Truck drivers driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs are putting people’s lives in danger. As it is, the truck driving industry is notorious for the careless way drivers operate, and the terrible thing is that 68% of these truck fatalities aren’t the truck driver but passenger vehicle occupants.
First things first – a lawyer
When you’ve just been involved in a road accident, it goes without saying that you’ll need a lawyer. No matter how lightly you came off in an accident, the insurance and legal processes are way too complicated for the average person to deal with.
A trucking accident lawyer can see you get the correct settlement amount to cover all your financial commitments you’ll be facing. They know that these 18 wheeler trucks are super dangerous and are 100 feet of pure menace on the road.
Just making head or tail of all the federal regulations surrounding trucking is enough to hand over everything to an experienced lawyer, and Stephen F. Thompson is willing to help. Their fees are handled on a contingency fee basis and you don’t pay anything until the lawyers have won and taken payment from your recovery.
Assess the situation
Truck drivers in the United States can receive a DUI with a blood alcohol level of just 0.04%. In effect, this means that just one beer before driving can be lethal.
According to the Federal Motor Safety Carrier Administration regulations, a truck driver can’t have alcohol within 4 hours of driving. Truck accidents are nearly always serious and the process for filing legal claims differs from that of a car accident.
In every truck accident, first, assess your condition and that of your passengers, and establish if you need to call an ambulance.
Get help
Just like with a car accident, even if you don’t think you’re hurt, if you have an ache or pain that is worrying you, get a medical evaluation. You don’t want to discover later on that there is an injury that is only showing nasty symptoms later on.
If you were to require medical attention later for an injury, you might not be able to show that it’s an injury related to the truck and car accident.
This means that even if you were checked over briefly at the scene of the accident by an emergency medical expert, you should still have a full medical examination at your doctor, who can write a report for you.
Gather information
If you are uninjured, start gathering evidence and other information. Take different photographs, collect contact details from witnesses and also from those involved in the accident.
The idea is to collect the information fairly quickly, lest they disappear after things start calming down. You don’t want them to disappear with a lot of details and information you could use. The idea is to collect all information you can that can help to solve the case.
Some of the information you will need will include the truck driver’s name, phone number, home address, the name of the company they work with, insurance company details and their registration number.
Wrapping up
Don’t blurt out information and declare anything – rather spare your thoughts for your lawyer.
There will be factors that can reduce your liability and your lawyer will handle all this for you. Your car will no doubt have damages, and the repair estimate is part of your insurance claim. The insurers will want documentation to pay for your damages.
You may require your car being towed to a panel beater. You can only give them the go-ahead when you’ve cleared everything with the insurance company.