Being involved in a collision with a truck can leave you a little shocked and bewildered. This isn’t a typical fender bender when your automobile is hit by an oversized vehicle at least 30 times its weight. You have more damage, more physical injuries, and more stress because now you have to deal with commercial insurance carriers, investigative agencies, and complications you never could have imagined.

The first pangs of anxiety settle in when you realize you don’t know what to do first after being injured in a truck accident. There are certain actions you should take to protect your rights and make sure the facts are preserved from your side. It can mean the difference between a successful injury claim and being stuck with paying for thousands of dollars of repairs and medical bills out of your own pocket for something that wasn’t your fault. You should always hire a personal injury attorney to ensure your case remains on track and to handle the insurance company when it behaves improperly, but there are initial steps you can begin to follow.

What steps should you take after being hit by a truck?

Your immediate attention after a truck collision needs to turn toward the safety of yourself and anyone inside your vehicle. Depending upon where and when the accident occurs, other drivers coming down the road may pose the risk of a pileup so you’re safest outside your vehicle and away from the wreckage. Your very next action should be to call 911.

Assuming you are able to get everyone out of the vehicle and it is safe to do so, be your own advocate by collecting evidence you won’t have future access to by:

• Taking pictures from multiple angles of the accident scene and damage to all vehicles involved.
• Obtaining the names and contact information of all drivers and witnesses. Police may miss talking with some witnesses or fail to get their contact information in the midst of trying to secure the scene. That could be the one witness who is able to back up your version of events or was in a position to see something helpful to your case that you weren’t.
• Making notes specific to the truck such as trucking company and truck number often found on the cab door or rear of the trailer.
• Answering law enforcement’s questions honestly but don’t volunteer information, speculate about what you believe happened, or admit fault. Be sure you receive a copy of the accident report before you leave the scene.

Seek medical treatment as soon as you can

In some cases, you may not be alert enough after a catastrophic injury to make your own healthcare decisions and will need to be transported to a hospital by first responders for emergency medical treatment. In other cases, you may be able to leave the scene under your own power. Even if you aren’t sure you have been hurt you should be evaluated by a medical professional.

Often it can take hours, days or even weeks for the onset of symptoms associated with violent crashes to appear. You could have a spinal cord injury or head injury that requires immediate attention to prevent suffering delayed complications you won’t be aware of until it’s too late.

Once you have been assessed and a treatment plan has been recommended, follow your physician’s guidance to the letter. You’ll shorten your recovery time so that you can get back to normal life and the insurance company won’t have an argument that you contributed to your own pain and suffering by making your injuries worse.

The faster you seek medical care after the accident, the easier it will be to tie any injuries that surface to your injury claim.

Dealing with vehicle damage after a Knoxville truck accident

When you have a personal injury claim, part of the process includes handling the property damage portion of your claim. When a tractor trailer hits your vehicle there’s going to be significant damage and the insurance company may have no option but to total your car. With crashes of this magnitude it’s also very likely that any personal property you had inside your vehicle may also be lost. You’re entitled to make a claim for any of these items as well.

You do need to mitigate (lessen) your damages where you are able to. This means that if your car isn’t in drivable condition and you’re otherwise able to go to work, you cannot sit at home and claim lost wages if you have the ability to obtain a rental car. Similarly, you cannot leave your vehicle sitting indefinitely in storage racking up daily fees. If the insurance company is being difficult about timely providing a rental car or approving repairs, your personal injury attorney will work to resolve those problems so that they don’t count against you when it comes time to settle your claim.

Vehicle accidents are traumatic to begin with but when you’ve been hit by a big rig the stress you’ll feel will multiply. The complexity of dealing with a commercial insurance carrier, truck driver, and other entities that could share liability for damage caused by an eighteen wheeler can be overwhelming. It takes a strong team of attorneys on your side to make sure you receive the fair treatment and settlement that you’re entitled to when a truck driver is at fault.

Trust the legal experience of the Knoxville truck accident attorneys at Banks & Jones to fully investigate your case and protect your future by safeguarding your injury claim. We play 2 win! To arrange for a free case evaluation, contact a member of our legal team today at 865.290.2663 or we invite you to start the process by reaching out to us through our contact form.