Florida Semi Tractor Trailer Accident Lawyer
Former State Farm Insurance Adjuster & Former Insurance Defense Attorney 

Facts About Truck Accidents

A truck accident is very different from a car accident or from any other type of motor vehicle accident, for that matter. The difference is that truck drivers have limited visibility. A commercial truck’s driver position is often so elevated that some areas beside and behind him exist where there is limited or even zero visibility.

Another factor that makes a truck accident different is the extent of damages and injuries incurred by such incident. Since the trucks’ size is relatively bigger, they tend to cause greater damage in accidents than cars or other motor vehicles do.

Another thing is that trucks take longer distances to stop as compared to other passenger vehicles.

How does a truck accident happen?

Here are some of the many different reasons why large truck accidents happen:
• Drivers aggressively speeding ahead
• Drivers speeding up just to go with unrealistic schedules
• Failure to inspect tires, brakes and lights
• Following closely in some vehicles
• Driver fatigue and inattentiveness because of long work-shifts
• Using the Cell phone while driving
• Failure to install blind spot mirrors
• Jackknifing through heavy traffic
• Speeding
• Ignoring reduced truck speed limit

It is clear in most of these cases that negligence is a main cause for the occurrence of a truck accident.

Sometimes however, it is also due to the fault of company policies and neglect. Some trucks are not installed with rear and side bumpers, along with high front bumpers. These punch into automobile passenger compartments.

Furthermore, speed policies may also be a little inadequate. Most of the speed limits are designed for smaller automobiles. If applied to something as huge as an 18-wheeler truck, traveling 70 miles per hour acquire twice as much energy.

Then, under the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, automobiles are designed to encounter vehicle their size, but definitely not equipped enough to 80,000-pound trucks.

Many responsible agencies are already making amends to prevent any incident of truck accident on the road because of its big implications. The American Trucking Association and Road Safe America proposed a 68mph maximum speed limit for at least 26,000 pound-trucks or 13 tons gross vehicular weighted trucks.

Truck building companies have also designed speed governors, which are actually computer-enforced systems. These are attached to a truck’s engine to have their maximum speed limited.

Since truck drivers face pressures in meeting delivery dates, it is actually a requirement to go as fast as they can. Thus, many are making ways to prevent excessive speed since it is the leading factor in fatal crashes during a truck accident.

We have more information regarding truck accidents and the legal implications of being involved or injured by such unfortunate incidents.

Our Truck Accident Attorneys are expert in handling truck accident cases.

Police seeking tractor-trailer in fatal hit-and-run
3:06 PM EDT, October 23, 2007

MOUNT MORRIS, N.Y. (AP) _ Police on Tuesday were hunting a truck driver suspected in a hit-and-run accident on an interstate highway that killed a college student from Long Island.

The victim, Kaitlin Anne Charity, 20, of Islip, was pulled over for speeding early Saturday near the end of her drive back to school at the State University of New York in Geneseo.

She got out of her car when the trooper drove off and walked to the side of Interstate 390, then was hit as she returned to her car, police said.

The accident happened about an hour before dawn some 35 miles south of Rochester and police said it was possible the driver, who did not stop, didn't realize a pedestrian had been struck.

Livingston County Sheriff John York said police have determined that Charity was struck by a white Peterbuilt tractor trailer with stainless steel rear doors. The truck may have been leaking a large amount of fluid, possibly diesel fuel, he said.

East Islip woman killed in upstate hit-and-run
October 22, 2007

A 20-year-old East Islip woman, who was a student at SUNY Geneseo, was struck and killed as she walked on the side of an upstate highway, authorities said.

Kaitlin Anne Charity had stopped on the side of the road Saturday morning and was out of her car when she was hit by an unknown motorist, according to published reports. A state trooper had ticketed Charity nearby for speeding moments earlier.

"There is no indication that she was drinking, but we knew she was heading back to school," State Police Maj. Mark Koss told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

He said Charity was returning from a 400-mile trip to Delaware State University in Dover. Charity's hit-and-run driver may not have realized a pedestrian had been struck, Koss said.

The accident happened on the northbound side of Interstate 390 in the town of Groveland, N.Y., around 6:40 a.m., according to a news release from the Livingston County sheriff's office. Groveland is about 35 miles south of Rochester.

Investigators are seeking information about three vehicles they believe were on the road the morning Charity was killed, and that may have struck her - including a minivan, a passenger car and a tractor trailer with a double sleeper, the release said.

SUNY Geneseo officials hope to organize a memorial service for Charity, who was a junior, said college spokesman Tony Hoppa.

The college has made grief counselors available to students.

Charity graduated in 2005 from St. John the Baptist High School in West Islip, according to school records. She was majoring in English and secondary education, spent two years on her dorm's student council, and tutored sixth-graders.

Members of Charity's family could not be reached for comment yesterday. Funeral arrangements had not been completed.

Alcohol-Related Traffic Deaths Highest In 10 Years
7/1/2007 12:00:00 AM

“MADD is greatly disappointed that drunk driving fatalities are at a 10-year high. Each and every death and injury from this crime is preventable. MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving supports enforcement as a deterrent to drunk drivers and makes it impossible for a vehicle to be driven by someone who is drunk. Support us today, support safer roads tomorrow,” said Glynn Birch, national president.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced record-breaking alcohol-related traffic fatality numbers— the highest in 10 years at nearly 18,000 and nearly 14,000 killed in drunk driving crashes every year. According to NHTSA’s final Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data, alcohol-related traffic fatalities dropped slightly from the preliminary estimates in May of 17,941 for 2006 to a final figure of 17,602. Drunk driving fatalities, those involving a driver with a .08 BAC or higher, were 13,470 in 2006. Overall traffic fatalities are down two percent. In 2005, alcohol-related traffic fatalities were at 17,525 and 13,613 for drunk driving fatalities.

The Law Offices of Paul Lee represent clients located throughout Central Florida, including the communities of Tavares, Ocala, Lake Mary, Sanford, Orlando, Bushnell, Leesburg, Lake County, Marion County, Sumter County, Seminole County, and all of the surrounding areas.

Law Offices of Paul Lee
15930 U.S. Hwy 441, Ste C
Eustis, FL 32726.
(352) 589-6000
Toll Free Phone: (800) 360-1007
Fax: (352) 589-5140
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