Commercial trucks and trailers can weigh up to 80,000 pounds when fully loaded. According to J.D. Power, the average passenger car weighs only about 4,000 pounds. When they collide in an accident, injuries are often catastrophic. Many accident victims do not survive a commercial truck accident. Those who do survive are frequently left with disabilities and the need for long-term medical care and assistance.
The emotional and financial stress on an injury victim and their family can feel unbearable. They need to recover every dollar available for their damages. Our Cape Coral personal injury attorneys at Garvin Injury Law have decades of experience successfully handling truck accident claims and helping victims and their families recover maximum compensation.
Call our dedicated truck accident lawyers in Cape Coral at (239) 277-0005 or complete the short form on our contact page to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case. We look forward to meeting you, answering your questions, and explaining your rights. If we represent you, we will fight tirelessly to get the justice and compensation you deserve.
What Sets Garvin Injury Law Apart?
- Florida injury victims have trusted our firm for over forty years.
- Every client receives individualized attention and a legal strategy designed specifically for the facts of their case.
- No recovery – no fee. We pay all costs of pursuing your claim and only get paid when we recover your compensation.
- We have relationships with the nation’s foremost expert witnesses in specialized fields to help build your strongest case.
Understanding the Leading Causes of Cape Coral Truck Accidents
Truck accidents in Cape Coral have numerous causes, almost all caused by human error. Some of the leading causes include:
- Driver distraction: Drivers today have more distractions than ever. Texting, reading, and talking on a cell phone are common distractors. Others include adjusting vehicle controls, talking to passengers, trying to reach something in the back or passenger seat, and looking at roadside attractions like signs, billboards, and accidents.
- Driver fatigue: Truck drivers are required to take specified breaks to rest. However, many drivers are pressured to ignore the regulations and drive longer than is safe.
- Driving under the influence: Although a stringent regulation regarding alcohol consumption governs commercial truck drivers, some drivers still drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
- Speeding: Drivers want to make their deliveries as fast as possible, and many exceed the speed limit trying to do so. Speeding is a leading cause of accidents for both trucks and passenger vehicles.
- Aggressive driving: Common driving behaviors, such as changing lanes abruptly, tailgating, and other unsafe actions, increase the risk of crashing.
- Improperly loaded cargo: If cargo is not loaded correctly and adequately secured, it can shift during transport, causing the truck to become unstable and crash. Loose cargo can also spill onto the road or another vehicle, causing devastating accidents.
- Equipment failure: Whether caused by defective products or negligent maintenance, equipment failure can lead to a sudden loss of control and a crash.
- Dangerous road conditions: When roads are designed defectively or are not adequately maintained, they can contribute to accidents.
- Malfunctioning traffic signals: When traffic signals fail or malfunction, they can cause complete confusion among drivers and increase the likelihood of an accident.
Determining the causes of your accident is critical to the success of your claim. Our truck accident lawyers carefully investigate every accident to help identify possible causes and potentially liable parties. If a passenger vehicle was also involved, a skilled Cape Coral car accident attorney can help evaluate all legal options and ensure all avenues for compensation are pursued.
Trauma Caused By a Truck Accident In Cape Coral
Cape Coral truck accidents frequently result in catastrophic injuries. Some of the most common types of trauma include:
- Death
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord damage, including paralysis
- Internal bleeding and organ damage
- Broken and crushed bones
- Severed or mangled limbs requiring amputation
- Burns, scarring, and disfigurement
- Post-traumatic stress disorder and other emotional traumas
When not fatal, truck accident injuries can result in the need for lifelong medical care, assistance with daily tasks, and chronic pain.
Damages Available to Cape Coral Truck Accident Victims
The amount and type of damages available to truck accident victims in Cape Coral depend on the severity of your injuries, causation, liability, and the availability of coverage to pay the compensation for your damages.
In a successful truck accident claim, you should be able to recover economic and non-economic damages. These damages are compensatory because they are designed to compensate an injury victim for their damages.
Economic damages may include lost wages, medical expenses, property damage, and other costs incurred by your accident.
Non-economic damages may include loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium, mental and emotional distress, pain and suffering, scarring, permanent disability, and other intangible losses.
In very rare cases, you may be able to recover punitive damages. Unlike compensatory damages, punitive damages are designed not to compensate the injury victim, but to punish the wrongdoer and deter similar future conduct.
Florida law only allows for awarding punitive damages when a defendant is guilty of intentional misconduct or gross negligence.
Liability in Cape Coral Truck Accident Cases
Multiple parties may be liable in a truck accident claim. Some potentially liable parties include the truck driver, the trucking company, the truck owner, the cargo loading party, the employment screening agencies, and the truck maintenance company.
Other liable parties could be a government entity, a product manufacturer, a repair company, vehicle drivers, bicyclists, or pedestrians.
Commercial trucks must carry much higher liability insurance coverage, so more is at stake when determining cause and liability. Insurance companies fight hard to deny their customers’ faults and to shift the blame to other parties.
Our truck accident lawyers leave no stone unturned when investigating your accident and discovering all relevant causation and liability facts.
How Our Cape Coral Truck Accident Attorneys Help Recover Maximum Compensation
An experienced truck accident lawyer in Cape Coral significantly improves your chances of recovering maximum compensation. Some essential ways they help include:
- Knowing how to effectively deal with insurance companies that try to deny your claim or minimize the value of your claim.
- Having a deep understanding of all state and federal trucking regulations and how they apply to proving liability.
- Preserving and collecting vital evidence to build your strongest case.
- Helping ensure all your current and future damages are considered and accurately valued to determine a fair settlement of your case.
- Work to negotiate a fair settlement as quickly as possible.
- If a fair settlement is not reached, prepare and take your case to trial.
Connect With Garvin Injury Law Today
If you were injured or lost a loved one in a truck accident, you may be entitled to recover compensation for your damages.
Trucking insurance companies will fight hard to deny or minimize your claim. You need an experienced Cape Coral truck accident lawyer to combat the unfair tactics insurance companies often use to help you recover the full compensation you deserve.
At Garvin Injury Law, our attorneys have over forty years of experience helping truck accident injury victims and their families collect maximum compensation. We want to do the same for you.
Call our firm at (239) 277-0005 or complete the short form on our contact page to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case.