Florida Car Accident Lawyer Blog
Each year, residents of Coral Gables and other South Florida communities contact the team at Flaxman Law Group after suffering serious injuries in car collisions involving tankers. Unfortunately, these crashes can cause serious and even permanent injury, and sometimes survivors have a challenging time getting a fair settlement from insurance companies unless they file a claim.
What Are Tankers?
Also known as tank trucks or tanker trucks, tankers are commercial trucks with cylinder trailers instead of the square and rectangular trailers many big rigs and 18-wheelers haul. Tanker trailers are usually used to haul gases and liquids, though some do have dry cargo. Mostly, they are used to transport food liquids, oil, chemicals, raw sewage, and similar material.
Some tankers are pressurized, insulated, or refrigerated, depending on their cargo. Most are made from carbon steel, aluminum, or stainless steel, and this construction can make them heavy. A fully loaded tanker can weigh 26,000 pounds, 66,000 pounds, or more, and in a crash this weight can add force to the impact.
Tanker Collisions in Coral Gables
Tankers can be top-heavy because of their cargo. Since they can carry liquid, their cargo can also be unstable, moving from one end of the tank to the other, putting tanker trucks at risk of rollovers.
Like other collisions, crashes involving tanker trucks can also be caused by mechanical failure, driver negligence, human error, road conditions, and other factors. Since tank trucks are so heavy, tire failure is a common cause of collisions, too.
Injuries in Tanker Collisions
Tankers often carry hazardous materials, such as oil, pesticides, chemicals, raw sewage, flammables, irritants, and similar materials. In a crash, if this material leaks, it can cause a fire, explosion, or an exposure situation. If you are in a collision involving a tanker, you’ll want to be alert for these dangers.
Injuries common in tanker collisions can include:
- Exposure to toxins
- Burns, including chemical burns
- Crushing injuries
- Whiplash and soft tissue injuries
- Fractures
- Amputations
- Head trauma
- Spinal cord and back injuries
- Facial injuries
- Fatalities
Recovering from Injuries After a Tanker Crash in Coral Gables
Being in a collision with a tanker truck is traumatizing, especially if the collision was serious or involved hazardous materials. It’s not uncommon to need to spend time in the hospital, miss time at work, attend counseling, and see specialists. The healing process can take months or years.
If you have been injured due to someone’s negligence, you should not have to pay for the costs of your injury yourself. Under Florida law, you may be able to pursue a claim if someone was negligent and you may be able to seek compensation for your injuries.
To find out whether you might have a claim, contact a Coral Gables car accident injury claims attorney at Flaxman Law Group by calling 1-866-352-9626 (1-866-FLAXMAN) for a free accident consultation.
Our legal team has working with thousands of plaintiffs and has recovered tens of millions of dollars on behalf of injured South Florida residents. We are pleased to speak with you in a free accident consultation, and we offer virtual, telephone, and in-person case reviews.