Members of the Florida Highway Patrol are charged with keeping the state’s roads safe and passable. A challenging and dangerous job, state troopers assume a lot of risk on every shift as they regularly work around moving traffic and other potential hazards. They also spend a lot of their time responding to reports of accidents and abandoned vehicles. Now, one Florida state trooper is in the hospital recovering from injuries he received due to a collision with a commercial box truck.
Details regarding accident
Around 11:30 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 28, a Florida state trooper had noticed an abandoned vehicle on the shoulder of I-10 near State Road 85 in Crestview. He activated his emergency lights and got out to inspect the stalled vehicle. Just then, a box truck came along and struck the trooper as he was on the side of the road.
The truck struck the side of the trooper’s cruiser and the stalled vehicle, as well as the trooper himself. He was taken to Fort Walton Beach Medical Center for treatment of serious injuries. An update to the report states the trooper is in good spirits and communicating with staff and loved ones. The truck driver received unspecified charges for his role in causing the accident.
Legal recourse for victim
The fact that the truck driver is facing charges may bode well for the trooper. Should he choose to do so, he can pursue a personal injury claim against the truck driver, his or her employer, and anyone else with ownership interest in the truck. The trooper can use the evidence of any traffic violations against the truck driver as evidence in his civil case, and he can increase his chances of obtaining the favorable outcome he deserves by working closely with an experienced personal injury attorney in Florida.