Daytona Beach Truck Accident Lawyers
Daytona Beach Truck Accidents
Travelling in the Daytona Beach area (Volusia County) can be extremely difficult due to traffic congestion at any given time of the day, particularly with heavy trucks, 18-wheelers and tourists. Two major interstates intersect just outside the Daytona Beach city limits – I-95 and I-4. This can be the perfect storm for catastrophic truck accidents in Daytona Beach, that usually result in deaths and/or life-threatening injuries.
Daytona Beach caters to tourists as a major vacation destination and as a stopover for those headed to Orlando and south. For truckers, Daytona Beach is a main artery that can take them south to Miami or crossover to the middle of the state and the west coast. Thousands of trucks and passenger cars travel these two interstates on a daily basis and every 16 minutes, someone dies or is severely injured from a truck-related accident.
The Daytona Beach personal injury attorneys of Farah & Farah can help you or a loved one if you are injured or a family member is killed in an accident with a big rig. Consider the statistics:
- In 2009, according to Florida traffic crash statistics, heavy trucks and tractor-trailers accounted for over 6,000 crashes, of which 145 crashes resulted in death and over 3,200 resulted in injuries.
- In Volusia County, 70 truck crashes were reported in calendar year 2009, which resulted in either death or serious injuries.
- Although that number has decreased from 2005 through 2008, the number of crashes reported for fiscal year 2010 jumped to 83.
Trucking accidents are usually the most severe type of vehicular crash simply because of physics. A tractor-trailer or heavy truck generally outweighs a passenger car, including SUVs, by at least 20,000 pounds and some large trucks, fully loaded can weigh as much as 80,000 pounds. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), in 2009, 84.4% of the large trucks involved in fatal crashes weighed over 26,000 pounds, while 72.3% were involved in non-fatal crashes. Driving at higher rates of speed (70+ mph) is also a major contributing factor to the severity of these types of crashes. This combination of speed and size highly favors the truck versus those riding in a passenger car.
Ways to Avoid Truck Collisions
- Avoid "cutting" off or improperly passing the big rig as 20,000 pounds of steel, travelling at a high rate of speed, cannot stop on a dime nor is it able to react quickly. Allow for plenty of room when passing a big truck and when entering its lane. Remember to use your turning indicator so the truck driver is aware of your intentions.
- Avoid "tailgating" or "drafting" behind the truck. The warning label seen on the back of these large trucks, "if you can't see my mirrors, then I can't see you" should be heeded. The truck is 16 to 18 feet longer than your passenger car so the blind spots are much more prominent for the truck driver.
If you or a loved one have been injured in large truck accident in Florida or South Georgia, the experienced Daytona Beach truck accident attorneys at Farah & Farah understand how to check the log books of the truck driver along with the black box data recorder on the big rig to determine who is to blame for the accident. The at-fault party can be held responsible for the medical expenses and lost wages of injured victims, but evidence must be gathered immediately after a truck accident to give us the greatest advantage in making your case. Call us in Florida and South Georgia at 1-800-533-3555 so that your legal rights can be preserved if you are involved in an accident with a big rig.