Okeechobee Truck Accident Lawyer

Large-truck accidents often result in extensive injuries and losses. Okeechobee residents are acquainted with truck wrecks especially on busy roads such as the US 98, Okeechobee Road and the U.S. 441. Each wreck results in painful injuries, medical bills, and lost earnings, yet injured individuals can’t always obtain the financial recovery they need. If you suffered injuries in an Okeechobee truck accident, you must enlist the help of an experienced truck crash attorney.

People in the Treasure coast have selected Philip DeBerard, Injury Attorney as the most trusted Personal Injury Attorney in the area according to TCPalm. The DeBerard team has more than 40 years of practice helping injured Floridians receive full financial recovery after their accidents. Through the decades, our team has recovered hundreds of millions worth of settlements for our injured clients. We are relentless in negotiating for your full compensation, be it for medical fees, missed income, lost earning capacity and property damage, or for non-monetary losses like your pain and mental distress.

Consult with us free of charge, and you won’t have to pay us lawyer fees until we get compensation for you.

What To Do If You Get in a Truck Crash in Okeechobee County

It’s frightening to get in a vehicle accident, and even more if it involves a semi-truck, tractor-trailer, or 18-wheeler that possibly weighs 80,000 pounds. But while this scenario is intense, it can greatly help if you stay calm and bear in mind these steps to take after a truck crash:

• Get to a safe spot. As truck collisions typically occur on bustling highways, you must get off the road and distanced from oncoming traffic. Also check on your passengers, if any, and assist them move to safety.
• Call the police. Ask for an officer to aid you on site and to write a police report. If you or any of your passengers is hurt, even if it seems a minor injury, you should also ask for emergency responders to ensure medical attention.
• Start documenting. While waiting for police, take videos or photos of the accident scene, including your visible injuries and car damage. Exchange insurance information and contact details with other involved drivers. Also, if there are potential witnesses around, politely ask for their contact information.
• See a doctor. Some injuries might send you to the emergency room right away, but many other injuries don’t become obvious immediately after the accident. Don’t wait to see a doctor, as putting off your medical care could be damaging to your personal injury case. It’s best to get examined within 24 hours of the crash and to show up to any subsequent doctor’s appointments.
• Notify your insurer. Your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance company likely requires you to let them know in the event you’re in an accident. You can then initiate your compensation claim with them. In many truck injury cases, PIP policy limits are insufficient to cover expenses fully, in which case you’ll have to explore other legal recourses.
• Contact an attorney. It’s best to get a lawyer’s guidance early on after the accident. Even if you believe that the insurer is kind to you, you may soon realize that truck injury claims are much more complicated (we discuss why below). A competent injury attorney should help you pursue an effective PIP claim and a third-party injury claim against the person who caused the crash. You risk nothing by consulting with Philip DeBerard, Injury Attorney, as we offer free initial consultations.

Florida Truck Accident Claims Are Complicated – Here’s Why

A truck personal injury case is often more challenging than an “ordinary” auto accident case, not simply because of the catastrophic injuries often involved, but because of certain laws and standards in commercial trucking. Consider these factors that could impact your truck crash case.

Commercial trucks have special laws that require legal know-how

On top of ordinary traffic rules, there are regulations from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) that trucking companies and truck drivers have to obey. For instance, regulations mandate commercial drivers to take specific amounts of rest breaks to prevent fatigue on the road, and truck companies are required to routinely inspect and maintain their fleet. These trucking-specific rules often factor into the investigation of a truck accident.

Trucking firms already have valuable evidence

When a commercial vehicle is involved in an accident, the trucking firm will quickly start crafting their defense against potential liability claims. They have a head-start because they already possess evidence that could be critical in the case. Examples are driver hours-of-service logs, personnel files, driver drug test results, truck inspection and maintenance records, accident history records, and the truck itself.

To file an effective truck accident claim, you should have a competent lawyer in your corner who’s deeply familiar with trucking laws and evidence-gathering. This is why real-life experience is a crucial quality to look for in a tractor trailer accident attorney.

Freight or trucking companies may avoid liability

In some accidents, the transport or delivery company can be held liable if their negligent actions contributed to the accident. For example, they could have hired unqualified drivers, failed to tune up their truck, or disobeyed hours-of-service rules. In cases like this, the injured claimant may seek compensation from the negligent company, as well as from any other party whose negligence caused the crash.

Unfortunately, wealthy companies are able to defend themselves from liability, often by asserting that the at-fault trucker was not an employee of the company but an independent contractor. Big companies like Amazon or FedEx have attempted to use this defense. Injured claimants who need to recover financially should get the help of a fearless attorney who will stand up for maximum compensation.

Florida’s comparative negligence law may reduce compensation

In a Florida personal injury case such as a truck injury claim, the comparative negligence principle looks at all parties who acted negligently in the accident. If the injured claimant is found to have been negligent as well, they considered partly at fault for their own injuries hence the amount they could receive reduced according to their amount of fault. For example, if the injured was 10 percent at fault, it will result in a 10 percent deduction from their award.

Insurance companies and defense attorneys can take advantage of this rule to decrease the settlement in a personal injury claim. They will try to find a way to blame the claimant, for instance, by alleging that the claimant was driving too close to the truck or failed to observe the right of way. When you pursue a third-party liability claim against a negligent truck driver or company, take steps to protect your claim by working with an experienced injury attorney.

Consult with Philip DeBerard, Injury Attorney in Okeechobee County

With more than 40 years of experience, the DeBerard injury firm has become a trusted ally of injured Floridians. Our team has won favorable settlements and jury awards in service of our clients, including a recent semi-truck injury case which the insurance company settled for $2 million and a $1.25 million settlement from a trucking company.

Speak with us about your truck collision injury. Your consultation with us is free, and you won’t owe us any lawyer fees until we’ve won compensation for you. Contact us today at 800-299-8878.