Chaotic, confusing, and overwhelming. These are just a few of the words you may use to describe your Kentucky truck crash.
Your goal, however, is clear. You want to do everything you can to protect your truck accident recovery with as little stress, inconvenience, and risk as possible. Here, our Louisville truck accident attorney lays out what you need to do after a truck crash to achieve your goal.
What to Do at the Scene of a Kentucky Truck Crash
If you are still at the accident scene, you can:
- Do what you can to prevent a secondary accident. If you can physically move without hurting yourself, you may move your vehicle to the side of the road to prevent getting hit by any vehicles that don’t stop in time to avoid secondary crashes.
- Call the police. The police will make sure that everyone is safe and gets emergency medical attention as needed. Additionally, the police will investigate the accident and issue a report about what happened.
- Take pictures. You should take as many pictures as possible at the accident scene if you are able to do so. Some helpful pictures may include all of the vehicles involved in the crash from different angles, the area surrounding the accident, your injuries, and anything else that you think may be relevant to determining accident liability.
- Gather witness names and contact information. This includes all drivers and passengers involved in the crash, as well as anyone else who saw the crash happen.
- Watch what you say. Do not apologize for the accident or talk to anyone about what might have caused the crash. Instead, just share your name, license information, and insurance information.
- Accept medical attention. Some injuries don’t have immediate symptoms. Therefore, it’s essential to accept medical help immediately after a truck accident. Additionally, your medical records will help establish that your injuries were caused by the accident.
What to Do in the Days, Weeks, and Months After a Truck Accident
After the accident scene is cleared, you may continue protecting your rights by:
- Calling your insurance company. You should report the date and time of the accident to your insurer and allow an insurance adjuster to assess the damage to your vehicle. However, you should not talk to your insurance adjuster. Instead, tell them that you are represented by counsel and to contact your attorney.
- Continuing to get medical care. It’s essential to keep all follow-up appointments and comply with treatment recommendations to protect both your medical and legal recoveries.
- Directing insurance adjusters to your Louisville truck accident attorney. Insurance adjusters want to maximize profits for insurance companies. These trained professionals know what tactics to use to get you to accept less than you deserve for your accident injuries. Therefore, we suggest that you don’t talk directly with the insurance adjusters and instead tell the insurance adjusters to speak with your Louisville truck accident attorney.
- Acting consistently with your injuries. Insurance companies may try to catch you acting inconsistently with your stated injuries so that they can claim that you are exaggerating your injuries. You never know when the insurance company may be watching you. Accordingly, it’s critical that you tell the truth about your injuries and act consistently with any physical limitations.
Together, these steps may help protect your recovery.
Mistakes to Avoid After a Kentucky Truck Crash
Avoiding mistakes is just as important as taking the right steps after a Kentucky truck crash. Some mistakes that could potentially interfere with your recovery include:
- Failing to get medical care. If you don’t get medical care, it may be hard to prove that the Kentucky truck crash caused your injuries.
- Failing to follow your medical treatment plan. If you fail to follow up with medical treatments, the insurance company or defendant may argue that you made your injuries worse by failing to get medical care.
- Giving a recorded statement to the insurance company. Anything you say to the insurer may be used against you. Therefore, you should not provide a recorded statement without speaking to a Louisville truck accident attorney first.
- Signing a medical release for the insurance company. The insurance company will need some of your medical records to settle your claim. However, you don’t want to provide irrelevant information that the insurance company could use against you.
- Waiting too long to file a case. Kentucky law typically gives you just one year to file a lawsuit. If you wait too long to file your case, you may not be able to pursue a lawsuit.
- Posting on social media. Anything you put on social media may be misconstrued and used against you.
- Trying to handle your own truck crash settlement. Trucking companies, truckers, and insurance companies have professionals representing their interests. You deserve the same advantage.
You want to avoid costly mistakes, but you don’t know what you don’t know. The insurance adjuster may try to tell you that something is a good idea when it is not in your best interest. For these reasons, it’s essential to contact an Louisville experienced truck accident attorney who can ensure that you don’t make a mistake.
Three More Things You Need to Know to Protect Your Truck Accident Recovery
As you continue to navigate the path toward a truck accident recovery, it’s essential to keep in mind that:
- Truck accidents are different from car accidents. Truck accidents often have multiple defendants and are more complex than car crashes.
- It’s worth fighting for your recovery. You have a lot at stake. You may be able to recover for past, current, and future medical expenses, lost income, out-of-pocket costs, physical pain, and emotional suffering after a Kentucky truck crash.
- You can afford to hire our Louisville truck accident attorney. Gray & White Law is proud to offer you our No-Fee Policy. That means you only pay legal fees if your case is successful, and then we are paid a previously agreed-upon percentage of your recovery rather than hourly fees.
Contact Our Louisville Truck Accident Attorney for Help Today!
Our Louisville truck accident attorney remains committed to your success. At Gray & White Law, we treat each client like family, and we purposely only represent a small number of clients at a time so that we can provide individual attention to each client. Your recovery matters to us. Please call us, start a live chat, or complete our contact form to have us contact you to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation.
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