Live Oak, Florida, was the location this week of a fatal semi-truck collision that sent a pickup truck down a steep embankment, killing the driver, a man from Tampa, Florida. Highway Patrol and Suwannee County officials reported that the 56-year-old driver was pronounced dead at the scene, beside an Interstate 90 overpass on Interstate 10. The accident happened at around 2:45 p.m. Thursday, January 19, 2017.
Accounts of this crash said the 18-wheeler was carrying diesel fuel westbound on I-10 in the outside lane. The pickup truck, also heading west, was beside the semi on the inside lane. When the tractor-trailer tried to change lanes to the inside, the Dodge Ram swerved to avoid a collision and the semi also swerved away, flipping onto its side and catching fire. Crash scene investigators said Hoye lost control in trying to correct the course of his vehicle, going off the road and overturning down a steep embankment. Authorities identified the trucker as a 58-year-old man from Alabama who suffered serious injuries but survived. The crash report said the driver was alone in his red pickup truck at the time of the fatal wreck.
According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, troopers in the state investigate more than 110,000 traffic crashes a year that kill more than 2,200 people annually. But traffic crash investigations are not exclusively in the domain of law enforcement agencies. Lawyers for truck accident victims, including national law firm Pritzker Hageman, P.A., also investigate motor vehicle crashes to determine who was at fault and how they should be held accountable. Additional laws come to bear when a road accident involves a commercial truck, like any semi-truck tractor trailer. And the complexity of a crash investigation increases when a semi-truck causes death to another motorist.
Suing a Trucking Company
Our attorneys represent victims of commercial truck crashes, not the trucking companies or professional drivers who are at fault. When the accident has resulted in death or a traumatic brain injury, our client is an immediate family member. Unsafe driving on the part of a commercial trucking company is a major cause of accidents. Negligence can have costly consequences and our firm will file a semi truck crash lawsuit when that is in the best interests of the family who has suffered injury or wrongful death.
When the driver of a commercial vehicle causes an accident, it often takes an independent investigation to determine all of the contributing causes of the accident. Both truckers and the companies that employ them are responsible for ensuring that drivers’ actions on the road do not endanger the lives of others. Families of people killed in these accidents have wrongful death claims against the truck driver, trucking company, and possibly others, including the companies that own the freight. This means the family can sue to make sure all responsible parties are held accountable.
Timeliness is important in truck crash investigations. Important evidence can be lost or become unavailable due to time limits for collecting data and information. If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or fatally injured in a motor vehicle accident in Minnesota caused by a semi truck or other commercial truck, contact Pritzker Hageman.
