Miami-Dade father of two settles trucking accident case for undisclosed amount

Author: Attorney Jason Macri

A 33 year-old, Miami-Dade father of two was injured in a trucking accident when he rear-ended a tractor-trailer on Florida’s turnpike. The tractor-trailer was attempting to pull onto the highway from the shoulder of the road and had attempted to enter the roadway while only traveling at a speed of 16 miles per hour. Our client, who was traveling in the same direction as the 18 wheeler, did not have enough time to change lanes and drove his delivery vehicle into the rear of the tractor-trailer at a high rate of speed. The impact was huge, causing our client to become trapped within his vehicle for a significant period of time.

Emergency medical technicians arrived on scene and were forced to use the jaws-of-life in order to extract our client. Once removed from the vehicle, our client was taken by helicopter to the nearest hospital. Both bones in his right forearm were fractured and were protruding from his arm. The ER doctors were forced to perform an emergency surgery in order to reattach the bones. Our client remained in the hospital for several days in order to recover.

The driver of the tractor-trailer was cited for entering the roadway at an unsafe speed. Though he received the ticket, the insurance company for his employer refused to accept liability. Instead, they claimed the accident was solely the fault of our client. Our firm had no choice but to file suit.

We were able to show that the driver of the tractor-trailer was clearly negligent as he violated several commercial driving rules not only by unnecessarily pulling over on the shoulder of the highway but also by entering the roadway at an unsafe speed. Though it was true that our client rear-ended the 18 wheeler, which would normally show that our client was negligent, it was clear the driver of the 18 wheeler was much more culpable.

Faced with the prospect of a jury trial, the insurance company for the tractor-trailer decided to make an offer of settlement. Through negotiation, our client was able to achieve a settlement that would pay all outstanding medical bills and attorney’s fees. He was also compensated for his pain and suffering in the past and future. Though the tragic accident will certainly scar him for life, he expressed comfort in knowing that we were willing to fight for his rights. As his lawyers, we were honored to fight on his behalf.