Truck Accident Attorney in West Tampa

Before a Morgan and Morgan personal injury attorney can prove the presence of the four elements of negligence, your legal counsel must determine the cause of the truck accident that caused you harm. Many of the most common causes of truck accidents find their way into the list of the most common causes of motor vehicle accidents.

Fatigue

Despite state and federal laws that regulate how long a truck driver can operate a rig each day, far too many truck drivers refuse to comply with the safety guidelines. The result is the development of fatigue that at best forces a truck driver to lose focus and at worst, causes a driver to fall asleep behind the wheel of a dangerous big rig. Federal law requires truck drivers to maintain a log that describes the driving activity for each day put in on a commercial route.
Your Morgan and Morgan personal injury attorney determines whether the data inputted into the log truthfully describes a driver’s daily activities.

Reckless Driving

The main reason why truck drivers operate big rigs while fatigued is to meet tight driving schedules. Reckless driving, such as speeding and passing another vehicle with an extremely tight window, represents another operational tactic truck drivers use to shave a few minutes off a commercial trucking run. Florida mostly has open roads and highways where speeding is not much of a safety issue. However, when speeding happens in congested urban areas like West Tampa, Florida, the dangerous act can lead to a truck accident that produces serious injuries.

Distraction

Truck drivers conduct the same types of distraction infractions that are committed by the operators of passenger motor vehicles. They send text messages and talk on cell phones while operating a semi-truck. Nonetheless, distracted driving for truck drivers goes well beyond the abuse of modern communications technology. Truck drivers are responsible for submitting a considerable amount of paperwork each day, such as incident reports and operational updates. Many truck drivers complete the reports while waiting in traffic or operating a truck at a slower than normal speed.

The result of this type of distracted driving can be a truck accident that causes one or more injuries.

One of the experienced truck accident lawyers in West Tampa, FL from Morgan and Morgan provides different types of legal support that can help you recover the financial losses associated with a truck accident.

Conduct a Thorough Investigation

One of the most significant competitive edges offered by Morgan and Morgan is our team of investigators that accompany attorneys to the scenes of truck accidents. With more than 150 investigators operating in the United States, we have the capability to deploy an experienced investigator to West Tampa no longer than 24 hours after a personal injury incident. Although law enforcement agencies operating in West Florida file official police reports, our team of investigators conducts a second investigation to uncover additional persuasive physical evidence that includes tire tracks and the footage shot from traffic cameras.

Intermediary Between You and Your Insurance Company

You purchase an auto insurance policy as a financial safety net to protect you against Murphy’s Law. What can go wrong, will go wrong is the appropriate way to describe a collision with a semi-tractor trailer. When you file a claim, you expect your insurance company to treat you fairly by examining the facts of the case. However, many insurance companies either deny valid claims or submit lowball offers that barely cover property damage.

The personal injury lawyer you work with from Morgan and Morgan acts as a buffer between you and your insurance company to prevent your insurer from taking advantage of you.

Negotiate a Settlement

Most personal injury lawsuits do not advance to the trial phase of the litigation process. Instead, both parties attempt to negotiate a settlement that avoids a costly and time-consuming trial. The personal injury attorney representing you from Morgan and Morgan submits a reasonable offer that the other party’s lawyer can either accept, reject, or send back with a counteroffer. Several rounds of counteroffers can follow until both parties reach a favorable settlement or decide to take the case to the trial phase of the litigation process.

File a Personal Injury Lawsuit

Although negotiating a settlement remains the priority when getting you the compensation that you deserve, your personal injury attorney from Morgan and Morgan will not hesitate to take your case to trial if negotiations fail to produce a favorable result. Working with one of the truck accident lawyers in West Tampa, Florida from Morgan and Morgan prepares you to answer questions under oath. Your lawyer also argues your case in front of a judge who determines the fate of your truck accident lawsuit.

If you plan to take legal action against a negligent truck driver or trucking company that causes you harm, you have a limited amount of time to file a personal injury lawsuit that seeks monetary damages. Every state has established a statute of limitations for filing a civil lawsuit, with most states giving plaintiffs between two and four years to take legal action. Florida has set the deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit at four years, with the clock starting to tick on the statute of limitations from the day when you sustained injuries as a result of a truck accident.

Four years is more than enough time to file a personal injury lawsuit, but you should do what it takes to file a convincing civil lawsuit as quickly as possible after a truck accident. Medical bills can soar into tens of thousands of dollars, which you must pay out-of-pocket until you receive compensation from your insurance company and/or the defendant participating in a civil lawsuit. Acting with a sense of urgency can help you recover financial losses much sooner than if you wait nearly four years to file a personal injury lawsuit in Florida. Your lawyer also wants you to act with a sense of urgency to obtain the most accurate statements from witnesses. Witness statements tend to be more accurate the closer they are given to the day of the truck accident.

If you fail to meet the four-year statute of limitations for filing a personal injury lawsuit set by Florida law, you can expect the court clerk processing your case to remove it from the judicial docket.

When you hire one of the truck accident lawyers in West Tampa, FL from Morgan and Morgan, your primary goal should be to hire an experienced litigator who has compiled a proven record of success in getting clients the compensation that they deserve. For personal injury lawsuits such as a truck accident, you have the right to request three types of compensation.

Economic damages cover the costs associated with medical bills, property damage, and lost wages. Expensive medical bills include diagnostic tests, treatment programs, and physical therapy sessions. Economic damages for medical bills also cover prescription medications and the use of an assistive device like a motorized wheelchair. Property damage can include vehicle repairs and replacing damaged electronic devices.

Non-economic damages refer to compensation that is not calculated from the value of tangible costs. Surviving a truck accident can leave behind a lifetime of mental and emotional scars that substantially reduce earning power. Fear of driving represents one of the most common types of pain and suffering that falls within the compensation category of non-economic damages.

Punitive damages punish the defendant for committing one or more acts of negligence while operating a semi-truck. This type of monetary damage is supposed to deter the plaintiff from committing future acts of negligence while operating a big rig.

Schedule a free case evaluation with one of the truck accident lawyers in West Tampa, Florida from Morgan and Morgan.