Florida Truck Accident Injury Lawyer

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The Doan Law Firm Represents Florida Truck Accident Victims and Their Families

As the home of three major international shipping ports and its position as a major source of agricultural products for the rest of the nation, Florida has one of the highest number of commercial trucks per mile of highway in the United States. Given the number of trucks on our highways, it isn’t surprising that big trucks are involved in a significant percentage of Florida motor vehicle accidents.

At The Doan Law Firm, we stand ready to assist Florida truck accident victims and their families in securing a fair settlement of their truck accident injury claims.

Interstate trucking or intrastate trucking?

After a Florida truck accident, one of the first questions to be answered is whether the truck was being used in interstate commerce or was involved in intrastate commerce. In general, if a truck is being used to transport cargo across a state line that truck is usually considered to be engaged in interstate commerce and is subject to the rules and regulations established by the United States Department of Transportation and Department of Commerce. On the other hand, a truck that is operated within Florida and does not cross a state line is considered to be an intrastate truck and its operations are governed by the Florida Department of Transportation (“FDOT”). Distinguishing interstate and intrastate trucking is important when it comes to the amounts of insurance that truck owners are required to carry.

Florida’s Commercial Truck and Commercial Truck Insurance laws

Any truck engaged in interstate commerce is required to have the minimum liability insurance specified by federal law. These minimum requirements are based on the type of cargo or freight being transported and its potential to cause harm to others in case of an accident and varies from $300,000 for non-hazardous material transported by trucks weighing 10,000 pounds or less and up to $5,000,000 for dangerous/hazardous material requiring special handling.

Florida law also requires all commercial trucks operating solely within the state to carry a minimum amount of liability insurance, with the amount of insurance coverage based on factors such as the truck’s weight and the type of cargo being transported. Examples of cargo types and their minimum liability insurance requirements include:

• Household goods and furniture: $300,000
• General (non-hazardous) freight/cargo: $750,000
• Oil and/or petroleum products: $1,000,000
• Hazardous materials: $5,000,000

Always keep in mind that the above numbers represent the minimum amount of insurance required to legally transport a given type of cargo within the State of Florida and are not limitations on the amount of damages that may be awarded by a court following a successful personal injury/wrongful death lawsuit!

A Word About Multi-Victim Accidents and Time Limits

In many truck accidents more than one person is injured. Since most commercial truck insurance coverage is provided on a per incident rather than a per victim basis, it is important that a truck accident lawsuit be filed as soon as possible after an accident. By “early filing,” an accident victim’s lawsuit may be granted precedence (“priority”) if other lawsuits are filed over the same accident. Since liability insurance claims are usually honored on a “first to be awarded, first to be paid” basis, the first claims usually receive the lion’s share of any insurance coverage money that may be available following a truck accident.

Florida law also sets a time limit on how long after an accident occurs that an accident victim can file a lawsuit against those the victim holds responsible for his or her injuries. In law, these time limits are called statutes of limitations and are strictly observed by the Florida courts. As they relate to truck accidents, Florida law requires that:

• Any lawsuit alleging wrongful death of an accident victim must be filed within two (2) years of the date of the victim’s death, regardless of when the victim’s injury occurred.
• Any lawsuit alleging personal injury due to the negligence of another person must be filed within four (4) years, with the statute of limitations beginning on the date the accident.

Regardless of the number of accident victims or the duration of the statutes of limitations, if you want to receive a fair settlement of your Florida truck accident injury claim, you will need the services of an experienced truck accident lawyer. In Florida, one such lawyer can be found at The Doan Law Firm.

Contacting the Florida Truck Accident Lawyer at The Doan Law Firm

There are a number of potentially complicated legal issues that may arise following a Florida truck accident. Many of those issues can affect both an accident victim’s legal right to demand compensation for their injuries and other losses resulting from a truck accident.

If you, or a member of your family, were injured in a Florida truck accident and are unsure of your legal right to be compensated for your injury, we invite you to contact the Florida truck accident lawyer at The Doan Law Firm to arrange a free, no obligation review of the facts in your case and a discussion of the legal avenues that may be available to help you recover full compensation for your injuries and other accident-related losses.

When you contact the Florida truck accident injury lawyer at The Doan Law Firm, there is never a charge for our staff to review the facts of your case or for you to speak with our Florida truck accident lawyer regarding the legal options that may be available to you. If you later decide that a lawsuit is in order and that you would like for us to represent you in court, we are willing to assume full responsibility for all aspects of preparing your Florida truck accident injury case for trial in exchange for a percentage of the final settlement we are prepared to win for you.

At The Doan Law Firm, we don’t plan to just win your Florida truck accident injury case: we always plan to win big and have a track record that speaks for itself. You can reach our Florida truck accident lawyer by contacting our offices located in the following cities or by calling our “24/7/365” truck accident hotline at 1-800-349-0000.

• Jacksonville

  50 N. Laura St.,
  Suite 2500
  Jacksonville, FL 32202
  904-901-0000

• Miami

  801 Brickell Center
  Suite 900
  Miami, FL 24131
  786-671-0000

• Tampa

  4830 W. Kennedy Blvd.,
  Suite 600
  Tampa, FL 24609
  813-609-0000

• Orlando

  111 N. Orange Ave.,
  Suite 800
  Orlando, FL 32801
  407-289-0000

• Tallahassee

  113 South monroe St.,
  1st Floor Tallahassee,
  FL 32301
  850-601-0000