Florida Injury Lawyer Blog
Being in any trucking accident is frightening enough. The attorneys at Flaxman Law Group have seen devastating injuries resulting from collisions with tractor trailers, big rigs, and commercial trucks.
The situation can be even worse if your truck collision involves a truck that’s transporting dangerous goods. In this situation, don’t delay. Contact Flaxman Law Group immediately for a free accident consultation.
What You Need to Know About Hazardous Cargo and Truck Crashes
Trucks are often used to transport hazardous materials, including flammable and noxious chemicals as well as biohazardous materials. Commercial trucks with such products need to be correctly labelled and drivers and carriers are expected to take extra precautions to keep everyone safe.
Despite this, hazmat trucks are in crashes and innocent people are seriously or even fatally injured every year. Even worse, those who are injured in this type of traffic collision may face additional challenges in getting the compensation they deserve for a few reasons:
- Injury severity. In a crash involving a hazmat truck, those in the accident and the surrounding area may be exposed to airborne toxins. The truck may explode or catch fire, posing an additional risk of burn injuries and smoke inhalation. Due to the nature of the disaster, injuries can be severe and expensive to treat. This means insurance companies have a vested interest in trying to minimize claims.
- Complexity of the case. In this type of case, there may be multiple plaintiffs who were exposed to the toxins or dangerous materials. You may not even have been in a car when you were injured. A truck carrying dangerous materials may have been in a crash outside your home or place of work, causing injury and even property damage to you.
- Lack of information. Many injured parties don’t realize that exposure can leave lasting and even life-long effects. Depending on the materials on the truck, you may have a higher chance of developing cancer decades later. In some cases, carriers may not even share accurate details about the cargo, making it hard to determine what your potential injuries can be.
For all these reasons, you need an experienced Florida trucking collision claims lawyer. An experienced attorney can sort out the complexities of the case and negotiate with insurance carriers. They can find out what the cargo was and accurately estimate your current and future medical costs and other losses. Unlike the insurance company, your lawyer is acting in your best interests. He or she is seeking the fairest financial recovery possible, so you can pay for medical care, property damage, car repairs, lost income, and other losses.
If you’re in a trucking collision in Hollywood or any Florida community and the truck explodes or catches fire, you may be exposed to dangerous materials. If the truck has placards on all four sides indicating the presence of hazmat materials, you’ll want to be extra cautious and get a full medical evaluation.
In these cases, you’ll also want to contact Flaxman Law Group as soon as possible. Our family-operated and family-founded law firm can determine whether you have a case and can investigate to determine exactly what you may have been exposed to. We work tirelessly with survivors like you, to protect your rights. Your first consultation with us comes with no cost and no obligation, so you have nothing to lose by contacting our father-son attorney team today.