Hurt in a Truck Crash in Kendall? Here Are Your Next Steps

What Kendall Families Face After a Truck Crash

After a truck crash, the first days are hard, confusing, and full of decisions that matter. You don’t need legal words to use it. We explain each term as we go.

Picture this. You’re driving on Kendall Drive when a semi-truck drifts into your lane. Or you’re on the Palmetto Expressway, and traffic stops with no warning. Or a family gets a phone call that a loved one was hurt in a crash with a tractor-trailer.

The scene is loud. Paramedics arrive. Someone is taken to the hospital, and no one can say yet how serious it is.

Within days, new voices start calling. An insurance adjuster asks for a recorded statement. A representative from the trucking company asks what happened. Everyone sounds friendly, and everyone wants an answer fast.

You don’t have to answer detailed questions on the spot. Take your time, write down names, and talk with your doctors first.

Going up against an insurance company alone can feel like hunting for a parking spot at Dadeland Mall on the day before Christmas. It’s possible, but it’s much easier with a map.

Why Truck Crashes Often Cause Catastrophic Injuries

Truck crashes often cause catastrophic injuries because the trucks are so heavy. A fully loaded commercial truck weighs far more than a passenger car, and it needs much more distance to stop. A car that meets a truck usually takes the worst of the force.

Injuries from truck impacts can include:

• Spinal cord injuries
• Paralysis, including paraplegia and quadriplegia
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Amputations
• Severe burns
• Serious back and neck injuries

Some of these injuries are permanent. A person may need long-term medical care, special equipment, and changes to their home or vehicle. A claim has to account for that future care, not only the bills from the first weeks.

Follow your doctors’ care plans. Medical decisions belong to you and your care team. Keep every appointment, and keep copies of records, bills, and receipts. Those records also show how the injury has changed your daily life.

Who May Be Responsible in a Kendall Truck Accident

More than the driver may be responsible after a truck crash. A claim can involve the trucking company, the truck’s owner, a company that leased or dispatched the truck, a cargo loader, or a maintenance contractor. Each party’s role depends on the facts.

Federal rules limit how long commercial drivers may work and drive. Under one rule, a driver may not drive after 14 consecutive hours on duty that follows 10 consecutive hours off duty. A driver may drive a total of 11 hours in that period (49 C.F.R. § 395.3). The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration sets these federal trucking rules.

It is not the only evidence, though, and each case turns on its own facts.

Delivery fleets matter too. Amazon and FedEx trucks share Miami-Dade roads every day. A crash with one of these trucks can involve the delivery company, a contractor that drove the route, or both.

Courts have also looked at who hired the carrier. In 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II that a state-law claim alleging a broker negligently hired an unsafe carrier falls within a federal safety exception. A lawsuit alleges what a company did wrong.

Impairment, Fatigue, and What the Crash Report Shows

Testing and records often shape the early picture after a truck crash. Employers must test certain surviving drivers for alcohol and drugs, and driver logs can show how long a driver was on duty.

After a qualifying crash on a public road, the employer must test surviving drivers for alcohol as soon as practicable. This applies when a crash involves loss of life, or when a driver receives a citation within 8 hours of the occurrence under State or local law for a moving traffic violation arising from a crash that involved bodily injury with immediate medical treatment away from the scene or a vehicle that must be towed away from the scene by a tow truck or other motor vehicle (49 C.F.R. § 382.303). Controlled-substance testing follows similar rules.

If an alcohol test is not given within two hours, the employer must record why. Alcohol test attempts end after eight hours. The same rule says medical care must not be delayed for testing.

Driver logs matter for fatigue questions. Except for a private motor carrier of passengers (nonbusiness), motor carriers must require drivers to record duty status for each 24-hour period, and, subject to paragraph (a)(1)(ii) of this section, carriers operating commercial motor vehicles must install and require each of its drivers to use an ELD (49 C.F.R. § 395.8). Federal rules also bar false duty-status reports and tampering with these devices so that the device does not accurately record and retain required data.

Florida requires a written crash report for crashes involving death, injury, or complaints of pain. The report is due within 10 days after the investigation is completed (Fla. Stat. § 316.066). It lists the parties, vehicles, and insurers. Parties and their legal representatives may get it.

A crash report is one piece of evidence, not the final word on fault. The injured person’s own account still matters.

In any civil action, Fla. Stat. § 768.36 bars a plaintiff from recovering any damages for loss or injury to his or her person or property if the trier of fact finds that, at the time of the injury, the plaintiff was under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug to the extent that the plaintiff’s normal faculties were impaired or had a blood or breath alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher, and that, as a result of that influence, the plaintiff was more than 50 percent at fault for his or her own harm.

Florida Deadlines and How Fault Is Divided

Florida sets filing deadlines by statute, and your share of fault can reduce what you recover. Deadlines differ by type of claim, so contact us promptly after a crash.

Florida’s limitations statute lists an action for wrongful death as its own category. Families should not assume the personal injury deadline applies to a death claim. Waiting can cost you the right to file.

Florida uses comparative fault, which means shared fault. The court enters judgment against each liable party based on that party’s percentage of fault, not on joint and several liability (Fla. Stat. § 768.81).

Under the same statute, in a negligence action to which this section applies, a party found greater than 50 percent at fault for his or her own harm may not recover any damages. This does not apply to an action for personal injury or wrongful death arising out of medical negligence under chapter 766. Fault is decided case by case, so the facts matter.

Talking with an insurer is not the same as filing a lawsuit. Each follows its own timing. Keep a written list of dates, including every call and letter.

When a Truck Crash Is Fatal: Wrongful Death Claims in Florida

Florida’s Wrongful Death Act lets certain family members and the estate pursue damages after a fatal truck crash. A death leaves a hole that no document can fill.

The Act is cited as the Florida Wrongful Death Act (Fla. Stat. § 768.16). The claim is brought by the decedent’s personal representative. That person recovers for the survivors and the estate (Fla. Stat. § 768.20).

The damages a family may seek are set out in the statute (Fla. Stat. § 768.21). Survivors may recover lost support and services. A surviving spouse may also recover for loss of companionship and protection, and for mental pain and suffering. Minor children may recover for lost parental companionship, instruction, and guidance.

Parents of a deceased minor child may recover for mental pain and suffering. A survivor who paid medical or funeral expenses may recover them.

Who files, and what a family may recover, depends on the facts. Start by gathering the crash report, medical and funeral records, and a written list of questions. Note how your loved one supported the household and cared for others, because those details shape the claim.

Evidence That Can Disappear Quickly After a Truck Crash

Trucking evidence can be lost, so preserving it early is a top priority. Trucks may carry electronic logs, GPS data, dash-camera footage, maintenance records, and dispatch messages. Early requests help make sure this information is kept.

Start with what you can safely do at the scene. Take photos of the vehicles, the road, and any visible injuries. Write down the trucking company’s name from the door or cab. Record the crash report number, the date, and the time.

Get names and phone numbers of witnesses while they are still nearby. Ask for the name of the investigating officer and the agency that responded.

Accident reconstruction professionals, medical providers, and other witnesses can help build a claim. Their work is separate from the firm’s own team.

Medical bills matter too. Florida law limits evidence of past medical expenses that have been satisfied to the amount actually paid, regardless of the source of payment (Fla. Stat. § 768.0427). Keep every payment record.

Who We Serve Around Kendall

CHG Personal Injury Lawyers is a Florida-based personal injury firm. We represent people hurt across Florida, with the Kendall community as a local focus. We also serve nearby communities such as Homestead, Westchester, and Fontainebleau, where drivers share busy roads with commercial trucks.

Igor Hernandez is the responsible lawyer for this page. He is one of the firm’s lawyers. Our lawyers are licensed attorneys and admitted to The Florida Bar. Our team also includes assistants and office staff who help families through each step.

The firm focuses on personal injury cases of every severity. Those range from everyday car accidents and slip-and-fall incidents to catastrophic injuries and wrongful death. Some truck crash matters may be handled together with, or referred to, another law firm, depending on the case.

Talk With CHG About Your Kendall Truck Crash

You can talk with CHG Personal Injury Lawyers about your truck crash before you answer an insurer’s questions or sign a release. If you’re facing that choice now, contact us for a free, confidential consultation with no obligation to continue.

Have these ready when you call: the crash report number, the dates of the crash and treatment, medical summaries, and any letters from insurers. Bring any notes about the trucking company’s calls.

CHG charges no attorney’s fees and no case costs unless there is a recovery.

Consulta inicial gratuita, confidencial y sin compromiso.

Common Questions

Igor Hernandez, responsible lawyer. CHG Personal Injury Lawyers, Miami, Florida.