Even the smallest of car accidents can be dangerous, but collisions with 18-wheeler trucks are almost always tragedies. Unfortunately, truck accidents are not at all rare on interstate highways and adjoining rural roads. Before the pandemic-mandated lockdowns, which decreased road traffic drastically in 2020 and 2021, 4,479 large truck-related fatalities were reported in 2019.
While the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has not yet presented its official stats for 2022, the number of deaths and serious injuries is not likely to have decreased dramatically. Therefore, it is essential for every driver on the road to be well-informed and prepared to face the aftermath of such an accident. Go through the following points carefully to know exactly how anyone should proceed after being involved in an 18-wheeler truck accident.
Call the Emergency Services
Do not attempt to get up or get out right away unless you find it necessary to avoid an even worse injury or death. As long as you are in a physical state to do so, your first action should be that of calling for emergency assistance on 911. In case you cannot find or reach your phone, see if someone else in the car can call 911.
If you are traveling alone and you cannot move or find the phone, wait a while to see if the truck driver or any other person comes around to investigate. Ask the first person you see to call emergency services immediately. You may also be able to send a text to 911 for emergency help, but that will only work if there is a 911 call center nearby that supports text-to-911.
It’s always recommended you try and make a call first, even if you are unable to speak at all or say anything of substance due to the physical and mental trauma. Just don’t disconnect the line. Staying on the emergency line will allow them to trace your call and find you via your smartphone’s GPS.
Seek Medical Care Even if the Injuries Seem Minor
18-wheeler truck accidents often lead to severe injuries and fatalities, but that is not what happens all the time. If you are lucky enough to be involved in one of the comparatively less severe large truck accidents, don’t ever make the mistake of skipping a medical checkup right after. Ensure that you and everyone with you in the car visit a medical facility immediately after to be checked out for undetected injuries and concussions.
Even mild injuries must be medically documented and treated for you to make a successful insurance claim. Your truck accident lawyer will also need those medical documents to strengthen the case for adequate compensation. However, do not attempt to drive, irrespective of whether you feel like you can do so or not. In most cases, the emergency personnel responding to the call will safely get everyone to a nearby hospital or clinic. As an alternative, you can also call a friend or a family member to help with transportation.
Find and Contact a Truck Accident Injury Lawyer
After getting treated for your injuries and reaching medical stability, it’s imperative that you find and contact a truck accident lawyer as soon as possible. If it’s a severe accident with serious injuries, then family members should take the initiative on your behalf and contact a truck accident injury lawyer at the earliest for advice.
You can also reach out to a truck accident injury lawyer at the Karns & Karns Truck Accident Attorneys directly for a consultation. The award-winning, multistate law firm provides free consultations and case assessments to help its clients understand all their legal options. Also, Karns & Karns Truck Accident Attorneys do not charge anything before ensuring that their clients have received their due compensation.
Both your car insurance and your medical insurance providers must be informed soon after, although the latter is most likely to be informed automatically by the tending hospital or medical facility. Your truck injury lawyer will also take measures to ensure you receive your due insurance claims faster.
Collect As Much Proof/Information as Quickly as You Can
An experienced truck accident injury lawyer should be able to help with this much better than anyone else, given that:
- They know how and when to legally obtain the necessary information, and from whom.
- They have connections in this field that are exclusive to experienced truck accident layers.
Whether you rely on yourself, your lawyer, or someone else, it must be done quickly. Speed is important here because older data and information tend to get lost or withheld when the stakes are high.
For example, proof of negligence is critical to launching a successful personal injury lawsuit against the offender, which in this case is likely to be the trucking company. Data that confirms poor truck maintenance, manufacturing defects, mechanical failures, over trucking, etc. are all proof that might successfully implicate the trucking company. If no one on the victim’s side is quick to gather what they can, they might very well be lost forever.
Whether that happened due to willful negligence or not is hard to prove and even proving that will not establish that the data lost had implicating elements beyond doubt. In rare cases, the cause(s) responsible for the crash may remain unknown initially, but a deeper probe may reveal one or more facts in the victim’s favor. In such cases, truck accident reconstruction experts can be hired to find out facts that are not as obvious. Unfortunately, a longer passage of time makes it difficult for even them to deliver convincing reports. Speak to Karns & Karns Truck Accident Attorneys for more advice.
