Truck accidents result in some of the most serious and legally frustrating vehicle-related incidents on U.S. roadways.
Due to the size, weight, and operational protocols of commercial vehicles, these collisions often lead to catastrophic injuries, extensive property damage, and lengthy legal proceedings.
For instance, a fully loaded semi-truck might require more than 500 feet to stop, which can lead to dramatic collisions and years of recovery.
Therefore, after a truck accident, always seek medical attention and contact a truck accident lawyer near you.
Seek Immediate Medical Care: Your health is the priority. A medical record also documents your injuries.
Report the Accident: Call 911 to ensure police and medical personnel respond to the scene.
Document Everything: Take photos and videos of the vehicles, the scene, and your visible injuries.
Get Witness Information: Collect names and phone numbers from anyone who saw the crash.
Consult an Attorney: Speak with a personal injury lawyer before talking to any insurance companies.
Following a truck accident, the steps taken in the first minutes and hours are vital to your legal and medical outcome. Immediate attention should be given to health and documentation. However, certain protocols can help protect both your well-being and your legal rights.
Even in the absence of obvious injuries, a medical evaluation is necessary. Some injuries, including concussions and internal trauma, may not present symptoms immediately. Prompt medical treatment also establishes a medical record, which is integral to any claim.
If bystanders or other motorists witnessed the collision, obtain their contact information. Independent witness accounts may help in contested cases.
When speaking with police, victims should provide only facts and no other form of conjecture. Guessing or speculating is unhelpful, as is discussing the incident with other drivers or passengers.
Retaining the legal services of a seasoned truck accident lawyer early can help preserve key evidence, ensure deadlines are met, and establish a framework for managing correspondence with insurers and opposing parties.
After an accident, certain actions can weaken your potential injury claim. The trucking company’s insurer and lawyers will scrutinize every detail to reduce or deny your claim.
Avoid these common mistakes:
Naturally, drivers involved in a truck collision will be stressed, which can lead to poor decisions, including admitting fault. Even if there is some responsibility, admitting any fault will restrict or reduce any potential settlement.
Barring necessary medical interventions, victims should remain in place before the police arrive. Leaving the scene of the accident makes the driver look at fault, and it won’t help the case if they don’t provide a statement right away.
Medical intervention initiates a timeline of events, providing tangible proof of damages to support your claim from the outset. The long-term implications of your damages may not yet be present, and any medical assistance early on demonstrates you have been affected by the other party’s actions.
You may or may not have made a claim, but insurance adjusters from the liable party will likely contact you. Their objective is to make an offer before you seek an attorney’s guidance, which will cost them more money and hurt your ability to pay for your injuries.
In the modern age, most people’s thoughts turn to social media after a life-threatening event, which is a bad idea. Posting photos or videos of your vehicle or injuries may devalue your claim. Doing this may show you do not take your injuries as seriously as you should, even as you suffer.
While not every vehicle accident requires legal intervention, truck accidents often present factors that make legal guidance necessary. Specific red flags should be noted by claimants that mean a claim or potential lawsuit is the only recourse, including:
Injuries requiring surgery, rehabilitation, or resulting in long-term disability may lead to substantial damages.
When a trucking company, logistics provider, or vehicle manufacturer may share liability, a truck accident lawyer’s investigation becomes necessary to identify the appropriate defendants.
Lost income, medical expenses, and future care needs are grounds for legal claims. An attorney can help quantify and substantiate these losses.
If an insurance representative contacts you, requests a statement, or offers a settlement, get legal review before proceeding.
If a trucking company or driver offers a private settlement without involving insurers, this may indicate an attempt to limit their liability.
Where liability is unclear or disputed, attorneys can assist in gathering supporting evidence, including traffic camera footage, black box data, and eyewitness testimony.
Truck accidents frequently involve multiple potentially liable parties. Determining responsibility requires a thorough review of employment relationships, equipment maintenance records, and accident scene data. Here are some examples of who might be liable in a truck accident claim:
In most cases, a truck accident attorney may subpoena black box data, safety logs, or dispatch records to establish fault. It is for this very reason that hiring a truck accident lawyer is unavoidable, not least to help guide you toward finding the right liable party and establishing their fault.
When a truck driver flees the scene of an accident, the situation becomes more challenging for the victims. However, there are steps injured individuals can take to ensure justice is served and they receive the rightful compensation.
If you are a victim of a hit-and-run accident involving a truck driver, reporting the incident to the authorities immediately will help your claim. The police will typically investigate to identify the driver and gather evidence.
In most hit-and-run accidents, the driver is not immediately identified. However, with the help of an experienced truck accident attorney, there are still ways to pursue an insurance claim.
An attorney can gather evidence, interview witnesses, and negotiate with insurance companies on behalf of the victims pursuing uninsured motorist (UM) or Underinsured Motorist (UIM) claims. They can also assist in filing a third-party claim or lawsuit if the truck driver is eventually identified.
The likelihood of identifying the driver in a hit-and-run accident is often low, though the chances can increase following a truck crash. In such cases, you need to work with a truck accident attorney who understands auto insurance and has experience dealing with insurance companies.
They can guide you through all the legal hurdles for insurance claims or lawsuits if that becomes necessary. Put simply, a lawyer increases the chances of receiving the best compensation package.
A truck accident lawyer has extensive knowledge and experience in handling hit-and-run accident cases. They understand the lay of the land for these types of accidents and can provide seasoned guidance and representation to the victims.
Commercial truck collisions often result in serious physical harm. Due to the mass of the vehicles involved, injuries are often more severe than in standard car accidents.
These injuries vary in severity, but even the most innocuous of injuries can still have debilitating long-term consequences. Documenting all treatments, follow-ups, and prescriptions is fundamental for establishing damages.
Victims may seek damages under multiple categories, depending on the severity of the incident, accident jurisdiction, and nature of losses. These damages take different guises and are separated into three main categories: economic damages, non-economic damages, and punitive damages —and, in some cases, wrongful death damages.
Economic damages refer to quantifiable financial losses that cannot be disputed. Such impacts are easily measured, showing tangible losses to the victim’s financial health:
The inverse of economic damages is non-economic damages, which include compensation for other harm. In short, these costs are accrued subjectively, and they relate to any loss of living standards caused by the accident.
This category is awarded in cases where gross negligence, willful misconduct, or regulatory violations took place. Punitive damages punish the defendant and deter future misconduct. Some states may cap them, and you may need to meet a higher legal standard to obtain them.
In some states, wrongful death claims may be possible following a truck accident fatality. It means that the deceased’s estate or surviving family members (usually the immediate family) may recover damages for:
Insurance companies defending truck accident claims often seek to minimize payouts through procedural or strategic means. Even if it is clearly obvious you are suffering, and their client is liable, these entities will work hard to lower the payout available.
Common insurance company tactics include:
Maintaining a complete log of communications and forwarding inquiries to legal counsel can help reduce exposure to bad-faith tactics.
Due to the multi-party nature and regulatory framework of truck accident litigation, representation by an attorney with experience in such cases is often advisable. Legal counsel may assist with:
These regulations govern hours-of-service rules, maintenance inspections, driver qualifications, and drug testing protocols.
Truck accidents present an elevated risk of injury and financial hardship compared to typical vehicle collisions. Victims face medical uncertainty, employment disruption, emotional strain, and interactions with complicated insurance frameworks. Timely and informed decisions regarding documentation, medical care, and legal representation can preserve your right to compensation. All of this is very challenging and requires the skills of an experienced truck accident attorney.
Claimants should understand that certain statutes of limitations often limit the timeline for filing truck accident claims, not least claims against government entities.
Most personal injury attorneys who handle truck accident cases work on a contingency fee basis. This means you do not pay any upfront fees. The lawyer’s fee is a percentage of the financial compensation they recover for you, whether through a settlement or a court verdict.
If you do not recover money, you do not owe attorney’s fees.
A commercial truck’s black box, or Electronic Logging Device (ELD) and Event Data Recorder (EDR), records critical information. It can show the truck’s speed, braking activity, steering inputs, and the driver’s hours of service. This crucial evidence can prove what caused the crash.
An attorney can send a spoliation letter to the trucking company to ensure they preserve this data immediately after an accident.
Defendants in a truck accident case may blame the victim. This is a legal strategy related to comparative fault or contributory negligence.
In most states, you can still recover damages even if you are partially at fault, though your percentage of fault would reduce your compensation.
Your attorney will build a case using evidence like police reports, witness statements, and accident reconstruction experts to counter these accusations and establish the truck driver’s liability.
If you have been involved in a truck accident, it makes sense to contact a truck accident attorney well-versed in personal injury law who can help your claim. It is imperative to reach out as early as possible following the incident. Most attorneys in this field work on a contingency basis, meaning you only pay legal fees if your lawyer successfully recovers damages.
Contact a truck accident lawyer now and reclaim your future. It may just change your life.
Marcus & Mack
