Wide Turns

The legal professionals at Frankl Kominsky provide capable and determined representation to individuals in West Palm Beach and surrounding areas. Our truck accident lawyers offer seasoned guidance and advocacy in complex personal injury matters. If you were hurt in a crash, we can help you take legal action against the driver, his or her employer, and any other party that may be responsible for harming you.

Trucks are heavy, long vehicles that can be hard to maneuver. Many tractor-trailers weigh up to 80,000 pounds, and some semi-trailers are 48 feet in length. They also have large blind spots, and a motorist in another vehicle may not be visible to the truck driver unless he or she turns to check a blind spot.

A commercial driver must have the proper training and sufficient familiarity with the big rig to execute a wide turn. If he or she swings the vehicle too widely, it can strike other vehicles or pedestrians. A truck driver can easily put others in danger if he or she cannot complete a wide turn safely.

Accidents caused by turning tractor-trailers are usually the result of careless actions by one or more parties. If you can prove that a defendant in your case was negligent, you can potentially recover damages for injuries that you sustained in the crash.

Negligence requires that you show duty of care, breach, and causation. If the defendant is the truck driver, you will need to show that he or she had a legal obligation to use care but violated it. For example, the driver may have failed to execute a wide turn safely because he or she lacked the proper training to gauge the space needed to properly turn. You must then show that the commercial driver’s breach of the duty caused your injuries and that you incurred damages as a result.

You can hold the driver’s employer directly liable if its careless actions contributed to the accident. For example, a trucking company may be liable for negligent hiring if it did not conduct an adequate background check on the driver to ensure that he or she was properly trained and licensed to operate the vehicle. The employer may also be held responsible if it failed to adequately supervise its employee for fatigue or alcohol use. Moreover, a company may be vicariously liable for the truck driver’s negligence if the accident happened within the scope of his or her employment.

Proving liability in a truck accident case requires evidence to support your claim. However, the tractor-trailer, employee records, and other critical files may be changed or disappear altogether. If a party intentionally destroys or loses critical material in an ongoing lawsuit, it is called spoliation of evidence. A court can sanction the spoliator, but seeking the help of an experienced injury lawyer shortly after the accident may help minimize the risk of disappearing evidence.

Florida will consider the negligence of every party involved in a lawsuit. A court may decide that you were partially at fault, depending on the circumstances of the accident. If you contributed to your injuries, you can still try to recover damages if you were not fully at fault for them. You may be able to get compensation in proportion to the defendant’s degree of responsibility.

Damages in a truck accident case can include compensation for medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, property damage, and more. Florida limits the time you have to file a personal injury claim to two years, which begins to run on the day the accident occurred.

The experienced attorneys at Frankl Kominsky represent victims in complex 18-wheeler crash cases throughout Palm Beach County cities, such as Boca Raton, Lake Worth, and Palm Beach Gardens. We can conduct an exhaustive investigation into a tractor-trailer collision to determine which parties may be liable for harming you. We will tenaciously pursue your claim for compensation. Call us at (855) 800-8000 or complete our online form today for a free consultation. We speak Spanish and Creole.