Semi-Truck Accident on Central Florida Parkway
Five different vehicles were involved in a crash that occurred at the intersection of John Young Parkway and the Central Florida Parkway. The accident happened around noon on Tuesday when a Mears bus and an Audi collided. It is not known why those vehicles collided, but the Mears bus was empty at the time with no passengers. Thereafter, the collision caused the bus to collide with a semi-truck's trailer as the semi-truck was stopped at the red light facing west. The news report does not state why a Dodge Durango thereafter struck the semi-truck and also how a Chevrolet van was also struck "by one of the vehicles." The driver of the Audi, Christian Der Gual, and the driver of the Durango, Andrew Nelson, were listed in serious condition. The driver of the Mears bus, Douglas Haney, received critical injuries. Further, it was reported that the driver of the van, Leon Jones, sustained minor injuries while the truck driver, Victor Silcott, was not injured.
From the sound of the news report, this was a complicated accident that may involve some degree of comparative fault on the part of more than one driver involved in the crash. From the air, this is a relatively large intersection that handles a large volume of traffic at different times of the day. With so much going on at any given time, there is the potential that one negligent act triggers other acts of negligence. In Florida, the jury decides who is at fault for an accident and to what extent (usually expressed as a percentage of overall fault).
Section 768.81, Florida Statutes, is considered to be Florida's "comparative fault" statute. The statute reads in relevant part:
(2) EFFECT OF CONTRIBUTORY FAULT.—In a negligence action, contributory fault chargeable to the claimant diminishes proportionately the amount awarded as economic and noneconomic damages for an injury attributable to the claimant’s contributory fault, but does not bar recovery.
(3) APPORTIONMENT OF DAMAGES.—In a negligence action, the court shall enter judgment against each party liable on the basis of such party’s percentage of fault and not on the basis of the doctrine of joint and several liability.
2. In order to allocate any or all fault to a nonparty and include the named or unnamed nonparty on the verdict form for purposes of apportioning damages, a defendant must prove at trial, by a preponderance of the evidence, the fault of the nonparty in causing the plaintiff’s injuries.
Therefore, this is likely a case where each respective driver (perhaps with the exception of whoever's action might have triggered this chain reaction) will blame some other driver for something that they did that ultimately either caused the collision or damages that would not have normally occurred but for the original negligent act. This ends up being a two-fold finger pointing--one toward the driver who may have set everything in motion and the other toward a driver who allegedly reacted improperly or allegedly did something that made things worse. As a lawyer, I have encountered this situation and a common result is that the insurance companies for most of the drivers will make offers to resolve claims against their insureds even if the claims being made are not crystal clear. For that matter, lawyers and insurance adjusters could probably argue about a case like this all day and never reach an agreement as to what proportion each respective driver is at fault. If lawyers and insurance adjusters can take all day to argue about it, so can a jury of six people from the community. This is why each person injured in the accident should have their own personal injury lawyer to discuss the case from the individual perspective of their client.
If you or a someone you know has been injured in a car or truck accident in Central Florida, please contact a car or truck accident lawyer in Central Florida to discuss what happened and to advocate your respective position on your involvement in the accident. A consultation with a car or truck accident lawyer is free.