Being involved in a truck accident can be frightening and traumatizing. Apart from suffering serious injuries, lives are often lost. Crashes involving trucks and smaller vehicles are particularly dangerous. If you were injured or lost a loved one to a similar accident, it’s important that you know the steps to take to protect your rights.
At Lone Star Injury Attorneys, our skilled legal team has made it our priority to help our clients recover maximum compensation for their injuries and losses. But to a great extent, that ability is largely dependent on the injured victim, and the steps they take immediately after the accident. Therefore, you should know what to do after a truck accident in Katy.
Here are some of the most crucial steps you must take to protect your legal rights are while ensuring your safety.
Unfortunately, most truck accidents are very tragic, resulting in deaths or severe and permanent injuries. As such, it’s a requirement under state laws that such accidents are reported to the police. Apart from helping injured victims and securing the scene, an investigating officer will be sent to help unravel the mystery around the crash. From their findings, it becomes easier to establish liability and determine whether you have a legal claim for compensation.
As mentioned earlier, you are at more risk of suffering serious harm in a truck accident than in any other accident. This is owed to the sheer size and weight of the truck involved. So if you are visibly injured, you should seek immediate medical help or have someone call an ambulance. However, there are unique scenarios where you may escape unscathed, but even so, if you feel that something’s off, it’s important to seek medical evaluation. The adrenaline rush and anxiety that kick in following a horrific semi-truck crash may cloud your judgment in realizing you have been hurt.
Seeking medical evaluation and following up with treatment go hand in hand. Failing to follow your doctor’s plan opens a loophole through which insurance companies may deny your claim. Insurance adjusters will argue that your injuries preexisted, or you were not as severely injured as you claim. In the end, you receive far much less settlement than you deserve. You may also lose your case altogether. To avoid this, you should ensure that you follow your doctor’s treatment plan to the letter.
If you can, please remember to take photos and videos of the scene. Be sure to capture the vehicles involved, your injuries, property damage, and any other important fact around the scene. These may be used later as evidence when proving your injury case. If you can’t do this by yourself, have a Katy attorney or someone you trust do this on your behalf after the tractor-trailer wreck.
Before leaving the scene of the accident, ensure that you exchange personal information with the truck driver and any other party involved. You may record their names, contacts, addresses, insurance information as well as contacts. This will make it easier for your attorney to link up with them when deciding to file a claim. Remember, there are demands to be made, and without such background information, the intended party might as well vanish into thin air
If you have a personal insurance policy, it’s also a good idea to notify them about the truck crash. Regardless of liability, you may still recover compensation from your own insurance company if you have PIP or Medical Payments (MedPay) coverage. By doing so, you allow them the opportunity to prepare for the accident claim process.
The trucking industry is heavily regulated by both the state and federal governments. Many rules come into focus when an accident occurs. Without a legal background, it becomes very difficult to protect your rights. The best decision you can make following an 18-wheeler collision in Katy is retaining a lawyer. Through their experience, you will stand a better chance of having a beneficial outcome. Your legal team will establish fault and help build a strong indisputable case against the defendant.
Being involved in a truck accident can be traumatizing. Victims often live with dreadful memories of the near-death experience. Although filing a claim may not be in your mind immediately after a crash, taking the steps discussed previously could protect your rights in the future. Please schedule a free case evaluation with our attorneys to discuss what to do after a truck accident in Katy.
