Dump Truck Accident SR429
A dump truck carrying yard trash blew a tire while traveling northbound on State Road 429. Thereafter, the dump truck crossed the median and collided with a vehicle headed southbound. Thereafter, the truck flipped and caught on fire. The accident happened at approximately 9 a.m. The dump truck was driven by Michael Bridges. As the dump truck was on fire, Jason Allen Williams acted as Good Samaritan and pulled Bridges out of the truck. Bridges condition was described as critical.
The dump truck driver may have some legal liability to the car heading southbound due to a failure to maintain the vehicle. Truck drivers are generally required by 49 CFR 396.13 to perform a pre-trip inspection. The federal motor carrier regulation requires that the driver "be satisfied that the motor vehicle is in safe operating condition" and to sign a report of any defects on the vehicle. In this particular case, it would be interesting to know the condition of the truck tire that blew out and whether such tire was noted by the driver as having inadequate tread or was under-inflated on the pre-trip inspection.
The second significant legal issue presented by this accident is the act of the Good Samaritan. Florida has a "Good Samaritan" law codified in section 768.13, Florida Statutes. This statute states that "any person ... shall not be held liable for any civil damages as a result of such care or treatment or as a result of any act or failure to act in providing or arranging further medical treatment where the person acts as an ordinary reasonably prudent person would have acted under the same or similar circumstances." As such, Florida's Good Samaritan Act is there to protect and encourage those who risk their own lives to save others.
While there is no report of the rescuer getting injured in this case, things get more interesting when the "Good Samaritan" does get injured. Florida follows the "rescue doctrine" when a person who is rescuing another gets injured. See Menendez v. West Gables Rehabilitation Hospital, 123 So. 3d 1178 (Fla. 3rd DCA 2013). The rescue doctrine includes three elements that must be proven by a plaintiff:
(1) the defendant was negligent;
(2) as a result of the defendant's negligence, the person (or property) to be rescued was in imminent peril; and
(3) the rescuer acted reasonably under the circumstances.
The basic precept of this doctrine "is that the person who has created a situation of peril for another will be held in law to have caused peril not only to the victim, but also to his rescuer, and thereby to have caused any injury suffered by the rescuer in the rescue attempt."
Therefore, had there been an injury to the Good Samaritan in this case, the dump truck driver might be legally liable for the accident occurring on the other side of the road and for causing a situation to which someone attempting to rescue the truck driver gets injured as well.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a Central Florida truck accident, please contact a Central Florida truck accident attorney for a free consultation.
