West Palm Beach Truck Accident Lawyers
When an 18-wheeler hits a car, there’s a high risk of catastrophic injuries or death due to the massive size and weight of the truck. Large trucking companies are often liable but refuse to deal fairly with innocent accident victims. Our West Palm Beach truck accident lawyers know how to hold them accountable, and we’re ready to fight for you. Call us today at (561) 766-5020 for a free case review.
If you or your loved one has been injured in a truck accident in West Palm Beach, you need an experienced truck accident attorney on your side. We’ll take on the large trucking companies and help you recover financial compensation for your lost wages, pain and suffering, and medical bills.
We have already helped thousands of truck accident victims win outstanding results. Don’t let the trucking company take you for a ride. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation.
Why Our Experienced Truck Accident Injury Lawyers Are the Team You Want on Your Side
We are a client-centric law firm that has been protecting the rights of truck accident victims since 1979. From the beginning of our firm, founders Eddie Farah and Chuck Farah have been passionate about consistently putting clients first. We have never strayed from this commitment. We treat every client with honesty, dignity, and respect.
Our seasoned West Palm Beach truck crash lawyers never work alone. Our clients get the best results because our talented attorneys combine their skills, resources, and experience rather than competing. This means you will have a skilled legal team advocating for you and will always be able to reach a team member.
Our West Palm Beach personal injury law firm is a small, local office where you will feel like family, but that is only half the story. Our trucking accident attorneys in West Palm Beach have the financial resources of our large Florida law firm available to help them win the big results you would expect from a large, reputable truck accident law firm.
How Can Farah & Farah Help?
Truck accident claims are more complex than car accident claims. They require more extensive investigations, and you must typically fight powerful corporations for compensation. Commercial vehicles are subject to state and federal regulations, and part of any truck accident investigation includes determining whether the trucking company or driver violated any laws.
Trucking companies have large insurance policies and significant financial assets. They use their resources to fight injured accident victims rather than compensate them.
Our caring and skilled semi-truck accident lawyers in West Palm Beach are dedicated to getting you the maximum compensation available and providing the best possible client service. When you choose our lawyers at Farah & Farah, you can count on us to do the following and more:
- Conduct a thorough investigation
- Gather evidence and build a strong case
- Consult accident reconstruction experts
- Identify all the liable parties and available insurance
- File your insurance claims
- Handle all communications with the insurance companies
- Advise you of your legal rights and options
- Negotiate a settlement and refuse to accept less than you deserve
- Take your case to trial if that is what it takes to get you fair compensation
We Help With All Types of Truck Accidents
No matter what type of truck accident caused your injuries, our hard-working West Palm Beach truck accident attorneys can help. We have helped clients injured by truck accidents involving rollovers, tire blowouts, jackknives, rear-endings, underrides, and more.
Common truck accident injuries include broken bones, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, crushing injuries, neck injuries, amputations, and other incapacitating injuries. Our caring and supportive attorneys have seen firsthand how devastating a truck accident can be, and we are prepared to do everything we can to get justice.
We understand how difficult it is to go about your everyday life when you’re coping with severe injuries. That is why we will do everything possible to make the process easy for you. We provide caring moral support and will meet you in the hospital, your home, or another convenient location. Contact us today for a free case evaluation. We are here for you and here for good.
We Have Recovered More Than $2 Billion for Injured Accident Victims
Our talented trucking accident attorneys in West Palm Beach are dedicated to helping those who need it most, and our hard work gets results. Below are just a few examples of our successful truck accident case results:
- $3.4 million verdict for a client who sustained a painful herniated disc after being rear-ended by a moving truck
- $2 million verdict for a client who sustained shoulder, back, and neck injuries after being rear-ended by a tractor-trailer
- $1.5 million settlement for a client struck by a semi-truck
- $1.3 million recovery for a truck driver struck by an 18-wheeler while working on a loading dock
- $1 million federal tort claim recovery for a client who sustained injuries after being hit by a postal truck
- $750,000 settlement for a client injured when a tow truck negligently pulled out in front of her
Our experience makes all the difference. Call us today at (561) 766-5020 and put our experience to work for you.
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Damages You Can Recover After a Truck Accident
Compensation for a truck accident can be significant when your injuries are severe. Available damages in a truck accident include economic, non-economic, and punitive damages.
Economic damages compensate for your monetary losses, such as lost wages, diminished future earning capacity, property damage, and medical expenses. Non-economic damages compensate for your intangible losses that are harder to measure in dollars, such as pain, suffering, emotional distress, and loss of society.
Punitive damages are only available in limited cases when you have clear and convincing evidence of intentional misconduct or gross negligence by the truck driver.
Wrongful Death Damages After a Truck Accident in West Palm Beach
You may be entitled to recover wrongful death damages if your loved one has died from a truck accident. Wrongful death damages include compensation for your loved one’s medical expenses, pain, and suffering. You can also receive compensation for your family’s monetary and emotional losses, including the loss of your loved one’s lifetime earnings, support, companionship, guidance, and more.
Wrongful death damages in Florida are typically paid to the surviving spouse, dependent children, or other next of kin. Our compassionate West Palm Beach truck accident attorneys can help you file your wrongful death lawsuit and fight for the maximum compensation available so your loved one can get a measure of justice.
Common Causes of Truck Accidents
Accidents happen when truck drivers and trucking companies violate the law and rules of the road, and innocent people get hurt.
In 2022, 3,074 commercial motor vehicle accidents occurred in Palm Beach County alone, killing 14 people and injuring 730. In the same year, 9,243 commercial motor vehicle crashes occurred throughout the state, injuring 3,535 people and killing 232.
The most common causes of truck accidents include the following:
- Driver fatigue – Truck drivers work long hours that often exceed federal regulations, which limit driving time to 11 hours per shift.
- Improper loads – An uneven load or a load that exceeds legal weight limits can lead to rollover accidents, tire blowouts, and increased difficulty controlling the truck.
- Inadequate maintenance – When trucking companies fail to enforce federally mandated post-trip inspection requirements or shirk their duty to perform annual inspections, they could leave unsafe vehicles on the road to endanger all drivers.
- Distracted driving – Truck drivers are as prone to distracted driving as any other driver, but this is even more dangerous because even a rear-ending that may have been minor between two vehicles can be catastrophic when a truck is involved.
- Speeding – Trucking companies often pressure drivers to meet unrealistic deadlines, encouraging them to speed. Speeding increases both the likelihood of an accident and the impact.
- Inexperienced drivers – Truck drivers without adequate training and experience are more prone to panicking in emergencies or responding inappropriately, endangering all drivers and themselves.
- Drunk driving – Drunk truck drivers are especially dangerous because driving a truck requires more skill and alertness than other motor vehicles.
- Disqualified drivers – Disqualified drivers are more likely than other drivers to drink and drive or engage in other risky behaviors that endanger those sharing the road with semi-trucks.
Who Can Be Held Liable for a West Palm Beach Truck Accident?
Although Florida is a no-fault state, if you suffer a catastrophic injury in a truck accident, you have a right to file a claim against the liable parties. Most truck drivers don’t own the trucks they drive. They are typically employees of large trucking companies that own the trucks. If a trucking company owns the truck or employs the driver, you may be able to hold both the driver and the company liable.
Identifying the cause of the accident is crucial in determining who is liable for a truck accident case. For example, if an improper load caused the accident, the company that loaded the cargo may be liable. If a mechanic inadequately repairs a truck or fails to detect a safety problem, the company that employs the mechanic may be liable.
Identifying the liable parties is one of our most important jobs as big truck accident injury lawyers because your compensation will come from them or their insurance companies. When the liable party is a large company, the available compensation is higher than if liability only rests with the driver.
Why You Need the Black Box Data After a Big Truck Accident
Most motor vehicles are equipped with a “black box” similar to that found on airplanes, which records important information that investigators can retrieve during an accident reconstruction. In light-duty automobiles, event data recorders are generally found in the airbag control module. It records data such as speed, seatbelt use, and braking behavior just before and during a crash.
In big trucks, the black box is more like software that receives data from electronic control modules located on numerous engine components. This allows investigators to obtain more comprehensive data about the truck’s function and the driver’s behavior during and leading up to the crash.
Big truck black boxes are largely unregulated, unlike event data recording devices in other vehicles. Thus, data retrieval can be complex. We’ve been accessing black box data in big truck accidents since they were first widely used in the 1990s. We remain on the cutting edge of this technology. We can retrieve all the available black box data in nearly any commercial truck accident.
What Information Does the Event Data Recorder Provide?
Heavy Vehicle Event Data Recorders, or HVEDRs, receive information from electronic components throughout the truck. These sensors record data when triggered by specific events, such as sudden braking or changes in voltage. The data can be downloaded and may include information about the following in the moments leading up to the crash:
- Vehicle speed
- Throttle position
- Sudden deceleration
- Sudden stop
- Hard brake events
- Clutch position
- Configuration data
- Driving history
This data can help accident reconstructionists determine the role a truck driver’s behavior, a vehicle malfunction, or other factors played in the crash.
Electronic Logging Devices Provide Detailed Driving Histories
While the black box can provide some insight into the driving history, electronic logging devices provide a detailed record of the driver’s hours on duty. The federal government requires commercial trucks to be equipped with these devices to ensure drivers and trucking companies comply with hours-of-service requirements.
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, semi drivers are limited to 11 hours of driving time per shift, which should not exceed 14 hours. They can only resume driving after a break of at least 10 hours. They must take 30-minute breaks after eight hours of driving.
Our big truck lawyers in West Palm Beach will investigate whether truck driver fatigue contributed to your accident. The electronic logging device helps facilitate this investigation by providing the following data:
- Engine power information
- Vehicle motion data
- Length of time the engine was on
- The number of miles driven
- The identity of the driver
- When the driver was on duty
If our investigation uncovers that the driver exceeded the hours allowed by federal law, we can use this information to strengthen your claim against the driver and the trucking company.
Call Farah & Farah’s West Palm Beach Truck Accident Attorneys Today
If you or your loved one has been injured in a truck accident, don’t try to fight a large trucking company on your own. Trucking companies are large and powerful, but our West Palm Beach truck accident lawyers have the resources and experience to stand up to them and win. And you don’t owe us anything unless we win.
Call us today at (561) 766-5020 to schedule your free consultation.
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