Three injured on I-4 when tractor trailer collides with construction truck near Dover.
When construction worker Steven Cofield and Police Officer Maurice Hensley reported for work at the construction site on I-4 near McIntosh Road late Sunday night, they had no idea they would be dealing with auto insurance and worker’s compensation insurance claims about to kick in.
At about 1:55am on the morning of July 13, 2009, an “18-wheeler” tractor trailer truck driven by Jack Duran of Orlando slammed into the back of a construction truck driven by Steven Cofield of Bradenton, creating a chain reaction crash with a police cruiser driven by Maurice Hensley of Tampa and a second construction truck driven by William Pettet of Valrico. The driver of the tractor trailer, along with the driver of the construction truck, Steven Cofield, and also Officer Hensley, were treated for potentially serious injuries as a result of the crashes.
The four-vehicle pile-up closed the westbound lane of I-4 for nearly four hours while police detectives conducted an investigation and victims were rendered aid and transported to various hospitals, including Tampa General, Saint Joseph’s, and Brandon Regional. Mr. Pettet was the only operator of a vehicle not transported to an area hospital.
All of the vehicles involved in the pile-up were lighted properly. Both construction vehicles had flashing arrow signals, and the police cruiser had its police lights in full ‘on’ mode as a warning to oncoming traffic.
While the immediate assumption of the victims and their families is probably that they only have auto accident insurance, they should know that a huge portion of the claim will have to be dealt with through worker’s compensation law. Since the construction workers, police officer and tractor trailer driver were all “on the job” at the time of the accident, both auto insurance and worker’s compensation laws now become somewhat intertwined in the application to this case, and can get relatively complex.
When faced with complex insurance claim issues, such as they appear to be in this case, and dealing with multiple insurance companies, it’s always a good idea to seek the advice of a competent attorney specializing in both worker’s compensation and auto or car accident injury law. Worker’s compensation claims come in a variety of guises.
Tony Francis is an Orlando personal injury lawyer. His practice specializes in being an Orlando accident lawyer helping innocent victims get compensation for their losses. To learn more about Orlando injury lawyer, Orlando personal injury lawyer, Orlando accident lawyer, Orlando injury attorney, visit Francislawgroup.com.
