If an 80,000-pound commercial truck slams into your 3,000-pound car, you are likely to sustain devastating injuries that will be expensive to treat and take a long time to rehabilitate from if you ever do recover completely. Your financial comfort may be at risk if you are unable to work, and the emotional trauma and pain you are in could alter your life immensely.
When injuries result from distracted driving truck accidents in Clearwater, the trucker and trucking company should be held liable. If you were injured in this type of truck crash, the attorneys at Herman & Wells could dedicate their years of experience to your case while treating you with compassion and dignity. Call today for a free consultation so we can assess your situation and get to work on your case.
Distracted driving for truckers and other motorists falls into three categories: visual, manual, and cognitive. Imagine a trucker barreling down US Hwy 19 while looking at paramedics loading an accident victim into an ambulance on the side of the road. That trucker is visually distracted. If their hands are busy opening a cup of takeout coffee instead of remaining on the steering wheel, they are manually distracted. Finally, if they are thinking about something other than how to maneuver through traffic, their mind is elsewhere, and they are cognitively distracted.
Some real-life examples of distracted driving include:
Since the advent of cell phones, more people are engaged in texting while driving, causing a national distracted-driving dilemma. Florida has banned the practice unless communications are hands-free.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) released a statement that truckers are 23 times more likely to cause distracted-driving truck crashes when texting than when engaging in other distracted-driving behaviors.
The Clearwater attorneys at Herman & Wells believe in passionate advocacy for our clients and keeping you informed and comfortable with the legal process after a truck accident involving a distracted driver.
While distracted truckers are responsible for many accidents, the injured motorist may be partly at fault. This is known as the doctrine of comparative negligence, which requires a jury to allocate blame, if any, to both parties involved. The jury must agree on the percentage each party contributed to the accident.
In Florida, if you are suing for injuries mostly caused by the distracted truck driver, you cannot be more than 50 percent at fault to receive compensation. For example, a trucker might have been texting, but if you were speeding when the trucker turns in front of you, the speeding may become a factor in the accident. If the jury assigned you 20 percent of the blame, your damages award would be reduced by the percentage you were allocated. Thus, a finding of $1 million damages for the distracted driving truck wreck in Clearwater would amount to $800,000 verdict.
Truck drivers are held to high standards and are expected to be professional and conscientious. However, they are sometimes distracted, and this dangerous practice could lead to distracted driving truck accidents in Clearwater. If your injuries are from one of these accidents, seek legal guidance. You may be entitled to substantial compensation for your losses.
The attorneys at Herman & Wells bring decades of experience to your case, and our winning track record should put you at ease about our legal processes. Call now to schedule a free consultation and learn more about your legal rights and options.
