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How Do You Get What You Deserve in a Semi-Truck Accident Settlement?

How Do You Get What You Deserve in a Semi-Truck Accident Settlement?

Motor vehicle accidents can often result in devastating injuries. When accidents involve a semi-truck, catastrophic consequences can leave those who survive the tragic ordeal fighting for their lives and dealing with debilitating injuries, excruciating pain, and astronomical medical expenses that can forever change their ability to live the life they always wanted.

However, if this semi-truck accident was due to another person’s reckless, negligent, or intentional actions, you should not have to deal with these life-changing circumstances on your own. Instead, you deserve justice and financial damages for the losses and harm you sustained.

This blog will go over what you need to know about fighting for the maximum compensation you deserve in a semi-truck accident settlement.

Common Causes of Semi-Truck Accidents

Research shows that driver error, including speeding and distracted driving, causes almost one-third of trucking crashes. However, these issues are not the only causes of these devastating collisions.

In addition, these semi-truck crashes result from:

  • Truck driver inexperience
  • Truckers and motorists driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol
  • Truck driver fatigue
  • Faulty trucks or trucking parts
  • Inadequate truck maintenance
  • Poor weather or road conditions
  • Dangerous intersections

However, when you are trying to secure maximum financial damages following this semi-truck crash, determining what caused your collision is critical. Fortunately, when you reach out to a skilled semi-truck accident attorney, you will not have to figure out the cause of your accident on your own. Instead, these attorneys can handle this investigation process for you, figure out what happened and what caused your accident, and determine the legal options you should pursue.

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Who Can You Hold Accountable for the Harm and Losses You Endured Following a Semi-Truck Accident?

Numerous parties can cause a semi-truck accident, including:

  • The at-fault truck driver
  • The trucking company
  • The manufacturer of the truck or the truck’s parts
  • Negligent third parties, such as other motorists, motorcyclists, or pedestrians
  • Cargo companies that were in charge of loading the truck and packaging the materials properly

Yet, to hold a party answerable for your damages and obtain compensation for the harm and losses you suffered following a semi-truck collision, you first must figure out who was responsible for this accident.

However, because each trucking accident is different, and determining liability is not always easy, it may be in your best interest to reach out to a skilled semi-truck accident attorney as soon as possible. These lawyers can conduct independent investigations into the crash, determine who the wrongful parties are, and help hold those at fault accountable for everything you endured.

What Factors Can Impact Your Ability to Get the Money You Need Following a Semi-Truck Accident?

A settlement refers to an agreement that ends a dispute and results in the voluntary dismissal of litigation related to the case. Or put simply, when parties come to a settlement, the harmed individual will usually accept money in exchange for releasing another party from legal liability for causing them that harm. However, the victim needs to obtain a fair and just offer for them to work out.

That is why when you should leave negotiations to the professionals. When you hire a skilled semi-truck accident attorney to fight on your behalf, these attorneys know how important it is to figure out who was responsible for your crash and determine what happened to get the money you need.

However, lawyers also understand that other factors can affect the money you can receive, including:

  • The extent and the severity of the injuries you sustained from the trucking collision
  • The type of medical treatments you will need now and in the future
  • The income you lost from the accident and your injuries
  • The ability to work in the future
  • The extent of your pain and suffering
  • The ability to perform everyday activities that you used to do in the past
  • The wrongful party’s culpability
  • The credibility of the evidence and witnesses presented

Although no attorney can guarantee that you will receive a financial award following a semi-truck accident, skilled lawyers can review each of these factors, prepare the strongest legal case in response to them, and pursue the monetary recovery that you deserve.

Protect Your Legal Rights and Go After the Financial Damages You Deserve

While the last thing you want to do after a semi-truck accident is collect evidence from the scene or talk to witnesses who saw what happened, the things you do after an accident can protect your legal rights and help you pursue the highest settlement possible. For these reasons, following your accident, you should consider doing the following:

#1. Contact Local Authorities Immediately

Following a semi-truck accident, you or someone else at the scene needs to call 911 right away. This is the fastest way to notify the police and medical personnel of the crash and it is also the quickest way to get the semi-truck collision on record. Plus, after the police arrive and perform their preliminary investigation, they can write down their findings in their police report.

If you decide to pursue legal action, this report can provide you and your attorney with valuable details that can help you fight for maximum compensation.

#2. Gather as Much Evidence as You Can From the Scene

Although it is not always possible to gather evidence following a trucking accident, due to the debilitating injuries these accidents cause. If you can, collect as much evidence from the scene as possible.

Take photos and videos of your visible injuries, the vehicles involved in the accident, the placement of these vehicles on the roads, the weather conditions at the time of the accident, road defects, skid marks on the street, traffic signs, signals near the area, and any other evidence that can help you show what happened and who caused the accident.

#3. Get Personal Details From Other Drivers and Witnesses

Try to exchange information with all those involved in the accident, including names, driver’s license numbers, contact details, and insurance information.

In addition, if there were people who saw what happened, try to get their names and contact details as well. These witnesses can often provide your lawyer with helpful information regarding the incident and even offer testimony that can help substantiate your case.

However, as you speak with all these individuals, watch what you say. Insurance companies can use the comments and statements you make against you to hurt your case and decrease your settlement. As a result, after the accident, avoid talking about the crash, taking any of the blame, or apologizing for anything that happened.

#4. Get Medical Treatment

Even if an ambulance does not transport you to the emergency room following a semi-truck accident, get to a doctor as soon as possible. Often, symptoms of serious injuries, such as brain trauma, spinal cord injuries, or internal bleeding, can take some time to manifest. Yet, the longer you wait to get these conditions looked at, the more debilitating and fatal they can become. That is why it is important not to delay treatment after the accident.

In addition, getting this prompt medical treatment can also help your legal case, especially since the insurance company will try to do everything it can to get you to settle for less than you deserve or deny your case altogether. For instance, when you do not get medical treatment after a semi-truck accident, the insurer will likely argue that your injuries are not that serious or a result of a subsequent event.

Fortunately, when a doctor examines you, they can create a medical report detailing your injuries and provide you with evidence of a direct link between your injuries and the semi-truck collision, which can help you go after the settlement you need.

#5. Be Wary of Agreeing to a Settlement Offer From the Insurance Company

Receiving money from the insurance company following a semi-truck accident may seem like the best outcome. Unfortunately, taking this money may not always be in your best interest. The insurance company is not your friend, and they are not there to ensure you get the most money following an accident. Rather, they are a business, and like other businesses, they want to make a profit. As a result, when these companies offer you less, the more money they will make in the long run.

After an accident, insurance adjusters will try different tactics to earn this profit, such as offering you a meager settlement shortly after your semi-truck collision. They do so in hopes that because you are in a vulnerable state, you will not review this amount, discuss it with an attorney, or verify that it covers not only all of your current losses and expenses but your future treatments. They also know that once you accept this amount, you will not be able to collect more money down the road when you discover that the original settlement does not cover everything you need.

Before you accept anything from the insurance company, run its offer by an experienced semi-truck accident lawyer. These attorneys can not only verify if this settlement offer is fair to you, but if it is not, these legal professionals can head back to the negotiation table and fight for an amount that is.

How Can an Experienced Semi-Truck Accident Attorney Help You Fight for Maximum Compensation?

Money can never help you forget the pain and suffering you endured following a semi-truck accident. Getting fair compensation for your harm and losses, however, can help you and your family start rebuilding your life and provide you the peace of mind that justice was served.

More importantly, with an experienced semi-truck accident attorney on your side, you will not have to tackle this legal fight on your own.

Instead, once you retain an attorney, they can:

  • Review the accident with you in detail, determine if you have a viable claim, and figure out the legal options you can pursue.
  • Go over your questions and concerns and provide you with the legal support you require.
  • Investigate the semi-truck accident and gather the evidence needed to help show what happened and who was at fault.
  • Hire experts to validate your claim, including trucking specialists, accident reconstructionists, doctors, and financial specialists.
  • Ensure that legal motions and documents are prepared correctly and filed before the statute of limitations expires.
  • Handle all the settlement negotiations and discussions with the other side and fight for a just settlement amount.
  • Take your case to trial to pursue maximum damages if the other side will not negotiate fairly.

If you or a loved one sustained severe injuries in a semi-truck accident due to another’s wrongful actions, do not wait any longer to get the legal help you need. Instead, contact an experienced semi-truck accident attorney today for a free case evaluation and let these lawyers show you how they can help you fight for the money you require.

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