Were You Injured in an 18 Wheeler Accident?
After an 18 wheeler accident, of course, the first concern is for the well-being of those involved, but this is just the start of things—victims will have a lot to worry about in the coming weeks and months, as well. A commercial truck accident is a devastating and complex event that can turn your life and health upside down. This is where nationally recognized and highly experienced, Houston 18 wheeler accident attorneys, can guide you to make the best decisions to protect your rights, and we work to make sure that you get every penny of compensation to which the law entitles you.
If you or a loved one suffered injuries in an 18 wheeler accident, you may have many questions about what to do next, and most people don’t even know where to begin to ask for help. Please know that the Rucker Law Firm, PLLC offers a FREE consultation.
There is NO cost to get a free consultation right now. If you decide to hire us, you pay us nothing upfront, and you will pay absolutely nothing at all unless and until we’ve won your case. More than that, if you are uninsured, or cannot afford health insurance deductibles or co-pays, we may be able to help you obtain the medical treatment you need.
Trucking companies are slick and have plenty of tricks to make your recovery hard or impossible, especially if you try to handle a claim on your own. Our law firm, however, has 20 years of experience fighting with these trucking companies and their insurance adjusters on behalf of victims of truck accidents to get full and fair compensation for all of their damages. Hamilton Rucker has a team of attorneys who will never back down to trucking companies or insurers, so you can trust we will do everything in our power to get full compensation for every client.
What to Do After a Semi-Truck Accident
If you were in an accident with an 18 wheeler, you should have a lot of questions—and perhaps a lot of physical, psychological, and economic damages from which to recover. Of course, right after the crash occurs, you need to start by making sure that you and everyone else involved in the accident is safe. Take care of your injuries first, then assess the health and safety of others. Call 911 if someone else already hasn’t done so.
If ambulance personnel recommend that you go to an emergency room for medical treatment or just a checkup, do so right away. Some injuries take time to emerge, but you could face a better outcome if a doctor spots and diagnoses them early on. Also, having a doctor immediately document all of your injuries may help with any legal case you decide to pursue.
When the authorities arrive, give them your version of what happened. If you’re unsure of what led to the crash, be honest about the fact that you don’t know. Never try to fill in memory or knowledge gaps, as this can only complicate the legal process. All too often, drivers never see an accident coming before it happens. You can use other evidence to prove who was at fault down the road.
Also, be careful not to apologize or make comments that may indicate you think that you were to blame. Many car accident victims will unintentionally say that they “only looked down for a second” or that they “should have seen the truck coming.” While these statements may seem harmless, the truck driver and trucking company can later use such comments to allege that you were distracted or otherwise negligent at the time of the crash. It is always better to say as little as necessary to the police.
If you have the chance, it can never hurt to take pictures of the scene with your smartphone, including the road conditions, tire marks, and damage to all vehicles involved. If there are witnesses or other drivers stopped, get their contact information. This information doesn’t always make it into police reports, and witnesses can be difficult to track down as time passes.
Once you are free to leave the accident scene and doctors have stabilized your injuries, you should talk to our experienced truck accident legal team at Rucker Law Firm. Remember – the sooner you have an experienced team of lawyers and legal professionals by your side, the more likely you are to be fully compensated for your injuries and all of your losses.
Cases involving 18 wheeler accidents are complex, and you have many legal rights to protect. You also have better things to do than dealing with trucking insurance companies—like recovering from your injuries. We can fight against trucking insurance companies for you.
Most truck accident victims have never been in a truck crash before, so they have little to no idea of how to proceed. Just do your best and ALWAYS listen to medical professionals if you need immediate treatment. Know that our team will carefully examine what happened and will guide you in the right direction, answering your questions and protecting your rights along the way.
Key Questions After a Truck Accident
After a traumatizing truck crash, there are likely many questions swirling around in your head. What are your rights? Will you have to pay for your medical bills? How can you make the truck company pay? You have many things to consider in a situation like this, and our law firm can help shed some light on the situation for you.
To understand whether you have a claim and the size of your claim, we’ll need to answer several questions. We’ll go over all of this when we speak with you, but some questions you may expect to address include the following:
Were there injuries or fatalities from the truck accident?
- How bad is the property damage?
- Were the police involved?
- Do you have medical and insurance costs to pay?
- Did you miss work due to your injuries?
- What happened to cause the crash?’
First, anyone who suffered injuries or lost a loved one in a truck accident should examine their legal rights. Many people are surprised to learn they can seek recovery for their injury-related losses because they think they were partially responsible for the crash. Texas law allows you to recover at least some compensation as long as you weren’t more than 49 percent responsible for the accident. In most cases, injured truck accident victims have the right to some financial recovery.
We like to know whether the police were involved, as then we can obtain a copy of the police report. While a police report can’t serve as official evidence of fault in a crash, it can give us important information about what the police officers thought happened. It’s also critical to know whether the police issued a citation to the truck driver or placed them under arrest for violating the law, such as drinking and driving. A criminal case won’t get you the money you deserve, but it can significantly help prove negligence or wrongdoing on the part of the truck driver.
We also want to go over the medical cost you incurred, the work you missed, and any other costs related to your injuries. We will examine whether you’ll need additional medical treatment or time off work in the future. We’ll discuss the effects of your injuries, including pain, suffering, restricted movement, and any permanent impairments you’ll have to live with. All of this information allows us to calculate the total value of your claim.
Finally, we’ll also want to hear how the accident happened. Through your story, police reports, witness interviews, and other investigative methods, we can put together a case that shows who was responsible for causing the crash and why. This tells us who should be liable for your losses, and who we should begin our fight against!
