What to do if You’re Hit by a Tractor Trailer
If you’re hit by a tractor trailer, such an accident can cause very serious consequences for both your health and your finances. Because tractor trailers are much larger than ordinary vehicles and travel at high rates of speed, accidents involving tractor trailers can cause serious injuries. Even a relatively minor accident, such as a low speed rear-end collision, with a tractor trailer can cause serious physical injuries.
If you’re hit by a tractor trailer, it is extremely important for you to take the correct first steps to protect yourself and ensure that you don’t get hurt twice by the insurance company. Your first priority will be to focus on recovering from your injuries and getting all necessary follow-up treatment. While you are recovering, you will want a legal team handling the investigation and insurance aspects to make certain that you receive the compensation you will need to fully heal from your injuries.
If you’re hit by a tractor trailer, it’s important for you to know what to do immediately following the accident:
1. Call the Police
If you’ve been injured in a tractor trailer accident, call 911 and ask for an ambulance if there are obvious injuries. Otherwise, request that a police officer or state trooper be sent to the scene immediately.
2. Get Medical Treatment and Have All Injuries Documented
If you’ve been hit by a tractor trailer and there are any injuries, you’ll want to be checked out by a medical provider. If any ambulance is on the scene, you can be checked by the emergency medical technicians. If your injuries require x-rays, stitches, or additional treatment, you can request transportation to the local emergency room.
At the emergency room, it is important that you clearly communicate with nurses, doctors and other healthcare staff so they will be able to fully document all of your injuries.
3. Report the Accident
Even though the tractor trailer accident may have been the truck driver’s fault, someone will need to report the accident to both the truck driver’s insurance company and to your insurance company. While contacting the insurance company, DO NOT give any recorded statement about who was at fault. The trucking company’s insurance company may try to use a statement to defeat your injury claim.
If the insurance company asks for a recorded statement, simply tell them you are currently talking with attorneys and will have someone get in touch with them.
4. Keep All Accident-Related Documents Together
It’s important that you keep any and all documents related to your accident in one central location. You may want a paper file folder, and perhaps even a digital folder, for medical bills, photos of the accident scene, correspondence from the insurance company, and anything else related to the accident. All of these items will be very important for your claim, and you won’t want to lose them.
5. Get Advice from a Lawyer
If you’re hit by a tractor trailer, it’s important that you act quickly to make sure all the evidence from the accident is preserved. Most lawyers offer a free, initial consultation to allow you to speak with them and decide if you want them to handle your case.
A tractor trailer accident will require more time and effort to thoroughly analyze the tractor trailer’s electronic data recorder, as well as the trucking company’s log books and maintenance records. You will need a lawyer to review this evidence in addition to any offer the trucking company might make.
Your tractor trailer accident lawyer will also help by consulting with your doctors and other medical providers to get a sense of what your future medical expenses will be. This amount will be important to ensuring that the insurance company makes a fair offer and that you are fully compensated for everything you will need in the future. Check out the Ritchie Law Firm’s case settlements and recoveries in tractor trailer accidents.
Talk with a Tractor Trailer Accident Lawyer
If you or a loved one are involved in a collision with either a tractor trailer, knowing your rights will be of utmost importance. It will be important for you to understand how to receive compensation for your medical expenses and lost wages, and to understand how pain and suffering are determined. These are usually questions that you’ll want answered by an attorney who is experienced in handling these types of cases. Even if you decide not to hire a lawyer to help with your case, most attorneys offer free consultations to help answer your questions.
If you’ve been injured in a collision involving a tractor trailer, the Ritchie Law Firm is here to help. DON’T GET HURT TWICE!! We have helped thousands of injured people get the money they deserve.
Contact us by phone at 800-277-6124 or by using our online contact form.
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Ritchie Law Firm is a personal injury law firm devoted to helping individuals who have suffered serious and catastrophic injuries or lost a loved one as a result of someone else’s negligence. Ritchie Law Firm serves all of Virginia, while helping clients in cities and surrounding areas of Harrisonburg, Charlottesville, Staunton, and Winchester also serves clients in West Virginia, including Martinsburg, WV.
