Many serious accidents on the road today involve trucks, whether pick-up trucks or eighteen wheelers. If you’ve been the victim of an accident involving a truck, there are many important things to remember to do immediately after the accident.
The first, and the most obvious, is to call the police and an ambulance if you or anyone else is injured or may be injured. Even if you don’t feel pain or see visible injuries right away, you will likely feel pain once the shock of the accident wears off, or you discover injuries once you check yourself out at home or are examined at the doctor’s office.
The police will document the accident scene and talk with the parties involved and any witnesses. They will also charge the at-fault driver which will make it easier for you to prove your case (since police officers are neutral and it’s their job to investigate accidents and assess who the negligent party is). If the accident involves very serious injury or a fatality, the police will take photographs and do a forensic investigation of the scene and generate a report.
Next, make sure you or someone else makes notes about the accident and/or takes pictures of the accident scene. Notes should include the other driver’s insurance particulars, ownership details and license plate information, but can also include witness information, sketches of the intersection and the location of vehicles, etc.
Photos are great for showing nuances about the intersection, such as traffic cameras, nearby stores that may have external video cameras, where and what types of traffic signals or street signs are around, etc. Your notes and photographs may come in handy later, not only for the proper investigation of the accident and who’s at fault, but in case the police cannot get to the scene due to inclement weather, or they arrive late after vehicles have been moved and witnesses have gone home.
The next steps are to seek proper medical attention and then to contact an experienced truck accident lawyer who can assess the case and take additional steps which may be vital to the claim. For example, most new vehicles have a recording device which contains information about speed, braking, etc. Eighteen wheelers have a similar device that contains not only this information, but often data about how long the truck was operated that day, the maximum speed the truck can achieve before automatic systems kick in to slow it down, braking data and more.
A lawyer will contact the at-fault driver and the owner of the vehicle, along with their insurance company (or companies), and ensure that this “black box” data is preserved and/or insist that the other driver’s vehicle be examined by the lawyer’s own experts.
An experienced lawyer will also obtain police and witness information, have an investigator track down and interview witnesses, engage forensic engineers to reconstruct the accident using available data, and so much more to help you build your case. They will also notify the at-fault driver and owner of the vehicle right away to ensure that you get interest on the compensation you are claiming from day one, and check to see whether one or more insurance policies exist to maximize your recovery, among other things.
