Multiple Overturned Vehicles In Leon County
A pattern of traffic crashes in Leon County has claimed a tractor-trailer, causing traffic stoppages in late December 2023 after the vehicle overturned. While luckily, the driver was not injured, this is the third vehicle overturning in the space of a week in the area, with a Tallahassee fire engine and a law enforcement vehicle overturning on Meridian Road. The tractor-trailer overturned on County Road 12, near Meridian Road, but not on it. A tractor-trailer overturning will very often cause serious injuries, either to the driver or to any other people involved in the crash, so it is lucky that the Leon County driver escaped unharmed.
Rollover Accidents Cause Serious Injuries
The most recent available data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) estimates approximately 5,000 large trucks and buses were involved in fatal crashes in 2020, the end of an upward trend in crash rates. Tractor-trailers are large vehicles capable of great speed; as such, they tend to cause serious injury and death when they are involved in road accidents. That said, the driver of a tractor-trailer is much less likely to be injured than the driver of another vehicle, or a pedestrian – people with far less protection in the event of a wreck.
When vehicles overturn, however, that trend is somewhat reversed, especially since many rollover accidents only involve one vehicle to begin with. While there are several different outside factors that may lead to rollover crashes – for example, a defect in one’s vehicle, or poorly maintained roads – it is not uncommon as one might think for driver error to be the sole reason why such an accident occurs. If you are injured in a rollover crash caused by a tractor-trailer driver’s negligence, you have the right to pursue compensation from the tractor-trailer driver, or in some cases, their employer.
What Are My Options?
Whether your vehicle rolled over, or whether you were involved in a crash with an overturned tractor-trailer, you have the right to seek compensation if you believe that your injuries were caused by the negligence of another person. Florida law holds that if your injuries are sufficiently catastrophic to meet the ‘injury threshold’ – generally, if your injuries are “significant and permanent” – you have the right to file suit in court instead of seeking compensation via personal injury protection (PIP) insurance.
Be advised that if you are able to file suit against the person or people who caused your injuries, you must do so quickly; the Florida legislature recently changed the statute of limitations for negligence actions from four years to two. In other words, you have less time in which to file suit than you might once have had. Two years from the date of the accident can seem like a long time, but in reality, it can elapse very, very quickly.
Contact A Tampa Tractor-Trailer Accident Attorney
While it remains to be seen as to whether more vehicles will overturn in Leon County, you have the right to seek compensation for your injuries if you have been injured in a crash. A Tampa tractor-trailer accident attorney from the Rinaldo Law Group can help to ensure your rights are protected throughout the legal process. Call our office today for a free consultation.
Source:
news.yahoo.com/tractor-trailer-third-vehicle-overturn-144551881.html
