Tampa · Truck crash law
Truck accident law in Tampa
Three local questions often shape a Tampa truck case: what the truck was carrying, whether it was allowed on that street, and how long its driver had been at the wheel. Read our guides to Port Tampa Bay, Tampa’s truck routes and the interstates, or request a free case evaluation.
The short answer
Which rules apply to a Tampa truck accident?
Florida’s statutes, and the federal safety rules Florida applies to trucks on its roads (opens in a new tab) with exceptions for hauls that begin and end inside the state. Inside the city, Tampa’s code also keeps regulated trucks to designated truck routes (opens in a new tab). Most negligence claims must be filed within two years (opens in a new tab), and a case from a crash in Tampa can be filed in Hillsborough County, which is, by itself, Florida’s Thirteenth Judicial Circuit (opens in a new tab).
Why does it matter what the truck was carrying?
Because some cargo brings rules of its own. More than half of Port Tampa Bay’s tonnage is petroleum products, by the port’s own statistics (opens in a new tab), and the port says much of that petroleum is forwarded by pipeline (opens in a new tab). It does not say how much leaves by tanker truck.
A truck carrying hazardous materials is held to more. It is subject to the federal hazardous materials regulations, whether in interstate or intrastate commerce (opens in a new tab), and the federal minimum insurance for carriers of oil and many other hazardous materials is higher than for ordinary freight (opens in a new tab), depending on the material and the trip.
A truck that stays in Florida can still be carrying interstate freight. Under the federal definition, a haul between two places in the state is interstate commerce when it is part of a shipment that began or will end outside the state (opens in a new tab), as a container that reached the port from overseas can be.
Was the truck allowed on that street?
Inside the city, Tampa’s code says regulated trucks shall be operated only over and along the designated truck routes (opens in a new tab), and lets a truck leave them only as necessary to reach a destination or to do its business.
A driver off the routes must be prepared to show police the truck’s log book, weight slips, delivery slips, or other written evidence of the truck’s origin and destination (opens in a new tab). Those papers can show where the truck was headed and why.
In unincorporated Hillsborough County the rule runs the other way. The county bars trucks from county roads designated and posted against through truck traffic (opens in a new tab), unless the truck is headed to a destination on that road or to one that can be reached only by it.
How long had the driver been at the wheel?
Which limit applied turns on the freight. For a haul in interstate commerce, federal rules allow 11 hours of driving inside a 14-hour window (opens in a new tab) that opens after 10 consecutive hours off duty. A driver working solely in commerce within Florida, and not hauling placarded hazardous materials, may drive 12 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty, and not past the 16th hour after coming on duty (opens in a new tab).
Some trucks have no log at all. Florida law excuses a driver in in-state commerce from the federal record of duty status (opens in a new tab) if the driver stays within 150 air miles of base, the truck is not hauling hazardous materials in amounts that require placards, and the carrier keeps time records instead. Where logs are required, a carrier has to keep them for not less than 6 months (opens in a new tab), far less time than you have to file.
What deadlines and fault rules apply in Tampa?
The statewide ones. Most negligence claims must be filed within two years (opens in a new tab) of when the cause of action accrues (opens in a new tab). That period applies to causes of action accruing after March 24, 2023 (opens in a new tab); before the 2023 change it was four years.
Fault is divided. Your damages are reduced by your own share, a person found greater than 50 percent at fault for his or her own harm (opens in a new tab) recovers nothing, and judgment is entered against each defendant on the basis of that party’s percentage of fault (opens in a new tab).
Your own personal injury protection pays first, whoever caused the crash, and its medical benefits are available only if you receive initial care within 14 days after the crash (opens in a new tab). That condition is about your own insurance. It is not a deadline for a claim against the trucking company.
Where is a Tampa truck case filed?
Tampa is in Hillsborough County, which is, by itself, Florida’s Thirteenth Judicial Circuit (opens in a new tab). Claims above $50,000 go to the circuit court, and the county court hears cases up to that amount (opens in a new tab).
The county of the crash is one of the places a case can be filed, and it may not be the only one: a case is generally brought in the county where the defendant resides or where the cause of action accrued (opens in a new tab).
Our Hillsborough County courts guide covers the courthouse and the clerk, federal court, and claims against public bodies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does it matter if the truck was hauling fuel?
It can. Every commercial vehicle carrying hazardous materials on a public road is subject to the federal hazardous materials regulations (opens in a new tab), whether the haul is interstate or in-state, and Tampa’s code keeps a truck carrying hazardous material off the streets of the central business area (opens in a new tab) unless it has business, construction or maintenance work at a destination there.
Is a crash on the Howard Frankland Bridge a Hillsborough County case?
Not always. The bridge runs between Pinellas and Hillsborough counties (opens in a new tab), and a case is generally brought in the county where the defendant resides or where the cause of action accrued (opens in a new tab), so a crash on the Pinellas side may be filed there.
Who answers for a crash with a container truck?
Possibly more than one company. A container truck is a tractor, a steel box and a wheeled chassis, often from different companies, and the company that supplied the chassis has its own federal duty to inspect, repair and maintain that equipment (opens in a new tab). Which company answers depends on what failed and on what each company’s records show.
What does it cost to hire the firm?
The case evaluation is free, and there is no fee unless we win.
Tampa’s port, roads and courts
- 01
Port Tampa Bay
Fuel, bulk cargo and containers, and the rules that travel with them
Explore Port Tampa Bay - 02
Interstates
The interstates, the Selmon, and the hours a driver may work
Explore the interstates - 03
Truck routes
Where the city code lets a truck go, and what its records show
Explore truck routes - 04
Courts and public bodies
The circuit court, federal court, and claims against public bodies
Explore courts and public bodies