What to Do After a Commercial Truck Accident?
Logistics plays a big part in different industries. They are crucial in giving us important routes of supply, equipment, and trade. However, what will happen if commercial truck drivers get into road accidents while transporting goods? Are they liable to launch a personal injury case?
Personal Injury Case After a Commercial Truck Accident
When accidents involving commercial trucks or “big rigs” occur, each situation presents unique legal issues that can affect your settlement. Trucking plays a major role in supporting the economic expansion of one country. They ensure that manufacturing companies and other industries receive a steady stream of supplies.
As the number of available transport trucks increases, there is also an increase when it comes to truck accidents. When motor accidents happen, a typical outcome is a personal injury to their drivers and crews. If you are a truck or vehicle driver, crew, or passenger involved with a motor accident, we suggest calling upon an Indiana Personal Injury Attorney that will present you with legal options.
Aside from personal injuries, commercial truck accidents also damage other vehicles such as cars, trucks, passenger vehicles, semi-tractor trailers. These accidents sometimes also result in significant property damage. This is the case when they operate in dense neighborhoods where there are properties and buildings along their route.
Why do these Fatalities Happen?
Distracted Driving
Distracted driving is one of the main causes of traffic accidents that includes large trucks and commercial transport. Some examples are drunk driving, reaching for something that fell, or being caused by dizziness, sleepiness, or other medical conditions.
Weather Conditions
Some roads become dangerous when the road becomes wet due to drizzles, rain, thunderstorms, or other atmospheric conditions. The build-up of snow and ice can also cause some highways to become difficult to travel.
Company Negligence
In some commercial truck accidents, the companies that the drivers work for can sometimes be at fault. An example can be the hiring of wrong drivers, insufficient training, or even not maintaining their vehicles properly.
Natural Size of a Commercial Truck Transport
Commercial truck transport requires a powerful engine that can pull several tons of cargo. This means that it would result in a vehicle that is large and quite difficult to control. Aside from that, truck transport has many blind spots. You should also take note that even when a truck transport is slow, it is quite heavy that contributes to its overall momentum.
What to do after a Commercial Truck Accident?
Suppose you are involved in a commercial truck or other road accident, then here are the next list of things you can do:
Medical Attention
The first thing to do when a commercial truck accident occurs is to ensure that all the injured person receives proper medical attention. However, we don’t suggest moving an injured person by yourself if you have improper first aid training. It’s best to let medical personnel rushing to the scene do their job.
Gather Information
All the people involved in a traffic accident should submit their information such as:
- Names
- Addresses
- Phone numbers
- Email addresses
- Personal Information of all the witnesses
Photograph the Area
Since our modern mobile phones are now equipped with cameras, any person that has one can take pictures of all the damages. This can be the vehicles involved in a car accident, visible damages to property, skid marks, debris, or other evidence.
Record or Take Notes
It is important to notice and take note of every detail available within a car accident area. Similar to a crime scene, the details might play a crucial factor to help the authorities unveil the cause of a particular road accident. You can keep a mindful reminder or write down the exact time and location of a road accident.
Conclusion
Commercial truck transport is an important and necessary tool to allow supplies in or out of a country. They are essential in building and maintaining trade routes. However, as many trucks get on the road, so is the likelihood that road accidents will happen. This is also the reason why many commercial trucks begin operating at night when few civilian motorists are traveling.
