If you were injured in an accident involving a commercial truck in Florida, there is something you need to understand right away:
This is not just a bigger car accident.
Truck accident cases can be significantly more complicated than crashes involving two passenger vehicles. There may be multiple insurance companies, multiple layers of coverage, multiple lawyers, and a trucking company that starts protecting itself almost immediately.
Meanwhile, you may be in the hospital, dealing with serious injuries, worried about your family, and trying to figure out what just happened.
That difference matters.
By the time you start thinking about the legal side of the case, the trucking company may already have people investigating the accident on its behalf.
That is why I tell people injured in Florida truck accidents not to wait too long before getting an attorney involved.
Evidence does not last forever.
A Commercial Truck Accident Has More Moving Parts
In a typical car accident, we may be dealing with two drivers and one or two insurance companies.
Commercial trucking cases can look very different.
There may be insurance covering the truck itself. There may be additional policies involving the trucking company. Depending on the circumstances, other businesses and insurers may also become involved.
With more insurance can come more lawyers and more people whose job is to defend the claim.
They are going to investigate fault.
They are going to investigate your injuries.
They are going to look for weaknesses in your case.
And if there is an argument that you contributed to the accident, you can expect them to make it.
That is why one of the first questions I need to answer is simple:
Who caused this crash?
Then I need evidence to prove it.
The Scene of the Accident Can Change Quickly
Let’s say there are skid marks on the roadway after the crash.
Those marks may tell us something important about what the truck driver did immediately before impact. Did the driver brake? When did the braking begin? How does that physical evidence compare with what the driver says happened?
The problem is that skid marks do not stay on the road forever.
Florida weather happens.
It rains.
Thousands of vehicles drive over that roadway.
Road crews clean and maintain the area.
Evidence that may be obvious shortly after a collision can look very different days or weeks later.
If an accident reconstruction expert needs to inspect that roadway, I would rather have that expert there while the evidence still exists than trying to recreate everything months later.
That is what I mean when I tell people we have to act fast.
The Truck Itself May Contain Critical Evidence
Another important source of evidence may be the commercial truck.
Depending on the vehicle and circumstances, electronic information may help us understand what was happening before the collision.
People commonly refer to this as the truck’s “black box.”
That information may help answer questions involving speed, braking, vehicle operation, and other activity leading up to the crash.
But we cannot simply assume that evidence will always be sitting there waiting for us.
The truck may be repaired.
It may go back into service.
Equipment may be altered.
Electronic information may not remain available indefinitely.
That is why preservation becomes such an important part of a commercial truck accident investigation.
I want to identify the evidence we may need and take steps to protect it as early as possible.
Video Could Tell the Story Better Than Anyone
Video has changed accident cases.
A crash that once would have come down to two people giving completely different versions of what happened may now have been captured by a camera somewhere nearby.
There could be video from:
- Businesses near the roadway
- Traffic cameras
- Gas stations
- Homes with exterior cameras
- Dash cameras
- Other commercial vehicles
- Parking facilities
- Nearby buildings
Sometimes one video can change the entire case.
But there is a problem.
Video footage is often overwritten.
A business may keep surveillance footage for only a limited amount of time before its system automatically deletes the older recording.
If we learn about that camera three months after the accident, it may be too late.
If I get involved early, we have a better chance of identifying potential video and taking steps to preserve it.
Witnesses Have a Way of Disappearing
The same thing happens with witnesses.
Someone may have seen the truck change lanes.
A driver behind you may have seen what happened immediately before impact.
A witness may have stopped briefly, talked to somebody, and then left.
Today, that person remembers the accident clearly.
Six months from now?
Maybe not.
A year from now?
Good luck finding them if nobody collected their information.
Witness statements can be extremely important when fault is disputed. We want names, phone numbers, contact information, and an understanding of what those witnesses actually saw while the memory is still fresh.
Again, speed matters.
The Trucking Company Is Not Waiting Around
This is something injured people sometimes overlook.
The trucking company knows a serious crash happened.
Its insurance carriers know.
Its lawyers may know.
Those people are not sitting around hoping everything works itself out.
They are protecting their side.
And they should. That is their job.
But you need somebody protecting yours.
If they have investigators, lawyers, insurance representatives, and experts examining the accident, I do not want my client sitting on the sidelines for six months before we begin our own investigation.
I want us gathering our evidence.
I want us understanding liability.
I want us knowing what happened and why.
That creates a much more level playing field.
Truck Accident Injuries Can Be Catastrophic
There is another reason these cases deserve immediate attention.
The injuries can be severe.
A fully loaded commercial truck is obviously very different from an ordinary passenger vehicle. When that truck collides with a car, motorcycle, bicycle, or pedestrian, the consequences can be devastating.
Victims may face surgeries, hospitalization, rehabilitation, lost income, permanent physical limitations, and future medical care.
In some cases, a person’s life will never return to what it was before the crash.
When the injuries are that serious, we have to understand the full value of the claim.
That does not mean throwing out some big number during the first conversation.
If you have watched my other videos, you know I do not believe in doing that.
We need evidence.
We need medical records.
We need to understand the injuries.
We need to investigate liability.
We need to identify the available insurance.
Then we can start making informed decisions about what the case may be worth.
Your Health Comes First
Immediately after a serious truck crash, I am not telling you to jump out of a hospital bed and start photographing skid marks.
Get medical care.
Take care of yourself.
Let the doctors do what they need to do.
But once you are medically stable and able to deal with the legal side of things, call me.
That is when I can begin doing the work you should not have to worry about while you are recovering.
I can start looking for witnesses.
I can investigate potential video.
I can determine whether experts need to inspect the roadway or vehicles.
I can look into the available insurance coverage.
I can communicate with the insurance companies and lawyers who may already be involved.
Your job is to focus on getting better.
My job is to start building the case.
Why Waiting Can Make a Truck Accident Case Harder
I have handled enough serious accident cases to know that hard work matters.
There is no shortcut.
But there is also a point where hard work cannot recreate evidence that no longer exists.
I cannot photograph a skid mark that disappeared six months ago.
I cannot recover surveillance video that was overwritten before anybody asked for it.
I cannot guarantee that a witness we never identified will suddenly appear when we need them.
That is why the beginning of a commercial truck accident case is so important.
We want to preserve as much as possible while the evidence is still there.
The stronger the evidence, the better position I have to prove who caused the accident and what that accident took from you.
I Want the Evidence Before the Insurance Company Starts Making Excuses
Eventually, the insurance companies are going to evaluate the case.
And when they do, I want to have answers.
If they try to blame my client, I want the physical evidence.
If they dispute how the crash happened, I want the video, witness testimony, electronic information, or expert analysis that tells the real story.
If they question the injuries, I want the medical documentation.
I do not want to be guessing.
The goal is to build the case so thoroughly that we are prepared whether the case resolves through negotiation or has to move into litigation.
That takes work.
And in a commercial trucking case, that work should start early.
Talk to Jeremiah Jaspon After a Florida Truck Accident
If you were seriously injured in a crash involving a commercial truck, get the medical care you need first.
Then call me.
Do not assume the trucking company will preserve everything we may need later. Do not assume the insurance companies will tell us about every piece of useful evidence. And do not assume a serious case will simply take care of itself.
It will not.
The trucking company may already be building its defense. You should be building your case. Contact me, Jeremiah Jaspon, at The Jaspon Firm today and let us start preserving the evidence before it disappears.