Florida Distracted Truck Driver Accident Attorney

Truck drivers spend a great deal of time driving. As a result, many times they are tempted to do other things while driving like eating, using a cell phone, and even using a computer in some rare instances. Distractions like these can quickly make a driving environment very dangerous and subsequently increase the risk of a serious accident occurring. Sadly, driving distracted is one of the leading causes of car accidents. However, when a distracted driver is driving a huge truck, the outcome of an accident can be extremely serious to catastrophic.

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According to statistics, the rate of having an accident is increased 20 times for truck drivers who are driving distracted. Because of this, there is now a federal law enacted by the Department of Transportation that prohibits bus drivers and truckers from text messaging and driving at the same time. If the law is broken, the penalty is a potential criminal or civil charge and a $2,750 fine. If a truck driver breaks this law two or more times they can lose their commercial driver’s license. Furthermore, if a trucking company ignores the federal law banning texting, they can be fined as much as $11,000.

A study conducted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration found that truck drivers who texted while driving did not look at the road almost 5 seconds for every 6 seconds. Additionally, it was found that if the truck driver is driving at the normal speed limit and texting at the same time, this could amount to about 102 yards, the length of a football field, of not looking at the road.

Some of the other findings from the study reveal the following statistics:

If a truck driver decides to make a phone call while driving, he increases his risk of having an accident by almost 6 times while reaching for a cell phone while driving a truck increases the rate of getting into an accident almost 7 times. Also, if a truck driver needs to use a map while driving his chance of causing an accident goes up to 7 times. Additionally, truck drivers who use a dispatch device while driving the risk of getting into an accident increases to almost 9 times.

It is clear that driving a truck while distracted causes a serious risk to the truck driver, any drivers on the road, as well as any nearby pedestrians. If you’ve been injured by a truck driver because they were distracted driving, contact a Florida truck driver accident attorney with Zimmerman & Frachtman today for a free case review.

Contact us online or call (954) 504-6577 to learn more during a free, confidential consultation.