In most instances, truck accidents are extremely dangerous and result in untold pain and suffering to those who survive the truck accidents. On many occasions, hundreds and even thousands of people lose their lives. The deaths are traumatizing to the survivors as they result in full or partial loss of limbs. It should be noted that trucks, whether large or small, often bring about almost equal amounts of damage and injuries. It follows from this that it is extremely necessary that people know and understand how fundamental it is to protect themselves from truck accidents and what to do after they or their loved ones have been involved in a truck accident. Consulting with an experienced truck accident attorney can provide crucial guidance and support in these situations. I was in a truck accident; what steps should I take now to protect my rights?[1]
While it is fundamental that you understand how to protect yourself physically from truck accidents, it is also crucial that you fully understand how you should ensure that your legal rights are not violated and if they are, how to ensure that you are compensated for the violation of your rights. It is noteworthy to note that while seeking compensation for the injuries and loss suffered is important, you must ensure that you seek medical attention so that the extent of your injuries is assessed and so that you can get properly treated. You must not pay for the resultant costs of accidents if you did not cause or participate in their occurrence. The at-fault party shall be responsible for the same. [2]
Insurance Companies Will Try to Settle for LessÂ
While most companies would initially want to distance themselves and their insured from liability, they would after thoroughly investigating the accident understand that their insured, the truck driver, could be at fault for the accident. As most insurance companies are formed with the sole purpose of making profits for their investors, they would not appreciate losing more money than is necessary. With this understanding, they shall aim to lower the consequential costs of liability. [3]
In light of the above, the insurance company would reach out to the victim of the truck accident and aim to pay them an extremely small amount of money. As insurance companies are majorly on the side of their investors, they would give little regard to the extent of injuries suffered or the amount of money that would sufficiently compensate you for your loss. They would use the strategy of increasing the amount of money slowly by slowly to ensure that you are confused and end up accepting their offer. More often than not, they would conveniently use facts to their advantage to ensure that you do not go to court and file a truck accident case.
It follows therefore that fully aware that the insurance companies are not on your side, you must endeavor to ensure that you take active steps to ensure that they do not take advantage of your situation and end up forcing you to take an offer that does not fully appreciate the full extent of your injuries. The offer from the insurance company that should be accepted is closely related to the amount that you would possibly have been awarded in court. It follows therefore that you must ensure that you arm yourself with every strategy that shall likely result in you getting a sufficient amount of compensation.
Steps You Should Take After a Truck Accident
To deal with the consequences of a truck accident, the following are the things that you should endeavor to do after an accident to ensure that you get the best shot at the highest possible compensation. Doing them will most likely make the at-fault party think twice about the offer that they are making to you and at the same ensure that if the matter proceeds to court, the court shall find in your favor. [4]
Ensure that you and those around the scene are safe
You must undoubtedly note that while the accident may have brought about minor injuries, staying at the scene could aggravate the injuries and even result in deaths if the situation is not properly monitored. It follows therefore that you must exercise a great deal of restraint to ensure that you and your loved ones are as far away as possible from the accident scene. Being away from the accident scene would reduce the possibility of further harm and would allow the first responders the opportunity to offer you first aid.
I was in a Truck Accident What Steps Should I Take? Stay at the Scene and Report the Accident
While it is crucial to maintain a safe distance from the accident scene if it is apparent that further harm could arise, the law in California provides that you must not depart the scene of the accident. Walking away from the accident would result in the accident being referred to as a hit-and-run accident and would largely land you in trouble with the law. It follows therefore that you must not depart the scene.
You must also ensure that you call the accident. While it is common for police officers to arrive at the accident scene promptly, there are certain situations in which the police do not arrive in time. When this happens, it is fundamental that you call the police so that they can assess the accident scene and come up with a police report. Calling the police and staying at the truck accident scene would enable you to give the police a version of events that would ensure that the police report is accurate.
It is also fundamental to note that California’s law stipulates that you must report injuries, damage to property exceeding $1,000, and deaths in an accident to the police. It follows therefore that you must endeavor to report the accident.
You must also call for medical help as soon as possible. Calling for medical attention shall largely ensure that you are treated for your injuries before they get worse. It should be noted that while some accidents result in minor injuries, the same can progress into more serious and life-threatening harm. Moreover, as the injuries may result in loss of blood, losing blood for a long time can turn fatal. It follows therefore that you must call for emergency medical help so that you can be attended to as soon as possible. [5]
You should also ensure that you do not tamper with the accident scene to ensure that you do not affect the accident scene in such a manner as to make it difficult or impossible for the authorities to determine who is at fault for the accident. While this is a common position, you may move your car if it becomes clear that leaving as it was after the accident could bring about another accident. [6]
You must ensure that you have the hazards of your vehicle on so that oncoming and outgoing vehicles understand that there could be a problem with the car. This shall ensure that there are no further accidents. When the police arrive, they shall have a look at the accident scene, make an analysis, ask you, the at-fault party, and the witnesses questions, and then prepare an accident report. You should answer their questions clearly and conclusively. You should thereafter ensure that you get a copy of the police report as it shall be instrumental when seeking compensation.
Exchange Information
You must ensure that you have exchanged information with the other drivers at the accident scene. You should ensure that you have their email address, phone numbers, their names, addresses, their driving license numbers, their insurance company the underlying policy numbers, and any information that you can find of them.
You must understand the employers of the truck drivers as you will require any such information when you are instituting a compensation claim. employers of the at-fault truck drivers shall shoulder some responsibility for the truck accident. You must take pictures and videos of the specific truck that was involved in the accident so that they may be easily identified when they have to be inspected.
Talk to Witnesses
You should ensure that you speak to the witnesses at the accident scene so that you can understand their version of the events leading up to the truck accident. You should inquire from them what they witnessed and politely inquire from them as to whether they shall be willing to make a statement about what they saw. If they agree to your request to provide a statement, you should ensure that you take their details so that they can easily be reached out to when seeking compensation. It is fundamental to note that the witnesses’ account of events would have a huge impact on the chances of the personal injury claim succeeding.
Take Pictures
Ensure that you take pictures of the accident scene. The pictures taken shall greatly be relied on when you shall be pursuing the matter in court. You should ensure that you have pictures of the entire place of the accident, and the landmarks around the accident scene so that you can easily identify the exact part of the accident, the injuries or the injuries that have been suffered by yourself, your loved ones or other people at the accident scene and the extent of the damages on your vehicle. [7]
The pictures shall be used as a basis to understand what could have happened during and before the accident, the people injured, the property damaged, and the people who should be found culpable for the accident. The pictures taken shall also be relied on if the accident scene has been tampered with or altered to benefit a certain narrative. You should also ensure that you take pictures of the injuries suffered by yourself and your loved ones and have dates so that the length of time it took for them to be okay can be understood. [8]
Get Medical Treatment
As pointed out above, most truck accidents bring about severe injuries or even death. The principal reason for the same is that the trucks are huge and would ordinarily affect a bigger area as compared to other smaller vehicles. It follows therefore that you must seek immediate and urgent medical attention so that the injuries can be looked at and the same contained. Taking so long before seeking medical attention shall worsen an otherwise minor injury or may even result in death.
Seeking urgent medical treatment shall ensure that your condition is adequately monitored. Moreover, medical attention and the resultant medical reports shall be crucial when you are seeking compensation for your injuries. While you may not experience the full extent of the injuries suffered at the scene of the accident due to the adrenaline rush of the moment, you will later on realize the same. It follows therefore that you should seek medical attention so that the full extent of your injuries can be noted and addressed.
What to Do After You’ve Sought Treatment
It is important to note that after you have walked to a safe distance in a truck accident, have reported the accident to the authorities, have collected all the necessary pieces of evidence about the accident, have seen a doctor, and have been treated for the injuries that you may have suffered, you need to do certain things so that you can bolster the chances of your truck accident case These steps include the following:
Be Very Careful What You Say
If it is clear that you may have not been at fault for the accident, the at-fault party, the insurance company, and their representatives may reach out to you to ensure that they negotiate with you. While some of them may reach out to you with a genuine desire to assist you, some of them may reach out to you to exploit your vulnerabilities.
It follows therefore that since you may not be aware of their intentions, and even if they are genuinely interested in helping you, you must endeavor to ensure that you do not admit any fault for the accident, you do not apologize to them, do not say that you are pretty much fine after the accident, do not accept any money that they may want to give to you and do not agree to give any written or recorded statement. Doing any of these may likely hamper your chances of getting the compensation that you deserve.
While it could be very tempting to post about your unfortunate truck accident on social media, it is fundamental that you avoid doing the same as you may inadvertently end up affecting your chances of getting the compensation that you deserve. You must therefore refrain from commenting about the news article that may likely come out about the accident. You may say something on social media that may end up being detrimental to you and the other side shall rely on it when challenging your entitlement to any compensation.
It follows therefore that it is fundamental that you speak to an experienced truck accident attorney as soon as you are involved in a truck accident so that they may counsel you on what to do and what not to do to increase your chances of getting the compensation that you deserve. You must therefore engage them and ensure that you do not depart from their counsel as doing so will be detrimental to your case.
Get Your Vehicle Appraised
You must take your car for an appraisal by a qualified mechanic. By taking your car for an appraisal, you shall be giving the mechanic a chance to examine the car and identify the damages that you may not have seen. Having these hidden damages which would naturally affect the value and the safety of your car known, you shall be able to include the same in your claim for compensation. You may fail to notice and include them if the same was not assessed. You must ensure that you have a copy of the assessment report. To further strengthen your case, you must take pictures and videos of the accident.[9]
While you may be tempted to have the car repaired after you have noticed the various obvious and hidden damages, you must not ask the mechanic to start repairing them as you may violate the insurance policy that you have on the car. Doing repairs without the express authorization of the insurance company would most likely lead to your inability to claim reimbursement from the insurance company as the repairs were not authorized by them. You must therefore ensure that you follow the provisions of the insurance policy if you want to stand a good chance of getting reimbursements.
Call a Truck Accident Lawyer
As indicated above, you must speak to an experienced truck accident lawyer immediately after the accident so that they can advise you on the best way forward on your matter. An experienced personal injury lawyer will be very crucial to ensuring that you get the compensation that you deserve.
Even in instances in which you believe that you shoulder some responsibility for the accident, you must speak to a lawyer so that they can advise you on the best way forward to maximize your chances of getting compensation no matter the amount of contribution that you may have made towards the happening of the accident.
Keep Records of All Accident-Related Bills
Ensure that you keep every record of the payments that you may have made as a result of the consequential payments that follow the happening of a truck accident. These costs include the costs of towing your vehicle if it was extensively damaged, the costs of doing assessments and reports on the accident, the cost incurred at the hospital and the pharmacy, and any other costs that you may have reasonably incurred as a result of the truck accident. [10]
Don’t Miss Your Deadline to File a Truck Accident Claim
You must ensure that you file your claim within two years from the happening of the accident. Filing your claim beyond the stipulated period of two years would negatively impact the chances of your personal injury claim succeeding. While it is possible that you could have pretty much been sick during a better part of the first two years of the accident, you must endeavor you engage an experienced personal injury lawyer who shall help you in the collection of evidence, investigations, and eventually the filing of the personal injury claim. Engaging a lawyer as soon as possible would therefore ensure that you file the claim within the timelines. [11]
How These Steps Help Your Truck Accident LawyerÂ
In ensuring that you have adhered to the above steps, you shall ensure that you have protected your health and at the same time ensured that you have not done anything that would otherwise be detrimental to your personal injury claim. Moreover, you will have given your personal injury attorney a go-ahead to institute the filing of the personal injury claim so that you beat the deadline imposed by the statute of limitations. With the information and other pieces of evidence gathered, the process of following up on your compensation will have been eased and this will ensure that you get the best shot at a maximum amount of compensation.
You will also have avoided avenues that would have greatly and negatively impacted your chances of getting the compensation that you deserve. The avenues that would have likely eaten away your chances of succeeding include any admission of liability, failing to speak to the authorities, running away from the accident scene, or in certain instances being duped by insurance companies into accepting a small amount of compensation.
Seeking medical treatment will also ensure that your injuries are attended to as soon as possible. Attending to these injuries shall ensure that they do not progress into life-threatening injuries or in certain instances result in permanent disability. It follows that you must therefore seek medical treatment as a matter of urgency to ensure that your physical or emotional condition is attended to professionally.
By not running away from the truck accident and thereby making it a hit-and-run accident, you shall avoid a situation in which you face possible criminal proceedings that may otherwise adversely affect you including making you have to part with hefty fines and in certain situations having to serve time in jail.
The process of collecting and keeping evidence will also ensure that your claim is strong enough and you shall be able to sustain any possible challenge towards getting compensation. The earlier the process is started, the higher the chances that a sufficient amount of evidence will be collected which would translate to a better chance of getting a maximum amount of compensation.
Related FAQs
Q: Within what period must I file a truck accident claim in California?
A: The laws of California stipulate that you must file a truck accident claim within two years from when the accident happened. It follows therefore that you must ensure that you commence the process of seeking compensation as soon as possible to avoid a situation in which your claim would be considered time-barred and ineligible for compensation.
Q: Will I still get compensated even if I was partially responsible for the accident?
A: Yes, you shall be eligible to get compensation even if you were significantly at fault for the truck accident. However, the amount of compensation that you are likely to receive for the truck accident case shall factor in your contribution to the happening of the accident. You must therefore ensure that you speak to an experienced truck accident lawyer even if you were largely at fault for the accident.
Q: Which type of lawyer should I choose to represent me in my truck accident case?
A: You should engage a lawyer who has the experience, the capacity, and the resources necessary for the pursuance of your compensation. You must ensure that you inquire from them as much information about them and their procedures for handling their clients before engaging them. You must also look at their past clients’ reviews so that you can understand their capacity, experience, and manner of handling clients.
Q: Will I have to pay my personal injury attorney before they begin working on my case?
A: Most personal injury attorneys work on a contingency fees basis, a basis for which they can only get payment upon successfully representing their clients and thereafter recovering their fees from the compensation that their clients shall get. While this is the case for most personal injury attorneys, you should inquire from your preferred personal injury attorney as to how they charge their fees.
Q: Should I first engage personal injury lawyers or should I speak to the insurance company that has been calling me?
A: You should refrain as much as possible from speaking to the insurance company without the counsel of a personal injury lawyer. Speaking to the insurance company first would ensure that you may not have a good chance at getting compensation as they may end up tricking you into accepting an offer that you do not deserve. Moreover, they may inform you that you do not necessarily have to have a lawyer because they will give you the amount you deserve. It follows therefore that you must politely take their details and inform them that your personal injury lawyer shall get back to them for any further discussion on the matter.
Q: How long will my truck accident claim take before it is settled?
A: The length of time that your truck accident claim shall take before it is settled is largely dependent on various factors which may be within your control while others may be beyond your control. It follows therefore that there are no specific timelines for the same. However, the earlier you engage a personal injury lawyer and the earlier you file the claim, the higher the chances of your truck accident claim being determined.
Big Ben Lawyers
Big Ben Lawyers have the experience and the capacity to help with truck accident claims and would be a good law firm that you can rely on to vigorously pursue the compensation that should be payable to you. Big Ben Lawyers works on a contingency fee basis and would not charge you any amount unless your claim is successful in court. Having successfully represented hundreds of truck accident victims, we are confident that we shall successfully represent you and give you the best shot at getting the compensation that you deserve. We are available throughout the week and will start working on your claim as soon as you contact us. Contact us today.
[1] Forbes Advisor, What To Do After A Car Accident That’s Not Your Fault, https://www.forbes.com/advisor/legal/auto-accident/what-do-after-car-accident-not-your-fault/ accessed on 21st May 2021
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid
[4] Ibid
[5] Nolo, What to Do After a Car Accident, available at https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/what-to-do-after-a-car-accident.html  accessed on 21st May 2024
[6] Ibid, n.5
[7] Ibid
[8] Ibid.
[9] Progressive, What to do after a car accident, https://www.progressive.com/answers/what-to-do-after-car-accident/ accessed on 21st May 2024
[10] Ibid, n.9
[11] Ibid