most compensation is essential to helping you recover from your injuries and move on with your life.

Speak to a Jacksonville Truck Accident Attorney Today

The aftermath of a large truck accident in Florida can leave a victim with permanent and life-long injuries, emotional trauma, and other devastating forms of harm. Getting the full amount of compensation that you deserve from all of the parties that have legal culpability for the crash happening is critical. To schedule a free consultation with a Jacksonville personal injury attorney at The Law Offices of Sheftall & Associates, please do not hesitate to call 904-647-2296 today.