After a truck accident, you may not know what to do. The most important thing is to seek immediate medical attention if you are injured. If you don't need an ambulance, you have to deal with certain things at the crash site.
If you can safely move the trucks and vehicles involved in the accident, you can move towards the road and turn on the hazard lights or turn off the road lights. Once this is done, there are important steps you can take to protect your legal rights and avoid problems for your insurance company.
- Call the police and other emergency services. When the police arrive they will help secure the scene of the accident while fire departments or paramedics can extinguish the vehicle fire and extract or treat the injured. Police will soon begin preparing accident reports by interviewing truck drivers and drivers and passengers of other vehicles involved in the accident. They will also take witness statements from anyone who saw the accident.
- Record the accident scene. Police officers at the scene will undoubtedly try to document the scene of the accident, but if there are no serious injuries, they can get the truck driver and insurance information, contact information, or phone number of the trucking company, and exchange information, including truck license plates. If a camera phone is readily available, taking pictures of truck crashes, including road images, related vehicles, and other pertinent information, can work with insurance coordinators to determine who is at fault.
- Even if there are no visible serious injuries, consider a medical evaluation. Sometimes, a serious injury in a car accident may go unnoticed. Traumatic brain injury, or TBI, is a very common injury that does not always exist immediately. Because heavy trucks can transmit significant forces to a passenger car in an accident, whipping, soft tissue damage, and other injuries that do not present themselves immediately can occur. An early medical evaluation can detect injuries and get appropriate treatment before they get worse. If you end up with an injury claim, seeing a doctor right after the accident will help bolster the case.
- Do not admit responsibility: It is not always clear who is responsible for an accident. To preserve your legal rights, you should not admit fault of an accident until you have had the opportunity to seek appropriate legal advice and speak with a personal injury attorney to evaluate your case.
- Do not accept payment offers from insurance companies. In some cases, your insurer may offer a token settlement amount “for your problem”. Accepting this offer may result in exclusion from future billing. It is important to speak with an experienced truck accident attorney before you agree to anything!
What are the main causes of truck accidents?
According to a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were approximately 120,000 fatal injury crashes nationwide during the 33-month study period, involving at least one heavy truck. 141,000 heavy trucks were involved in these crashes. The cause of the accident may be the responsibility of the truck driver or trucking company, other causes may be out of control. The study found that 87% of accidents were related to driver error, 10% were related to vehicle problems, and 3% were related to environmental variables.
- Driver Error. Truck drivers often operate on tight deadlines. Given the safety concerns surrounding trucks, there are strict regulations on how long they can run in 24 hours to ensure truck drivers get enough sleep. These rules are often overridden to help drivers achieve their mileage goals. In some cases, drivers may use stimulants to increase their driving time. This type of drowsiness or disabled driving is a common cause of truck accidents.
- Cargo Problems. We sometimes hear in the news about the cargo on the back of trucks causing traffic backups. Unfortunately, cargo that is not loaded correctly on the truck can be dislodged in a slight bump on the road and can fall off the truck during strong winds or during fast lane shifts. Cargo falling from trucks to vehicles can be lethal at high speeds, especially on highways or highways. There are rules about how cargo must be loaded into trucks and accidents and injuries when not followed.
- Truck or Equipment Breakdown. A truck is a heavily used piece of machinery. They can drive hundreds of miles every day and carry heavy loads across a variety of terrain types. Truck wear and tear can cause ineffective brake pads, wear on the tread on the tires, which can cause safety issues while driving, and electrical systems that can affect your ability to effectively control and navigate the truck or navigate signals correctly. and the trailer coupling allows the trailer to disengage while on the road. Truck drivers and trucking companies are responsible for ensuring that their trucks are properly serviced and maintained.
- Environmental Factors. While environmental factors cannot be controlled by truckers or trucking companies, professionals who operate trucks must be able to consider environmental conditions and road factors when operating their trucks to minimize the chance of an accident. This includes providing space between other vehicles on the roadway, slowing down, using proper lighting, and even getting off the road to stop driving.