Fort Myers Truck Accident Lawyer

Truck Accident Attorney in Fort Myers, FL

Truck accidents often cause more damage than crashes involving only regular passenger cars because of the size of the vehicles involved. If you’ve been in a crash involving a large commercial vehicle, you need to work with a Fort Myers truck accident lawyer who knows how to navigate complicated legal situations, as determining liability can be difficult.

Trust The Caldarone Law Group, P.A.

Justin P. Caldarone, the founding attorney here at The Caldarone Law Group, P.A., has extensive experience as a personal injury attorney. He has also worked as an in-house lawyer for a large insurance company, giving him a unique perspective on the industry and the ability to negotiate more effectively on your behalf. You can trust our team to help you get the most from your truck accident claim.

Why Hire a Truck Accident Lawyer?

In 2024, Florida reported 28 fatalities and 124 incapacitating injuries to truck drivers involved in accidents, plus another two fatalities and 24 incapacitating injuries to their passengers. These statistics don’t capture the full scope of the problem, though, as on average, 70% of the deaths and a large number of the injuries in large truck crashes are actually the occupants of other vehicles.

If you were driving or riding in another car and were hit by a large truck, you need to hire a truck accident lawyer to represent your rights and interests. Negotiating with insurance companies is a challenge for those who don’t have dedicated experience in the field of personal injury law, and you’ll be much more likely to receive a full settlement that covers 100% of your damages if you work with a Fort Myers truck accident attorney.

The Legal Complexities of Truck Accidents

Your truck accident claim will be more complex than the average car accident claim for a simple reason: there are more parties that could hold partial liability for a commercial vehicle accident than a regular car crash in Fort Myers. The parties that could hold partial responsibility for your crash can include:

• Drivers. Truck drivers cause a large number of crashes due to driver fatigue, inexperience, distraction, or negligence.
• Trucking companies. Trucking companies can cause accidents by creating policies that encourage truckers to continue their routes when they are too fatigued to drive safely or by hiring inexperienced drivers.
• Cargo loaders. If the cargo in a large truck is loaded improperly, it will be off-balance, and this can lead to a crash.
• Mechanics or parts manufacturers. If a part fails and it causes an accident, the part’s manufacturer or the mechanic who installed the faulty part could be partially to blame.
• Truck manufacturers. If a design defect contributed to the accident, the truck manufacturer itself may be held partially liable.

As you can see, the situation can get complicated quickly. Additional parties, such as the drivers of other passenger vehicles involved or the municipalities responsible for maintaining busy roads like Colonial Boulevard and providing adequate signage, may also hold part of the blame.

The Settlement Process

Your truck accident claim must be filed with the appropriate insurance company within four years. Your lawyer can help you determine with whom to file. The insurer will either accept or deny the claim, at which point you’ll either receive a reasonable settlement or, more likely, the insurance company will offer a low compensation package that doesn’t cover your damages. 

In the first case, you can accept the offer, and the process ends. In the latter, you’ll need to fight for your rights.

Should the insurance company offer an initial settlement that doesn’t cover all your economic and non-economic damages, your lawyer will engage in negotiations. In many cases, this marks the end of the process, as car accident attorneys are often quite skilled at negotiating with insurance companies on their clients’ behalf. 

If your lawyer and the insurance company are unable to come to an agreement, your case will need to be litigated in court. 

FAQs

How Much Are Most Truck Accident Settlements Worth?

How much most truck accident settlements are worth depends on a variety of factors, including the severity of your injuries, whether you’ve been permanently disabled, and whether there was substantial property damage. The skill of your Fort Myers truck accident attorney in negotiating with insurance companies can also influence the amount of your settlement offer.

How Long Does a Truck Accident Settlement Take?

How long a truck accident settlement takes depends on the specifics of the case. A simple case involving only two parties can be resolved relatively quickly. However, many truck accident cases involve shared liability, which means multiple claims must be filed against all the different parties that were partially to blame. In these cases, recovering damages can take longer.

What Is the Hardest Injury to Prove?

The hardest injuries to prove are those that can’t be seen on medical imaging. Traumatic brain injuries can be difficult to prove because the severity of these injuries varies significantly, and much of the grading of TBIs relies on patients’ reports of their own symptoms. Psychological injuries, such as PTSD, can also be difficult to prove for similar reasons.

What Is a Reasonable Amount to Ask for Pain and Suffering?

A reasonable amount to ask for pain and suffering is determined based on the use of one or more set formulas. The multiplier method applies a factor—typically between 1.5 and 5—to the economic damages to calculate non-economic losses. The per diem method multiplies your days of pain by a daily rate. In either case, your lawyer will be able to determine how much this specific non-economic damage is worth.

Your Fort Myers Truck Accident Lawyer

Truck accidents almost always leave victims suffering from serious injuries. If you’ve found yourself in this position, you can work with a Fort Myers truck accident lawyer to recover compensation that will help you pay hospital bills and make up for lost wages. The team here at The Caldarone Law Group, P.A., has extensive experience with handling truck accident cases. We can help you file your claim, too. Contact us to schedule an initial consultation today.