Getting into any kind of traffic accident can be physically and financially devastating. Wrecks involving massive tractor-trailers tend to be even more dangerous and more challenging to seek fair financial recovery for, especially if you try to go up against a negligent truck driver, their employer, and multiple insurance companies by yourself.
The most important thing to know if you have been in a truck accident is how crucial it can be to have help from an experienced truck accident lawyer. Here are a few other things you should keep in mind if you were recently injured in a crash caused by an irresponsible trucker.
Just like any other type of driver, a semi-truck driver who injures you by breaking a traffic law, driving while drunk or distracted, or otherwise being negligent can be held civilly liable for your accident-related losses. It is often also possible to name a negligent truck driver’s employer as a defendant in a truck accident lawsuit.
As a practiced attorney could explain in more detail, this is possible because of a legal principle called respondeat superior. This principle allows injured people to hold companies vicariously liable for negligence by someone they employ, even if the employer was not directly negligent.
The physical trauma of a truck wreck will not always produce immediately obvious symptoms. Especially if a crash results in traumatic brain damage, it may be hours or even days before an injured person starts to feel the effects of their injury. By that point, it may be too late to prevent long-lasting or even life-altering damage.
It is always vital to seek professional medical attention as soon as possible after being involved in a commercial truck wreck. On top of identifying and treating all accident-related injuries, your doctors will write up medical reports that can be important evidence to factor into an ensuing civil claim.
Even if you pay all your car insurance premiums on time and file a claim in the right way after being involved in a truck accident, you may still have trouble getting your insurance provider to pay you fairly for your damages. Because insurance companies are for-profit businesses that only make money by taking in more money from premiums than they pay out for claims, they will often fight tooth and nail to reduce the value of valid claims in any way they can.
Fortunately, you have help available from dedicated legal professionals who know exactly how to handle cases like yours. Call today to learn more from a seasoned lawyer about what to know if you have been in a truck accident.