4 Things to Do When You Are Involved In a Commercial Truck Accident
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| 4 Things to Do When You Are Involved In a Commercial Truck Accident |
An accident between a commercial truck like an eighteen-wheeler and any other vehicle can be catastrophic.
The truck because of its sheer size and weight can create havoc if it collides with another vehicle.
If you are lucky enough to escape such an accident, you will need to know what you have to do thereafter.
Here are four basic things that you will have to do after you are involved in a commercial truck accident.
1. Prove Your Case
Like any other accident, in an accident involving a commercial truck, you will have to prove your case. You will have to show that the defendant, here the driver of the truck has been negligent in his duties and has been unsuccessful in maintaining his reasonable care when driving on the road.
In commercial truck accidents, your compensation may be paid not by the driver, but by the company that owns the truck and, therefore, you have to strongly build up your case. Consult a good Alabama truck accident attorney to help you.
2. Manage Liability From Potential Defendants
If you want to get your complete legal aid for the injuries and damage you had to suffer, you will have to identify your potential defendant. In commercial truck cases, the company usually manages the trucks and, therefore, the shipping or trucking company is responsible for the accident.
If the truck driver is an independent contractor, creating a list of potential dependents will be a little difficult since then the driver is independent from any company. The recovery of your insurance claim depends on the liability of the truck companies, contractors and they all have separate policies.
3. Claim For The Damages You Had To Suffer
After you are involved in an accident, where the driver of the commercial truck is at fault, you are liable to receive compensation. However, it is very difficult to judge how much you are to receive as compensation. It is difficult to add a price to death, injury, trauma, loss of income opportunities, etc.
This is where you should take the guidance of a skilled professional who will assess the damage caused to you and draw up a suitable claim amount. They will assess your medical expenditure, the damage caused to your vehicle, loss of family members and whether their death has affected your livelihood and then chalk out a claim amount.
4. Know Some Basic Policies And Laws
Commercial trucks are huge vehicles and there are some risks involved when driving them. If you are involved in an incident of jackknifing, you cannot hold the driver of the truck responsible because usually, the driver is not at fault. Jackknifing could have happened because of the slipperiness of the road as well.
Keep these basic points in mind and when you are in an accident with a commercial truck, keep calm and follow these.
