Fort Lauderdale Construction Vehicle Accident Lawyer

Dump trucks, cement mixers, concrete pumpers, flatbeds, and heavy equipment share Fort Lauderdale’s roads and job sites every day — and when one of them is operated carelessly or maintained poorly, the people around it pay the price. A loaded construction vehicle can weigh many times more than a passenger car, so even a low-speed collision, a backover, or a spilled load can cause catastrophic harm. If you or someone you love was hurt in a crash involving a construction vehicle, the Fort Lauderdale construction vehicle accident attorneys at the Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato can investigate what happened and pursue every source of compensation Florida law allows.

This page focuses specifically on accidents involving construction vehicles and heavy equipment: how they happen, who can be held responsible, the deadlines that apply, and how an attorney builds these cases. For a broader look at every type of construction-site claim, visit our Fort Lauderdale construction accident and Florida construction accident practice pages.

You don’t have to be a construction worker to have a claim — motorists, motorcyclists, cyclists, and pedestrians struck by a construction vehicle have rights too. Our Fort Lauderdale injury lawyers are ready to listen, investigate the scene, and explain your options at no cost.

Serving Injured People Across Fort Lauderdale and Broward County

Our firm has called South Florida home for decades. From our Fort Lauderdale office, we represent injured people and grieving families across Broward County, including Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Las Olas, Wilton Manors, Plantation, Sunrise, Davie, Pompano Beach, and the surrounding communities. We know the local job sites, the local courts, and the experts who help prove these cases.

Serious construction vehicle and wrongful-death cases in this area are typically filed in the Broward County Circuit Court, which handles complex injury litigation. Because we have practiced here for many years, we understand how these cases move through the system and what local judges and juries expect to see. When you choose a local Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorney, you get someone who can meet with you in person, visit the scene, and respond quickly when questions arise.

Construction Vehicle Accidents in Fort Lauderdale: A Local Overview

Fort Lauderdale is in the middle of a sustained building boom, and more construction means more heavy vehicles entering and leaving job sites and moving through active work zones. Building-permit data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows Broward County authorized 1,655 new private housing units in 2024 and 2,690 in 2025 — steady activity that keeps dump trucks and equipment haulers on the same streets as everyday drivers.

The danger is not theoretical. In 2024, a section of a tower crane and construction materials fell onto a bridge in downtown Fort Lauderdale, killing a worker and injuring people in vehicles below. The U.S. Department of Labor later announced that OSHA cited the rigging and crane companies for serious safety violations. It is a stark reminder that construction equipment can reach the traveling public, not just the job site.

Commercial and construction vehicles are over-represented in the most serious work-zone crashes. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration reports that large trucks are involved in roughly one-third of all fatal work-zone crashes even though they make up only about five percent of vehicle traffic.

How Common Are Construction Vehicle Crashes?

Work-zone and heavy-vehicle crashes are a serious and growing safety problem. According to the Federal Highway Administration, drawing on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 899 people were killed in work-zone crashes in 2023, with hundreds of those crashes involving large trucks and commercial vehicles. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration notes that Florida had more than 490 active roadway work zones during a single 2023 awareness campaign — each one a place where construction vehicles, equipment, and traffic mix.

Backing and blind-spot crashes are a distinct and deadly category. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s preventing-backovers resources explain that backover incidents — where a vehicle strikes a worker or bystander while reversing — kill people on and around construction sites every year, and that dump trucks are among the vehicles most often involved. Federal crash research has also found that a driver’s failure to check blind spots is a contributing factor in a meaningful share of large-truck crashes.

Florida’s Work-Zone Crash Numbers

Florida-specific data underscores the local danger. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reported more than 16,012 work-zone crashes in 2023, resulting in 74 fatalities and 294 serious injuries statewide. Speeding and distracted driving were among the most common contributing factors. Behind every number is a person and a family whose lives changed in seconds.

Construction vehicle and work-zone crash data at a glance

Common Types of Construction Vehicle Accidents

These crashes take many forms in and around Fort Lauderdale’s job sites and work zones. Some of the most common include:

• Backover and blind-spot collisions, where a dump truck or piece of equipment reverses or turns into a worker, pedestrian, or smaller vehicle the driver cannot see
• Wide-turn and swing collisions, when a long vehicle swings into an adjacent lane, bike lane, or sidewalk
• Rear-end and underride crashes involving slow-moving or stopped construction trucks entering or leaving a site
• Rollovers and load shifts caused by overloaded, top-heavy, or improperly balanced vehicles
• Unsecured-load and spilled-material crashes, where gravel, rebar, dirt, or equipment falls into the roadway
• Crashes caused by defective brakes, tires, hydraulics, or backup alarms — the basis for a product-liability claim
• Collisions during equipment hauling, such as a crane, excavator, or loader shifting on a flatbed or trailer

Injuries Caused by Construction Vehicle Crashes

Because of the size and weight involved, the construction accident injuries our attorneys see in these cases are often severe. They include traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and paralysis, crush injuries and amputations, internal organ damage, multiple fractures, and serious burns. In the most tragic cases, a construction vehicle crash is fatal, leaving families to pursue a Fort Lauderdale wrongful death claim.

Safety Rules That Should Prevent Construction Vehicle Accidents

Many construction vehicle crashes are preventable. Federal and state rules require contractors, trucking companies, and drivers to operate and maintain these vehicles safely, and a violation can be strong evidence of negligence:

When a company skips a spotter, ignores a broken backup alarm, overloads a truck, or puts an untrained driver behind the wheel, that failure to follow the recognized standard of care is often central to proving the case.

Sorting Out Who Is at Fault in a Construction Vehicle Crash

More than one company usually stands behind a construction vehicle. Depending on the facts, fault may rest with the driver, the trucking or hauling company that dispatched that driver, the general contractor or subcontractor running the site, the equipment owner or rental company, the crew that loaded and secured the cargo, and — if a brake, tire, or backup system failed — the manufacturer, through a Fort Lauderdale product liability claim. Florida splits responsibility among all of them under Florida Statute Section 768.81. Since the 2023 tort-reform law the rule is strict: a person found more than 50 percent at fault recovers nothing, and anything less reduces the award by that percentage. Because each company’s insurer will try to push the blame elsewhere, pinning down every responsible party early is one of the most valuable things a lawyer does.

Hurt on the Job? Comp Plus a Possible Third-Party Case

If you were on the clock, workers’ compensation under Chapter 440 should cover your medical care and part of your wages no matter who caused the crash — and in exchange you usually cannot sue your own employer. The important exception is the third-party claim. Florida Statute Section 440.39 lets you go after a different at-fault company — most often the trucking firm, an equipment company, or a parts manufacturer — while your comp benefits continue. That separate case is where the money comp never pays — full lost earnings and pain and suffering — becomes available. People who were never workers, such as nearby drivers and pedestrians, bring a standard negligence claim.

Putting a Value on a Vehicle-Crash Claim

Florida recognizes two kinds of damages, and a serious vehicle crash usually involves both. The economic damages cover what shows up on a ledger — emergency and long-term medical care, lost income, reduced earning capacity, and the value of a vehicle wrecked in the collision, as itemized under Section 768.81. The noneconomic damages answer for what no receipt captures: physical pain, mental anguish, and the pieces of ordinary life the injury takes away.

When a crash is fatal, Florida’s wrongful-death statute, Section 768.21, lets the closest survivors recover for lost support and services, lost companionship and protection, and their own mental pain and suffering, on top of medical and funeral costs.

Why the Two-Year Deadline Is Tighter Than It Sounds

Two years can feel like plenty of time, but it rarely is. Under Florida Statute Section 95.11, most negligence claims that accrued on or after March 24, 2023 must be filed within two years, with the same window for wrongful death. The problem is that the proof in a vehicle case has a far shorter shelf life: the truck gets repaired, electronic logs and telematics roll over, dashcam files are overwritten, and the site is cleared. Getting a lawyer involved early is what locks down that evidence before it disappears.

How a Fort Lauderdale Construction Vehicle Accident Lawyer Can Help

A construction vehicle case is rarely simple, and the companies and insurers involved move quickly to limit what they pay. A Fort Lauderdale construction accident attorney levels the field by:

• Investigating and documenting the scene, the vehicle, and the site before evidence is altered, repaired, or removed
• Securing driver logs, maintenance and inspection records, telematics, dashcam footage, and any OSHA or police reports
• Identifying every potentially liable party — contractors, trucking companies, equipment owners, and manufacturers
• Working with crash-reconstruction and trucking-safety experts to establish how the collision happened
• Coordinating any workers’ compensation and third-party claims so benefits and recovery work together
• Calculating the full value of medical care, lost earnings, and other damages, then negotiating or trying the case

Injured in a Fort Lauderdale Construction Vehicle Crash?

Construction vehicle crashes cause catastrophic injuries, and the evidence can disappear fast. Our Fort Lauderdale construction vehicle accident attorneys know how to investigate these cases and hold every responsible company accountable. You pay nothing up front: we work on a contingency fee, and the case evaluation is free. Call 954-522-5800 or 844-643-7200 for a free, confidential case evaluation, any time.

Sources: Federal Highway Administration — Work Zone Facts and Statistics (NHTSA FARS, 2023); FMCSA — Large Trucks in Work-Zone Crashes; FMCSA — Florida Work Zones (2023) and Work Zone Safety Tips; FLHSMV — Florida Traffic Crash Facts Annual Report (2023); OSHA — Preventing Backovers; OSHA 29 CFR 1926.200 and 1926.201; Florida Statutes Sections 95.11, 768.81, 768.21, and 440.39; U.S. DOL/OSHA — Fort Lauderdale crane enforcement (2024); Federal Reserve (FRED) — Broward County building permits. (Every source above is linked the first time it appears in the text.)

About the Firm

Published by the Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato

For nearly three decades, the Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato have represented injured Floridians and their families across South and Southwest Florida, exclusively on the plaintiff’s side. The firm is led by managing partner Richard P. Pravato, a Board-Certified Civil Trial Attorney (Florida Bar No. 86150). To reach the attorney who handles cases in your area, visit our attorneys page, explore our practice areas, or learn more about our firm.

Disclaimer: This page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this content does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and the Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato. Laws change, and every case is different, so you should not act or rely on any information here without consulting a licensed Florida attorney about your specific situation. For advice regarding your circumstances, please contact our office for a free consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What counts as a construction vehicle accident?

It’s a crash involving a vehicle or piece of heavy equipment used in construction — a dump truck, cement mixer, flatbed, crane, excavator, or loader — whether it happens on a public road, at a job-site entrance, or inside an active work zone. These vehicles are large and heavy, so injuries are often serious, and workers, motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians can all be victims.

I was hit by a construction truck while driving past a Fort Lauderdale site. Do I have a claim?

Likely yes. You don’t have to be a construction worker to have a claim. A motorist, cyclist, or pedestrian struck by a construction vehicle can pursue a negligence claim against the driver, the trucking company, the contractor, and any other at-fault party, and a lawyer can identify everyone responsible.

Can I sue if I already receive workers’ compensation?

Often, yes. Workers’ compensation is usually the exclusive remedy against your direct employer, but Florida Statute Section 440.39 allows you to pursue a separate third-party claim against another at-fault party, such as a different contractor, a trucking company, an equipment company, or a product manufacturer, while still receiving benefits. A third-party claim can recover damages comp does not, including pain and suffering and full lost earnings.

Who can be held responsible for a construction vehicle crash?

Liability can extend to the general contractor, subcontractors, the trucking or hauling company, the equipment owner or rental company, the driver, the company that loaded or secured the materials, and the manufacturer of a defective vehicle or part. Florida apportions fault among multiple parties under Section 768.81, so more than one company may share responsibility for a single crash.

What evidence matters most in these cases?

Some of the most important evidence disappears quickly: the vehicle’s condition, its maintenance and inspection records, the driver’s logs, and dashcam and telematics data. A lawyer can send preservation letters and work with reconstruction experts to capture this proof before it is lost.

How long do I have to file a claim in Florida?

For most negligence claims that accrued on or after March 24, 2023, Florida gives you two years to file under Section 95.11, and the deadline for wrongful death is also two years. Because evidence in a vehicle case can vanish well before then, it is best to speak with a lawyer as soon as possible.

What compensation can I recover?

Depending on the case, you may recover economic damages such as medical bills, future care, lost wages, lost earning capacity, and property damage, plus noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life. In a fatal crash, surviving family members may recover wrongful-death damages under Section 768.21.

What does a Fort Lauderdale construction vehicle accident attorney cost?

The Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato handle these cases on a contingency-fee basis, which means there’s no up-front cost and a fee is owed only if the firm recovers compensation for you. The initial consultation is free, so you can understand your options without any financial risk.