The Collier County Sheriff’s Office opened June with a crackdown on unsafe commercial trucks in the Naples area in an effort to prevent serious and deadly trucking accidents.
Florida trucking accident lawyers and personal injury and wrongful death attorneys know getting unsafe trucks and truck drivers off our road will reduce serious trucking accidents in Southwest Florida.
We urge motorists to use extra caution around all commercial trucks. A semi or dump truck can weight 70,000 to 80,000 pounds – 20 times the weight of a passenger vehicle. At 70 mph, you don’t stand a chance.
Collier County deputies will be stopping commercial vehicles around the clock this week to inspect tires, brakes and other safety equipment in an aggressive enforcement effort of state and federal laws governing commercial vehicles.
“The road check gives law enforcement the opportunity to make sure these vehicles are safe to be out on the roads,” said Cpl. Tom Mullen, of the traffic enforcement bureau. “It also forces the owners of these trucks to keep up with the safety standards.”
Advocacy groups content 20 to 30 percent of trucks on Florida roads are running overweight at any give time — and fines in the range of $100 offer little deterrent compared to the profit to be made when large trucks run purposefully overweight.
One in every 10 fatalities is the result of a trucker-related crash — about 1,000 a year, according to federal statistics. And Florida is one of the most deadly — second only to Texas in the number of fatal trucking crashes.
If you or someone you love has been injured or killed in a trucking accident, there are certain things you can do to help protect your rights. Our Florida trucking accident lawyers offer free appointments to discuss your rights at offices located throughout Southwest Florida, including Fort Myers, Naples, Cape Coral, Port Charlotte, Arcadia, Sebring and Venice.