Naples Truck Accident Lawyer
In 2020, seven people lost their lives to truck accidents in Collier County, and over 140 were injured. Cargo vans and buses can weigh over 10,000 pounds, and a fully-loaded 18-wheeler can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. In comparison, the average car weighs just over 4,000 pounds. When a semi-truck barrels down the highway and crashes into a passenger vehicle, the results can be disastrous to the occupants in the car. Catastrophic injuries and wrongful death are far too often the outcomes of a car-truck collision on the road.
At Cardinal Law, we help accident victims and their families when they‘ve suffered the most serious accidents and injuries. From our office in Naples, we serve clients throughout Southwest Florida in Collier, Lee and Charlotte counties. If you or your loved one has been hurt in a Southwest Florida truck accident, Cardinal Law is here for you. We’ll be by your side attending to your legal needs and helping you hold all responsible parties accountable and liable to you for the maximum amount of compensation available. Call our Naples truck accident lawyers today for a free consultation, compassionate advice, and zealous advocacy for a settlement or judgment that meets your needs.
Common Causes of Naples Truck Accidents
Trucking accidents can be the fault of multiple parties, including the truck driver, the trucking company, a cargo loader or shipper, mechanics and maintenance companies, and others. Truck accidents are complex events, and it can be difficult to determine how an accident came about and who is responsible. At Cardinal Law, we combine our years of experience handling car accident cases with expert assistance from investigators, engineers and accident reconstruction professionals to figure out what went wrong and bring in all proper parties to pay for their share of the accident. Although this is a complicated and time-consuming process, it’s worth it if it gets accident victims and their families the level of compensation they need to deal with the harm which has befallen them.
Some of the leading causes of truck accidents in Naples are discussed below.
Drowsy Driving – If you’ve taken a long trip cross-country, you know how fatiguing it can be to sit behind the wheel for a long stretch. Imagine being a long-haul truck driver who spends hours every day doing just that. Because of the risks of drowsy driving truck crashes, the federal government limits how long truckers can spend on duty and behind the wheel. But these rules are so lax they permit truck drivers to work 11-hour days with up to eight hours of driving time and to put in 60 hours over seven consecutive days or 70 hours over eight consecutive days before taking less than a day and a half off to start a new week. Many truckers ignore these safety rules and drive even longer, falsifying their logs to conceal the fact they are breaking the law. When truckers don’t get the rest they need, they put all of us at risk.
Negligent Driving – Truck drivers are subject to all the negligent and dangerous driving behaviors other people on the road are guilty of – speeding, distracted driving, texting while driving, drinking and driving, unsafe lane changes, following too close, failing to signal or check blind spots, etc. Driving a semi is much more complicated than driving a car, and a truck driver’s negligence is much more dangerous, with much more severe consequences.
Negligent Truck Maintenance – It’s hard to believe, but trucking companies are so bad at managing their fleets that during annual, pre-announced roadside inspections, safety inspectors have to pull one in four trucks out of service because the big rigs are too dangerous to be on the road. Bad tires and defective or missing brake components lead the pack of safety violations, followed by non-working signal lights and coupling devices, lack of safety equipment, and other immediate hazards.
Negligent Truck Loading – Loading the back of a truck or a trailer is a science and an art… and an essential piece of truck safety. An overloaded truck is prone to tire blowouts, brake failure, and rollovers. An unbalanced load can cause a loss of control and a jackknife truck accident. Unsecured loads can come off the truck and create deadly mayhem for miles. Loading the truck might be the responsibility of the truck driver or trucking company, the freight shipper, or a third party. Tracking down who made the error is a critical piece of obtaining justice and compensation for victims of a truck accident caused by an improperly loaded truck.
Get the Legal Help You Need After a Truck Accident in Naples
Cardinal Law is a local, family-owned law firm in Naples dedicated to helping the people of Southwest Florida who have been injured by the negligence of others. We are here to take care of you and get results that matter. If you or a loved one has been injured or worse in a truck accident in Naples or Southwest Florida, call Cardinal Law at 239-610-0845 for a no-cost consultation. If we can’t recover compensation on your behalf, you won’t owe us anything.
