How Tow Truck Driver Errors Lead to Serious Accidents

Tow truck drivers who fail to inspect their vehicle, drive while distracted or impaired, speed, tailgate, or engage in other dangerous behavior may lead to a serious accident. When a tow truck driver’s negligence causes a collision, accident victims can hold the driver, their employer, and insurers accountable for their damages. 

Hiring a Fort Lauderdale truck accident attorney will allow you to heal while your legal team fights for fair compensation. Why not have an experienced, trained lawyer advocate for you?

Types of Tow Truck Driver Errors That Can Lead to Accidents

Distraction, impatience, frustration, anger, and countless other influences can lead to a tow truck driver making harmful decisions. Those decisions can result in accidents that leave victims facing pain, uncertainty, and a lesser quality of life.

Impaired and Distracted Driving

Motorists who are anything short of alert, aware, calm, and sober can pose a danger. Because of their vehicle’s weight, tow truck drivers pose a potentially ruinous danger when they are:

• On prescribed or illicit drugs
• Under the influence of alcohol
• Tired
• Irritable
• Visually impaired

If the driver is in any state that interferes with their ability to operate their truck safely, they may be negligent for not pulling over.

Dangerous Driving

A tow truck operator must never:

• Change lanes without adequate clearance
• Speed
• Tailgate
• Pass dangerously

Our personal injury attorneys know dangerous driving when we see it and have proven the cost of risky driving for thousands of clients.

Failure to Inspect the Truck

If a tow truck is not roadworthy, even the most skilled and cautious driver may be unable to prevent a collision. Thus, tow truck drivers must inspect their vehicle to ensure its safety before taking the road.

Failure to Attach or Load Cargo Properly

While the truck must be safe, the tow truck operator must similarly be certain any vehicle or other cargo they are pulling is appropriately secured. 

Failure to attach or load the cargo (such as a wrecked or broken-down car) properly could lead to:

• The towed cargo falling off the truck
• Debris from the cargo or the truck falling into the roadway
• The tow truck operator losing control of their vehicle
• The tow truck stopped in the middle of the traffic

Tow truck operators know their duties, as do their employers. You must meet any failure to protect yourself with a decisive fight for financial justice.

Is a Truck Driver Liable When Their Mistakes Lead to Collisions?

Tow truck crash liability comes down to who caused the collision. As your truck accident lawyer investigates the incident, they might find that your accident happened because of the following entities committing an error:

• A tow truck driver
• The tow truck company (employers can contribute to accidents in many ways, from providing unsafe vehicles to hiring unfit drivers)
• A municipality (e.g., dangerous road conditions, malfunctioning traffic signals, or other hazards)
• The manufacturer of a defective truck

A commercial truck accident attorney from our team will determine if these or other parties are responsible for your accident. Then, they will craft a strategy to maximize the compensation you could receive for your losses.

A Lawyer for Your Tow Truck Accident Will Identify Negligence and Fight for You

A tow truck attorney serves many roles for their client. From advisor to negotiator, you may be taken aback by how versatile your attorney is.

Your lawyer will be responsible for every step in your case, including the following:

• Proving negligence through evidence, which may include witness statements, photographs, video footage, and expert testimony

• Documenting your damages with relevant medical records, financial statements, repair bills, and testimony detailing the emotional harm you’ve experienced

• Determining who should pay for your damages, which is another way of saying “establishing liability for your tow truck accident”
• Pursuing fair compensation for you, whether we secure it from insurance companies or at-fault parties via a personal injury lawsuit

Let us lead your case while you heal from your accident-related injuries and trauma.

Damages You Can Recover Due to a Tow Truck Driver’s Mistakes

Crashes resulting from tow truck driver errors can immensely damage victims’ health, psychological well-being, and financial security. Some losses that can result from these collisions include:

• Medical expenses
• Pain and suffering
• Lost income and diminished earning capacity
• Property expenses 
• Damages related to disabling injuries

Your economic damages may only be a relatively small portion of your case value. Noneconomic damages, including pain and suffering, are often even more significant. 

We also employ pedestrian accident attorneys who represent individuals hit by tow trucks while crossing a street or walking along the road. Whatever harm you have suffered, we have a lawyer ready to fight for you.

Call the Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato Today for a Free Consultation About a Tow Truck Accident Attorney

We hope you’ll take a moment to review some of the case results we have achieved for past clients. These results change our clients’ lives for the better, and we will work hard to get the result you deserve.

Call the Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato today for your free consultation about working with a tow truck collision attorney. Please do not wait to reach out, as Florida Statutes § 95.11 may require us to file your case within two years of the accident date. Moreover, missing the deadline could have serious financial consequences for you and your family.