If you’ve just been involved in a collision, it’s normal to feel frantic and confused with what happened.
This is especially true whether it’s a simple minor fender bender or a major truck accident.
Knowing the right things to do can make a huge difference, but what steps you should do after a truck accident?
There are many ways or reasons that cause truck accidents. You can click over here to know the different causes and why such accidents occur.
The moments a truck accident happens are both critical and overwhelming for all parties involved.
In this article, we’re going to discuss the most important steps to take immediately following a truck accident.
This will help you get prepared, know your rights, and make you understand how to respond should you become involved in a truck accident.
Contents
1. Don’t Leave the Scene
Unless you’re taken to the hospital by emergency medical staff, stay at the site after a crash with a semi-trailer truck unless you’re given permission to leave the area.
If you abandon after being given clearance, you could be guilty of leaving the scene of a crash, which is a very serious criminal offense.
In most states, it’s a crime to operate a motor vehicle while drunk. Operating a vehicle while intoxicated, will be more dangerous than driving in a normal state.
2. Report the Incident Immediately
Contact the local authorities or call the police immediately. Even if the accident wasn’t your fault or even if the other party was involved, make sure you report it.
By doing this you’ll help the police prepare their report and you’ll have something to write down about the accident if you were transported to the hospital.
When you do get the police report, take some pictures of the damage.
Keep copies of all the medical attention notes and the accident report in a safe place so that you have them when you need them.
3. Seek Medical Attention
The next thing to do is to seek medical attention especially if you sustain some injuries as a result of the collision.
If you’re injured and don’t know what’s wrong, seeing a doctor might be your best option. Don’t let anyone pressure you into getting a medical exam until you’re sure what happened.
Some injuries can’t be fully identified without a proper exam.
Remember, the insurance companies look at it this way: if you can prove that you got whiplash because of the truck accident, you have a legitimate claim.
You might also consider getting physical therapy, especially after sustaining some serious injuries from the accident.
If you get injured in a truck accident, there’s no doubt that you’ll be in a lot of pain. It’s best to be prepared by going to a physical therapist as soon as possible.
This is your best chance at making a good living from working another day at your job.
You may not feel like working right now but at least you’ll get some relief from your pain by being healed properly.
4. Document the Accident
The importance of documenting a truck accident is for the preparation of insurance claims.
In many cases, insurance adjusters don’t get all of the information they need in order to properly determine whether or not a claim is valid. As such, they end up making estimates that are low.
When an insurance adjuster makes an inaccurate estimate, he’s not only giving you false information, he’s also risking the settlement money you’re going to receive because of that inaccurate information.
It’s absolutely necessary for truck drivers to ensure that they have all of the necessary documentation related to their accident.
Personal injury lawyers are often very knowledgeable about this matter. They know all about obtaining all of the documentation necessary to support your case.
If you’re not sure where to obtain documentation on a truck accident, you should definitely hire a truck accident lawyer. He or she will know exactly where to send the necessary documents.
If you try to do this on your own, you could find yourself in a lot of hot water, even if the adjuster from the insurance company is more than willing to pay you for your truck accident claims.
Conclusion
When you’re involve in a truck accident, make sure to do all the necessary things needed to make sure that things won’t be complicated.
You should know what steps that you need to do from reporting the incident, seeking medical attention, to documentation.
Lastly, you should consider hiring a lawyer.
There are many lawyers who specialize in helping clients make claims on their insurance companies and help you achieve a settlement when they become involved in a truck accident.
At the very least, it’ll give you someone experienced to talk to about your case. It may be well worth it to get legal advice from one of these professionals.
