Truck Accident: What To Do Immediately After

Things to Do After a Truck Accident in Fayetteville

Being in a truck accident is stressful and overwhelming.

1. Seek Medical Help

If you are injured, it is essential to seek medical help.

Call 911 if possible or allow the witnesses to call for 911.

Get yourself examined when the medical team arrives.

Even if you are not seriously injured, it is essential to seek medical help and get a check-up done from a legal point of view.

Some injuries take time to be visible.

Seeking medical help immediately helps you create strong evidence.

Seeking medical help is also essential as handling truck accidents lawsuits are complicated due to the involvement of multiple parties like the trucking company, truck driver, insurance companies, and others.

2. Collect Evidence

If you are not seriously injured, you can work on gathering the evidence meanwhile the police officers arrive.

You can take pictures of the accident scene, collect the name and addresses of witnesses, look out for cameras nearby, and such.

Collecting evidence yourself allows you to not depend on police evidence for fighting the case.

Also, create a short report of the accident, recalling the details of the accident.

3. Call the Police

If the police haven’t arrived within a few minutes, you should call for the police.

You can ask someone to do so if you are not in a suitable position.

Calling the police is essential as the police report helps greatly fight for compensation.

The police report entails all the accident details, the interviews of both the drivers and other vital aspects of the accident.

4. Do Not Admit Fault

When interviewed by the police investigators, no matter what, you should speak what is necessary.

You should not admit fault or use words like sorry, my mistake, and so on.

This will make it difficult to fight for compensation, as it will place you as an at-fault driver or partially at-fault driver. In both conditions, the claim for damages will be affected.

Also, you can ask the police to speak to your lawyer.

5. Contact a Lawyer

At this stage, you can contact a truck accident lawyer or personal injury lawyer in Fayetteville.

Hiring a lawyer allows you to avoid dealing with police officers and even the law.

A lawyer will represent you wherever needed without your actual presence needed.

The police officer will contact your lawyer, who can answer questions on your behalf.

The police investigators must do so for preparing the police report.

Contacting a lawyer will also help file the claim for damages, do the legal paperwork, talk to the insurance company, and others.

6. Call Your Insurance Company

It’s essential to inform your insurance company about the accident as soon as possible.

This is because the insurance company can deny the claim if they do not receive prompt notice of the accident.

Notifying your insurance company means calling and sending a written notice.

A written notice contains all the necessary details of an accident like time, place, drivers involved, name and addresses, injuries suffered, damage to the vehicle, and others.

You can also ask your lawyer to contact your insurance company.

Depending on your insurance coverage, your insurance company is liable to pay for the damages.

7. No-Fault Insurance

In Fayetteville, no-fault insurance is available as an add-on.

According to this, the insurance company is liable to pay for the damages irrespective of whether the client is at fault.

The insurance company will compensate you for medical bills up to the policy limit.

However, Arkansas is a fault-based state for auto accidents.

That means if the truck driver is at fault, you will generally seek compensation from the driver, trucking company, or both.

8. Who Is the Defendant?

The biggest question in cases of truck accidents is who is the defendant in the truck accident you are involved in?

Depending on the circumstances, the truck driver, trucking company, cargo company, or even the repair shop are held liable for the accident.

If the truck driver was intoxicated, was speeding, or fell asleep while driving, there are chances both the driver and the trucking company will be held responsible.

The trucking company would be held responsible for making the driver work overtime or handing keys to the truck to an intoxicated driver.

If the accident was caused due to overloading, imbalance, or overturning on the road, the cargo companies may be held responsible and be liable for the damages.

In rare circumstances, repair shops can also be held responsible if the accident is caused due brake failure or other vehicle malfunctions.

Hiring a truck accident lawyer would help identify the defendant in the truck accident.

They perform thorough research on the accident and collect evidence to know who is actually at fault.

9. Know Your Damages

A plaintiff should also know the type of damages they are entitled to.

No matter who the defendant is in a truck accident, the victim can claim various damages like vehicle damage, medical expenses, pain and suffering, loss of wages, loss of earning capacity, punitive damages, and others.

To fight for the case fair and square, talking to a personal injury lawyer in Fayetteville can help you place a stronger case in the court of law.