Truck Accident Lawyer in West Palm Beach

A truck accident can leave you injured and unsure of what to do next. If you attempt to seek compensation on your own after the incident, you could hurt your chances from any liable parties. Ask for help from a truck accident lawyer in West Palm Beach, as they will give your legal needs their undivided attention. 

Blakeley Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers has obtained over $250 million in compensation for our clients. We know how tough it is to get compensation as part of a truck accident lawsuit. Let a personal injury lawyer in West Palm Beach from our team help you with your case as you recover from your trucking accident and injuries. 

Our team is ready to review your truck accident case and review your case and explain your legal options. Contact us today. 

Why Hire a Lawyer for Your Truck Accident Case in West Palm Beach, Florida?

Hiring a truck accident attorney in West Palm Beach can improve your chances of getting the compensation you want for your losses. In your trucking collision case, our personal injury law firm will: 

Address Your Legal Concerns and Questions

We will listen to you after your truck crash, respond to your concerns, and provide you with straightforward answers to any questions you have. On top of that, we’ll share our legal FAQs and resources with you. That way, you’ll be well-equipped to make informed decisions throughout your case proceedings. 

Investigate Your Truck Crash

Our team will look at traffic camera footage of your truck collision, interview accident witnesses, read police reports, and take other measures to investigate the incident. This allows us to identify any liable parties. From here, we can help you file a truck accident lawsuit against anyone who caused your collision and injuries.  

Develop a Personalized Legal Strategy for You

Our personal injury attorneys will prepare a detailed post-accident strategy. To do so, we’ll examine the circumstances of your truck crash, create a narrative that accurately reflects the full scope of your experience, and determine what methods to use to help you achieve the optimal results. 

Collect Evidence 

We will gather and preserve evidence after your truck accident. Our team will search far and wide for police reports, witness statements, a truck’s black box data, truck driver logs, accident scene photos, and other proof. If we have an abundance of evidence, it becomes exceedingly difficult for other parties involved in your accident to claim that you are in any way liable. 

Engage in Settlement Negotiations with a Liable Party’s Insurance Company

Insurance companies rarely offer fair settlements right away. Our attorneys know how settlement amounts are determined in truck crash cases and what an insurance company will do to avoid compensating you for your losses. We can negotiate a settlement based on the value of your case and assess any settlement offers with you. 

Bring Your Case to Trial

In many truck collision cases, we help our clients get the funds they need through an insurance settlement. However, if you don’t get an insurance settlement that matches your expectations, we can argue your case in court. At this point, we’ll present an argument to a judge or jury that highlights a liable party’s negligence in your truck accident and why damages are warranted. 

Those who are wondering what to do after a truck accident should meet with the team at Blakeley Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers. We have 40 years of combined experience and will use our legal know-how to help you get money from anyone responsible for your accident and injuries. For more information, schedule a free case consultation. 

Why Choose Us to Help You with Your Truck Accident Case?

If you make a rash decision regarding your legal representation, you could wind up having a West Palm Beach truck accident lawyer on your side who does more harm than good. On the other hand, our team is fully committed to your case. Reasons to partner with our personal injury lawyers for your truck crash case include:

• We give you our personal attention. As you care for your concussion, whiplash, broken bones, and other injuries you’ve suffered in your trucking crash, we’ll build your case for compensatory damages. 
• We know the ins and outs of Florida’s legal system. Per Florida Statutes § 95.11(5)(a), if you’re injured in a truck accident, you generally have two years from the day of the incident to file a lawsuit. We will submit your lawsuit in accordance with Florida’s statute of limitations for personal injury claims and provide comprehensive legal guidance and support as your case moves forward. 
• We are familiar with federal truck industry regulations and how these can affect the outcome of your case. Our truck accident lawyers in West Palm Beach can give you information about hours of service (HOS) regulations and other truck industry rules that apply to your case. We can teach you about these trucking industry mandates and craft an argument designed to prove to a judge or jury that your case is valid and that you should be compensated for your losses. 
• We provide emotional support. Our attorneys empathize with truck crash victims dealing with spinal cord injuries (SCIs) and other catastrophic harm. We will encourage you to prioritize self-care in the aftermath of your truck accident as we work diligently to achieve your desired case outcome.
• We have a track record of success. Our firm has secured substantial settlements and verdicts for our clients, offering hope to the victims of truck accidents and their families.
• We don’t charge you anything unless we win. There’s a contingency fee when you hire our personal injury lawyers, which means you won’t have to pay any legal fees until we get you compensation.
• We’re local. With an office conveniently located in West Palm Beach off of Vista Parkway, we are at the heart of where you need us. Plus, our team has provided legal services and support to many clients injured in truck crashes in West Palm Beach and has the skills and experience necessary to argue your case effectively. 

Consult with us to find out how a lawyer can help you after your truck accident. An initial consultation is an opportunity for us to analyze your case. In addition, we can explain if you’re eligible to file a lawsuit and, if so, request compensatory damages for you. 

What Compensation Is Available in Truck Accident Cases in West Palm Beach?

Your West Palm Beach truck accident attorney wants you to get economic and non-economic damages. They will advise you to track your accident expenses for the duration of your litigation. Depending on your losses, you could receive compensation for various reasons, including:

• Medical bills: You can be compensated for your doctors’ visits, emergency services, rehabilitation, physical therapy, surgery, and ongoing medical care for your accident injuries. If you suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI) or other injuries that will affect you for years, your lawyer can help you recover damages for your current and future medical costs. 
• Life care costs: You could get money for your expenses for long-term, in-home care or nursing support if your accident injuries will affect your ability to care for yourself for the rest of your life. 
• Adaptive equipment and home modifications: You may be eligible for compensation for your wheelchair, prosthetics, or necessary modifications to homes and vehicles if you’re coping with catastrophic injuries from your accident.
• Lost wages: Your attorney can retrieve pay stubs, tax returns, professional evaluations, and other evidence to strengthen your case for loss of income damages. To document the income that you’ve lost due to your accident and injuries, your lawyer can collaborate with your employer to establish a record of your typical earnings.
• Diminished earning capacity: Your catastrophic injuries from your accident will keep you from returning to the job you held before the incident. In this situation, your lawyer can evaluate your pre-accident and post-accident earning potential and ask for damages based on your diminished earning capacity. 
• Pain and suffering: You may qualify for funds to cover your emotional distress, mental anguish, physical discomfort, and other pain and suffering from your accident. Personal impact statements, psychological evaluations, and other evidence may help you illustrate the severity of your pain and suffering and compel a judge or jury to award damages for them. 
• Loss of enjoyment of life: It’s a struggle to enjoy your life in the same way you did before your accident. Because of this, you may qualify for loss of enjoyment of life damages. 
• Loss of consortium: You could receive compensation if your injuries result in a loss of love, companionship, society, affection, sexual relations, and comfort.
• Burial and funeral expenses: Sadly, some families lose loved ones in fatal trucking collisions. A caring and compassionate wrongful death lawyer in West Palm Beach can help you during this emotionally taxing time, as they can request compensation for burial and funeral expenses and other losses relating to your tragic loss. 
• Car repair or replacement costs: Truck accident attorneys in West Palm Beach can help you obtain estimates and valuations for vehicle repairs or fair market value in the case of total loss. 
• Repair or replacement of your personal belongings: You had electronics, work tools, or other personal items in your car that were damaged or destroyed in your accident. Tell your lawyer about these items, and they can account for them as they calculate your losses. 

Outside of these, if you file a truck collision lawsuit in Florida, you could get punitive damages if the court wants to punish a defendant for intentional misconduct or gross negligence. To obtain punitive damages, you will have to provide the court with “clear and convincing evidence” to show that the defendant recklessly disregarded your safety or acted with malice. 

Should You Accept a Truck Accident Settlement Offer in West Palm Beach?

Beware if an insurance company offers a settlement within days of your trucking accident. If you accept the first settlement offer, you could get a fraction of the money you need to recover financially from the incident. 

Have truck collision lawyers in West Palm Beach negotiate an insurance settlement for you. Your attorney is your legal advocate and representative. They will go back and forth with insurance companies in the hopes of obtaining compensation that will serve you well for the foreseeable future. 

You make the final decision on an insurance settlement offer. Of course, if you’re not satisfied with an insurance settlement proposal, your lawyer can continue to negotiate on your behalf. Furthermore, if no settlement comes to fruition, your attorney has no issue with going to trial. 

Who Is Responsible for Your Truck Accident Losses in West Palm Beach?

In terms of how fault is determined in truck accidents, any party who commits a careless or reckless act can cause a trucking crash and be held liable for it. West Palm Beach, FL, truck accident lawyers will learn about your collision, who was involved, and what factors played a role in the incident. They may find that any of these parties is liable:

Trucking Companies

In some cases, trucking companies may be held liable for collisions that involve large commercial vehicles. A trucking company may need to pay for your losses if the crash involved a trucker carrying out work tasks. It may also have to cover your accident expenses if the crash happened because of improper maintenance or due to poor hiring practices. 

Truck Drivers

There are instances when West Palm Beach truck accident attorneys will file lawsuits directly against truck drivers who cause crashes. For example, a trucker works as an independent contractor and owns their vehicle. If this driver is responsible for your trucking accident, your attorney may pursue compensation from them instead of any truck companies.

Other Motorists

Motorists can make mistakes behind the wheel that lead to accidents involving tractor-trailers, 18-wheelers, and other large trucks. If a motorist is to blame for your accident with a truck, your lawyer can help you secure compensation from them via a personal injury lawsuit. 

Cargo Loaders

A truck is overloaded, or the cargo put onto the vehicle is not secured properly. In either of these scenarios and others, a cargo loader could be held responsible for a trucking accident and the losses of those involved in the incident. 

Truck Manufacturers

A truck defect can lead to an accident. If a truck’s brakes stopped working or other vehicle defects contributed to your accident, your lawyer can look for ways to prove that the manufacturer should be held liable. 

Truck Maintenance Companies

If truck maintenance is not performed in alignment with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) guidelines, problems can come up when a trucker is operating a vehicle, resulting in accidents. Your lawyer can examine truck repair logs and other pertinent information to determine if a maintenance company is at fault for your accident.

Government Entities

It is reasonable to expect a road to be free of potholes and other hazards. Yet, if a government agency ignores road hazards, motorists and truck drivers are at risk of accidents. If your accident with a truck is related to a road hazard, your lawyer may help you obtain compensation from any liable government entities. 

Regardless of who’s at fault for your trucking accident, your lawyer will focus their argument on negligence. They can put together an argument that explains to a judge or jury that you’re not to blame for your accident and should be compensated for the harm that you’ve endured due to another party’s actions. 

How to Prove Negligence in Your Trucking Accident Case in West Palm Beach

West Palm Beach trucking accident lawyers can give you insights into negligence relative to personal injury lawsuits. In your attorney’s argument, they want a judge or jury to see that a party was negligent and, because of this, should be responsible for your losses. To prove negligence, your lawyer will have to do the following:

Establish a Duty of Care

Your lawyer will have to demonstrate that one or more other parties owed you a duty of care before your accident. All drivers owe one another this duty, which requires them to follow the rules of the road so that they can avoid car accidents. Truckers, trucking companies, and others are also legally obligated to protect motorists from accidents with large trucks. 

Show a Breach of Duty Caused Your Accident

It’s not enough to say that a party had a legal obligation to avoid any acts that could put you in danger. Your lawyer will have to prove that this party did something to cause your accident. For example, they may use traffic camera footage of your accident to show that a trucker was driving above the speed limit, which would represent a violation of their duty of care. 

Prove That You Suffered Losses in Your Accident 

Your West Palm Beach trucking crash attorney can utilize your medical bills, pay stubs, and other evidence to explain how your accident and injuries have compromised your finances. If you have an extensive evidence collection, a judge or jury may be inclined to award damages. 

Fault matters in trucking crashes because of Florida’s laws on comparative negligence. Under the legal codes in our state, you may still receive some compensation if you are partially at fault for your trucking accident.

What You Need to Know About Comparative Negligence in a Truck Accident Lawsuit in West Palm Beach

Florida has a modified comparative negligence system that a judge or jury will consider when they decide your case. With this system, you can share the blame for your truck accident with another party, and your percentage of fault for the incident can determine if you’ll be able to get damages. 

Due to modified comparative negligence, you can’t receive damages if you’re 51% or more to blame for your trucking collision. Alternatively, if you’re 1-50% at fault, you can get damages, but they can be reduced by your degree of fault. 

Your West Palm Beach, FL truck accident attorney will detail modified comparative negligence. They will perform an in-depth investigation of your trucking accident in the hopes of getting evidence to use that proves you’re not liable for the incident. 

What a Truck Accident Investigation Entails

Trucking accident lawyers in West Palm Beach will investigate your collision as you proceed with your lawsuit. Below are things that your attorney will do during their investigation to strengthen your case for compensatory damages:

• Collect witness statements, truck telematics data, driver logs, and medical records to identify any liable parties and learn about how badly you were injured 
• Obtain physical evidence from the scene of your accident, including photos of skid marks and debris patterns
• Request a truck’s electronic logging device (ELD) data and information about the vehicle’s speed, braking patterns, and engine performance at the time of your accident
• Examine trucker logs and vehicle maintenance records to get insights into whether HOS rules were violated and regular truck safety inspections were completed

The time it takes to finish this investigation can impact how long you will need to settle your semi-truck accident case. Your lawyer may allocate substantial time to their investigation, as doing so can help them prove liability for your trucking collision. Moreover, they may account for the role of technology in your truck accident as their investigation progresses.  

How Can Technology Prevent Commercial Truck Accidents?

Collision avoidance and mitigation, driver monitoring, electronic stability control, and speed management systems help keep truckers safe. Commercial trucks can be equipped with these systems, which can minimize the risk of speeding, trucker fatigue, and other safety issues that can otherwise lead to accidents. 

Along with these systems, trucks may have ELDs, dash cams, and other technologies that can be used to determine liability for crashes. Thus, your West Palm Beach trucking collision lawyer may request data from various state-of-the-art truck systems as they conduct their investigation. 

Unfortunately, trucking companies or other parties liable for your truck crash may take measures to try to disrupt your lawyer as they investigate your case. Your lawyer will handle your personal injury case with care. As part of your lawyer’s efforts, they will explore every legal avenue to prove liability and get you the compensation you deserve for your accident losses. 

When to File a Wrongful Death Truck Accident Lawsuit in South Florida

You feel overwhelmed after you lose a family member in a fatal truck accident. Filing a lawsuit against any parties responsible for the incident may not be a consideration. Yet, it may be beneficial to talk with a wrongful death attorney in West Palm Beach, as they can help you weigh the pros and cons of submitting a lawsuit. 

Filing a wrongful death lawsuit will not bring back a loved one, but it can bring your family a sense of closure and the funds you need to cover the losses you incur due to your loved one’s death. Your lawyer can give you insights into what your case is worth and if you’re eligible to sue for damages. If you file a lawsuit, your lawyer will guide you through the legal process.

In your wrongful death lawsuit, your West Palm Beach truck collision attorney will keep you updated if a liable party offers a settlement. They will share information about how wrongful death settlements are paid and advise you on whether to accept one. If you don’t get a settlement that provides adequate compensation, your lawyer can take your case to trial.  

Common Types of Truck Accidents

Not all trucking collisions are created equal, but each one can have a substantial impact on those involved. West Palm Beach, FL, truck accident attorneys can give you information about the common truck accident types, which include:

Jackknife Accidents

A jackknife accident occurs when a large truck folds at the articulation point between the trailer and the cab, resembling a folding pocket knife. The trailer can sweep across multiple lanes, causing multi-vehicle collisions. Truck crash lawyers in West Palm Beach can help those injured in jackknife accidents that occur due to driver error, mechanical failure, or improper braking.

Rollover Accidents

A truck tips over onto its side or roof. This represents a rollover accident. Rollovers are among the most common types of tractor-trailer accidents. Get legal help right away if a truck rolls over and you are injured as a result. Your attorney can examine road conditions, a truck driver’s actions, vehicle maintenance records, and other factors that may have led to the incident.

Brake Failure Accidents

If a truck’s brakes are faulty or poorly maintained, the driver may not be able to stop their vehicle in time to prevent an accident. Ask for help from a personal injury lawyer with relevant case experience if you’re injured in a rear-end truck collision. Your attorney can look at maintenance logs and inspection records to determine if a truck’s brakes were maintained correctly. 

Underride Accidents

An underride accident can occur when a small passenger vehicle gets pushed under a large truck. If you want legal help with your underride collision case, work with truck crash attorneys in West Palm Beach who have received dozens of positive client testimonials. Your lawyer wants you to treat your accident injuries as they take care of your legal matters.

Blind Spot Accidents

Ultimately, blind spots cause many truck accidents in Florida. If a trucker doesn’t check their truck’s blind spots before backing up, changing lanes, or moving through traffic, they can slam their vehicle into a car without ever seeing it.

Accident reconstruction may be necessary to figure out the cause of your trucking collision. With this, trucking accident attorneys in West Palm Beach may rely on accident reconstruction experts to analyze physical evidence, a truck’s black box data, and at-the-scene conditions to determine how your collision occurred. 

Common Types of Injuries Reported in Truck Accidents

Your truck collision lawyer in West Palm Beach wants you to treat your accident injuries for as long as your doctor advises. They can also give you insights into the myriad injuries reported by trucking accident victims, such as:

• Fractures and lacerations: Simple and complex fractures, as well as deep lacerations, are common in truck accidents. These injuries can require surgeries, physical therapy, and extended time away from work.
• Traumatic brain injuries: A TBI can have life-altering consequences. Your truck collision attorney in West Palm Beach may utilize neurologists and other medical specialists to assess the full impact of a TBI on your life and make sure that the cost of cognitive rehabilitation, therapy, and potential loss of life quality are factored into your compensation request.
• Neck and back injuries: Whiplash, herniated or bulging discs, and other neck and back injuries from your trucking crash can cause stiffness, numbness, and radiating pain. 
• Burns: A fast-spreading fire from your truck crash can result in burns that require costly and time-intensive treatments. 

If you suffer these or other injuries in a truck wreck and someone else is liable, hold the at-fault party accountable. Personal injury attorneys can help you take legal action against the liable party. They can position you to get damages for your medical costs and other injury-related losses.  

Speak with Our West Palm Beach, Florida Truck Accident Lawyers

Violations of traffic laws, truck driver fatigue, and other issues can result in trucking collisions. If someone causes a truck accident for these reasons or others, and you are injured due to their actions, exercise your right to ask for compensatory damages from the liable party. 

At Blakeley Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers, we fight for maximum compensation for trucking accident victims and their families. Allow a personal injury attorney from our team to assist you with your trucking crash case. To get started, request a free case consultation.