Lutz Truck Accident Attorney
From Sunset Lane to Lake Fern Road to the Willow Bend Parkway, all running into US Highway 41 along the way, Lutz, Florida, sees its fair share of truck traffic day and night. From box trucks and delivery vans to 18-wheeler semi-tractor-trailers, drivers in Lutz know that whenever they get on the road they are likely to be sharing it with a number of commercial vehicles. Getting into a crash with a truck, which unfortunately is not all that uncommon, is a frightening prospect, and for good reason. A fully loaded tractor-trailer, running 72 feet long and weighing up to 80,000 pounds, can cause enormous devastation and catastrophic injuries to the occupants of a smaller, lighter passenger car.
Any type of truck accident is likely to cause significant injury to the people in the car that gets hit. Unfortunately, getting compensation after a crash is not always easy. Trucking companies and their insurers may be swift to offer a quick, cash settlement releasing them of liability before the accident victim has talked to a lawyer and knows the full extent of their injuries and damages. Or they will use their significant resources to delay and defend against the claim, hoping to minimize any eventual payout or avoid liability altogether. Getting experienced legal help after a truck accident is essential, and that is exactly what you’ll find at Moore Law. With over 30 years of handling personal injury claims, we know how much your claim is worth and what it takes to successfully recover full value after a crash. Contact our experienced Lutz truck accident attorney today for a free case analysis and get started today on your road to recovery.
Leading Causes of Truck Accidents in Lutz
Motor vehicle accidents are most often caused by driver negligence, and truck accidents are no exception. However, there are many other factors at play and many other potentially liable parties in a truck accident, making these cases more complex and difficult to resolve. Here are some of the most common reasons for accidents involving big rigs and other commercial trucks in Lutz:
- Drowsy Driving: Truck drivers, especially long-haul truckers, put in endless hours on the road, often covering miles of unchanging terrain in Florida, leading to fatigue and drowsy driving. Under federal rules, truckers can lawfully be on duty for 14 hours a day, including 11 hours behind the wheel, and they can extend those limits for two hours if they encounter adverse driving conditions. Truckers need only take one 30-minute break after eight hours of driving, and they can work for 60 hours over seven consecutive days or 70 hours over eight consecutive days before having to take less than a day and a half off before starting all over again. Even with these punishing limits, many drivers skirt the law and drive even longer, falsifying their log books to evade detection.
- Negligent Truck Maintenance: Annual, pre-announced roadside inspections in North America turn up 20% of commercial vehicles with tires, brakes, signals, and coupling devices in such bad repair that the trucks must be immediately placed out of service for the sake of road safety. Independent owner-operators and large fleets are responsible for maintaining their trucks according to specific regulations, but far too many fail to invest the time and money needed to ensure their trucks are safe and not liable to tire blowout or brake failure at a critical moment.
- Improperly Loaded Cargo: Trucks and trailers must be carefully loaded, balanced and secured. An unbalanced truck or trailer can cause the driver to lose control, leading to catastrophic rollovers and jackknife accidents. Truckers are required by law to check their loads periodically and adjust the cargo as needed, but the initial loading of the truck might be done by the trucker, the trucking company, the shipper, or other third parties contracted to conduct cargo loading. Determining who is responsible for a truck accident caused by improperly loaded cargo requires skill and experience in handling complex truck accident cases.
How Moore Law Can Help
Attorney Eric Moore has over 30 years of personal injury legal experience. He represented defendants for over 12 years before switching to representing injury victims exclusively, but that experience on the other side means that he knows how insurance companies operate, including how they determine what a claim is worth and what tactics they use to minimize or avoid responsibility. Representing injury victims is all we do at Moore Law, and you can count on us to go after the negligent party aggressively and hold them accountability for the full range of damage they have caused. While we are pursuing compensation on your behalf, we stay in close contact with you, providing you with personal attention, answering your questions, and spending the time with you that you need and deserve.
Contact Moore Law After a Truck Accident in Lutz
If you or a loved one has been injured in a truck accident in Lutz, call Moore Law at 813-510-5400 for a free consultation. There are no upfront costs, and we only charge a fee once we have succeeded in recovering compensation for you.
