Truck accidents are very serious and often cause much more catastrophic injuries and greater damage than ordinary accidents. If you find yourself a victim of a truck accident, contact an accident injury lawyer quickly and follow these steps to ensure all your rights are protected.
From an Accident Injury Lawyer: Steps to Take After a Truck Accident
Your first step should always be to ensure your own safety and the safety of everyone else involved. Make sure an ambulance is called and that, if possible, you have moved yourself or others out of danger. Once that’s done, follow these steps:
1. Call the Police
If you don’t need an ambulance, which is rare in truck accidents, call the police anyway so that you still have a police report about the incident. You will need this in filing a claim or even going to court.
2. Collect Evidence
If it’s safe to do so, get as much evidence as you can about what happened. Take pictures of your vehicle and the truck as well as road conditions, and do this from various angles. Get contact information for everyone who was involved and any witnesses. If you’re dealing with a truck, be sure to get as much information from the truck driver as possible, though if the truck driver is combative, you should wait for the police to arrive.
It should go without saying that if the truck driver has been badly injured, you can ask your lawyer to search for this information later instead. If not though, find out the driver’s name and address, whether they own the truck themselves, what company they are driving for, the license numbers of the driver and the vehicle, and any other information you can get.
3. Seek Medical Attention
As noted above, your first act should be to take care of your health, so if you’ve been badly hurt you should go straight to the hospital. If you didn’t have to go to the hospital immediately, though, you should still go as soon as possible after you leave the scene. There are two reasons for this. Legally, you need to show the connection between any injuries and the accident itself. If you wait too long to get medical attention, the other side’s insurance company may attempt to argue that any injuries you later present with had nothing to do with the accident.
Additionally, there are many injuries that don’t manifest immediately, some of which can be very serious. For example, you could have internal bleeding, and while you may not feel any symptoms for a while, if it continues, it can be deadly.
4. Call an Accident Injury Lawyer
As soon as possible, contact a qualified accident lawyer like those at Hilliard Law. Your lawyer will get to work immediately investigating the case, negotiating with insurance companies, and protecting you from any unfair accusations in an attempt to shift blame for the accident. And if you are badly hurt, which is often the case in accidents involving large trucks, you will feel very relieved having someone on your side taking care of the legalities so you can focus on healing.
If you’ve been injured in a truck accident, don’t try to go against powerful insurance companies and trucking companies on your own. Contact a lawyer as soon as possible.
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