The dynamic Southwest Florida region comprises several major metropolitan areas and is crisscrossed by multiple interstates and major freeways.
That obviously translates to constant and highly varied traffic flows.
And it also means this: truck accidents.
Big rigs of every description are literally on the go 24/7 on regional roadways. Drivers in passenger vehicles (e.g., cars, SUVs and pickup trucks) as well as motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians must always be aware of and contend with huge trucks vying for lane space.
It’s not complicated: why big trucks pose road dangers
Even without accidents, truck movements can be generally concerning for drivers. Commercial trucks flatly dwarf surrounding passenger vehicles. A rig like a tractor-trailer or semi-truck can easily be 10 times larger or more than a car. Moreover, it can weigh scores of thousands of pounds.
That often spurs big problems. And those are sometimes made even larger by a truck’s comparatively slow braking time and the lengthy distance it requires to stop or even meaningfully slow down.
Other issues too can be concerning and often factor heavily into truck-linked accidents. A truck might be improperly loaded, leading to instability. Truck drivers have outsized blind spots to deal with. Inclement weather can be a dangerous catalyst. So too can be derelict maintenance and servicing.
Truck crash data relevant to Florida drivers
Florida’s large population and busy roadways render it unsurprising that many serious truck crashes occur annually in the state. A Florida government report germane to a recent year provides this sobering truck accident/injury data:
- More than 32,000 crashes involving medium and large rigs (extrapolated, that amounts to more than 90 such crashes on an “average” day – every day of the year)
- Many hundreds of resulting injuries, including scores of catastrophic outcomes
- More than two dozen fatalities
Assessing accountability following a large truck crash
Assembling the facts and getting to truth is routinely not an easy task in the wake of a truck accident, and negligent parties are often far from obliging in revealing the truth. A trucker might be responsible, but his or her trucking company might share culpability as well. So too could a manufacturer or parts provider or other third party.
Truck crash injuries are obviously devastating in many instances. A proven pro-victim personal injury legal team can help an injured party – and sometimes surviving family loved ones – secure full crash accountability and pursue a meaningful remedy marked by maximum compensation.