Hurt in a FedEx Truck Crash in Oakland Park? You Don't Have to Face It Alone.

FedEx Truck Accidents Oakland Park | CHG Lawyers

When a FedEx Truck Is Involved in a Crash in Oakland Park

If a FedEx truck hit you or someone you love in Oakland Park, you may have a claim against the people responsible. Florida law treats a delivery-truck crash differently from an ordinary fender-bender. The early steps matter.

This guide explains FedEx truck accidents in Oakland Park in plain language. You may be dealing with pain, missed paychecks, a damaged car, and calls from insurance adjusters. Adjusters are the people who work for insurance companies to review claims. That is a lot to carry at once.

Facing an insurance company alone can feel like crossing Oakland Park Boulevard at rush hour with no crosswalk in sight. You do not have to face it by yourself.

A claim is a request for compensation for the harm a crash caused. That harm can include medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Our team can explain how these rules apply to your facts.

CHG Personal Injury Lawyers is a Florida-based firm. We represent people hurt in crashes and other accidents throughout Florida. Igor Hernandez is the responsible lawyer for this page.

Why FedEx Truck Crashes Often Involve More Than One Party

More than one party can be responsible after a FedEx truck crash. The truck may be run by a company employee, a contractor, or both. Who employs the driver can change who may be held responsible.

Commercial trucks must follow federal safety rules. Under the federal hours-of-service rules, a driver may not drive without first taking 10 consecutive hours off duty. A driver may drive a total of 11 hours within a 14-hour period after coming on duty.

Carriers have maintenance duties too. Under federal maintenance rules, every motor carrier must systematically inspect, repair, and maintain, or cause to be systematically inspected, repaired, and maintained, the vehicles it controls. In other words, carriers must keep their trucks checked and fixed in an organized, ongoing way. Parts must stay in safe and proper operating condition at all times.

Some FedEx routes are run by independent contractors. These are businesses that are not direct employees. This setup can make responsibility more complex. Our team looks at who operated the truck, who owned it, and who controlled the route.

A crash can involve the driver, the delivery company, a contractor, the vehicle owner, a parts maker, or another motorist. Each may have a role. Each role matters.

Oakland Park Roads Where Delivery Trucks Are Common

Delivery trucks are common on the busy commercial corridors through Oakland Park. These include Oakland Park Boulevard, Dixie Highway, Federal Highway, and Commercial Boulevard. Access routes to Interstate 95 add even more heavy traffic.

These streets mix heavy vehicles with frequent stops, driveway entrances, turning movements, and people on foot. Each of those moments raises crash risk for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.

Local news reports of crashes in Oakland Park show that these busy routes see collisions. Some involve commercial vehicles. Every crash has its own facts, though. Each case is different.

If you were hurt on one of these roads, write down the street, the time, and the direction you were traveling. Note any nearby business with cameras. Those details help investigators reconstruct what happened.

Busy corridors also mean more witnesses and more cameras. That evidence helps only if it is preserved early.

Who May Be Held Responsible After a FedEx Truck Accident

If that failure causes harm, the law may hold them responsible. Lawyers call this negligence.

Common examples in truck crashes include:

• Distracted or tired driving
• Speeding
• Poor vehicle maintenance
• Unsafe loading

Each one is a fact question. Investigators and the courts examine each one closely.

Florida law also sets how responsibility is divided. Under Florida’s comparative fault statute, a court enters judgment against each liable party based on its percentage of fault. A judgment is the court’s final decision on what a party owes. The court does not make one party pay the whole amount for another’s share.

Insurance for commercial trucks works differently from a personal car policy. Florida’s motor vehicle insurance statute says certain owner liability limits do not apply to an owner whose vehicles are used for commercial activity in its ordinary course of business, other than a rental company that rents or leases motor vehicles.

A broker arranges shipping for others. In Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, the Court held that a state-law negligent-hiring claim falls within a federal safety exception. It is not preempted. In other words, federal law does not block it.

Florida Deadlines and Rules That Affect Your Claim

Florida sets time limits for filing lawsuits. These limits apply to every case. Missing a deadline can end a claim that would otherwise be valid.

Florida’s limitations statute sets time limits for many kinds of civil actions. A civil action is a lawsuit over a private harm. Acting promptly matters, even while your medical care is still underway.

Florida also uses comparative negligence, a shared-fault rule, and under Fla. Stat. § 768.81(6), in a negligence action to which this section applies, any party found greater than 50 percent at fault for their own harm may not recover any damages; this does not apply to an action for damages for personal injury or wrongful death arising out of medical negligence pursuant to chapter 766. In a negligence action to which this section applies, if you are found greater than 50 percent at fault for your own harm, you may not recover any damages. Damages are the money a person may recover for their losses. The rule does not bar recovery on its own.

Under the same comparative fault statute, in a negligence action to which this section applies, a person found more than 50 percent at fault for their own harm may not recover any damages. That rule does not apply to medical negligence claims under chapter 766.

Florida’s personal injury protection statute governs required PIP benefits after many crashes. PIP is a type of no-fault car insurance coverage. The statute also explains when an insurer may examine an injured person whose condition matters to a claim. Follow your doctors’ care. Keep every bill and visit note.

Evidence That Matters After a FedEx Truck Crash

The most useful evidence is often recorded in the first days after a crash. Gather it early. Memories are fresh, and records still exist.

Under Florida Statute § 316.066, when a law enforcement officer investigates a crash that causes death, personal injury, or complaints of pain, the officer must complete a long-form crash report. Under the Florida crash report statute, for a crash that resulted in death, personal injury, or any indication of complaints of pain or discomfort by any of the parties or passengers involved, the long-form report must be submitted to the department within 10 days after the officer completes the investigation. Under Fla. Stat. § 316.066(1)(b), crash reports held by the agency may be made immediately available to the parties involved in the crash, their legal representatives, and certain other listed persons and entities, and under § 316.066(1)(f) they may be made available 60 days after the report is filed to any person or entity eligible to access them.

Other helpful evidence includes:

• Photos of the scene, vehicles, and injuries
• Dash-cam or nearby camera footage
• Witness names and contact details
• Your medical records

Trucking paperwork matters as well. Under federal duty-status rules, no driver or motor carrier may make a false report about duty status. Duty status records show when a driver is on or off duty. Under the federal maintenance rules, maintenance records must be kept for 1 year while the vehicle is housed or maintained, and for 6 months after the vehicle leaves the motor carrier’s control.

Footage and records do not always last. That is why early requests matter. Avoid posting about the crash on social media. Be careful with recorded statements to insurers. Keep copies of everything.

When a FedEx Truck Crash Causes Serious or Fatal Injuries

Some FedEx truck crashes cause injuries that change a person’s life. Others cause a death that leaves a family grieving. Both situations deserve clear information and time to think about next steps.

Catastrophic injuries are very serious, life-changing harms. They include:

• Spinal cord injuries
• Paralysis (paraplegia or quadriplegia)
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Amputations
• Severe burns
• Serious back and neck injuries

Recovery is often long. Costs can grow with it. Those costs may include ongoing care, equipment, home changes, and lost work.

Follow your medical team’s guidance on treatment. Those medical decisions belong to your doctors.

When a crash causes a death, Florida’s wrongful death statute makes the responsible party legally liable for damages. This applies when the injured person could have sued had they lived.

Florida’s wrongful death damages statute describes the categories of losses that a surviving family may be able to pursue:

• A surviving spouse may recover for loss of companionship and protection and for mental pain and suffering from the date of injury.
• Minor children of the decedent, and all children of the decedent if there is no surviving spouse, may recover for lost parental companionship, instruction, and guidance and for mental pain and suffering from the date of injury, except that for claims for medical negligence, adult children may not recover these damages.
• Each parent of a deceased minor child may recover for mental pain and suffering.

Behind every claim is a family learning to live with a painful absence. Our team focuses on helping them understand what they can do next.

What Happens at Your Free Consultation With CHG Personal Injury Lawyers

Your first consultation with CHG Personal Injury Lawyers is free and confidential. It comes with no obligation to continue. It is a chance to talk through what happened and ask questions.

Bring what you have:

• The crash report number
• Photos
• Insurance letters
• Medical bills
• A list of missed work

You do not need everything in order to start.

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

Some matters may be referred to, or handled together with, another law firm. If that applies to your matter, we will tell you before anything changes.

Common Questions