Why You Need to Talk to an Attorney ASAP if You’ve Been in a Truck Accident

Truck accidents cause some of the most devastating injuries that can happen to anyone. The sheer size and weight of tractor-trailers compared to other vehicles on the road can cause them to crush cars, motorcycles, and other passenger vehicles, along with the occupants inside. Injuries often lead to wrongful death or require a lifetime of medical care.

No matter how severely someone is injured in a truck accident in Georgia, they still need to work through the legal process and show that someone’s negligence or reckless conduct was the cause of the accident. And that can be very difficult without the right legal assistance. So here’s why it is important to talk to an attorney right away if you or a loved one have been hurt in a truck accident.

Most Trucks are Commercial Vehicles

Every day, it seems like there are more trucks on our roads, delivering many different products or transporting components to facilities to assemble still other types of products. These trucks may be owned by one company, operated by another company, and conduct business for a third company. Moreover, the truck could be maintained by a fourth company, and it will be made up of parts that come from numerous other companies. 

Any one of these companies could share in the blame for causing a commercial truck accident, and that makes these cases very complex. An experienced attorney will understand how to investigate to determine the factors that contributed to an accident and which companies can be held responsible for each factor.

Corporate Legal Teams and Insurance Companies Get Involved Quickly

The companies that sell products, ship products, and load products, along with other companies involved with commercial trucks, are all in business to make money. They lose money, obviously, when they have to pay for injuries caused by a truck accident.

Both the trucking companies and the insurance companies will work hard to reduce the value of a truck accident claim or find a way to prevent accident victims from recovering anything at all. They do this in a variety of ways, some of which you may not expect.

They may send a team out right away to ensure the truck driver doesn’t say anything or do anything that could be used to share that the driver was responsible for causing the accident. While they keep the driver from talking to the victim, they will contact the victim repeatedly, trying to get the victim to say something that can be used to show that they are not seriously injured or that the victim is the one to blame for causing the accident. For instance, if you say, “I’m fine,” when someone asks how you are on the phone, that could be treated as evidence to prove that you’re not in pain. If you say ”I’m sorry” at any point in a conversation, as we frequently do to be polite, then that could be used to show that you are admitting to being at fault for causing the accident. 

You need to be extremely careful with what you say to anyone after a truck accident. When you work with an attorney, you can refer all questions to your legal representative, who will know how to avoid tricks and how to answer honestly without saying something that could be used against you.

Turning over this responsibility to your lawyer also prevents the insurance investigators and corporate attorneys from harassing you at all hours of the day and night so you can focus on your recovery.

Your Attorney Can Help Collect and Preserve Evidence

For maximum recovery after a truck accident, you need evidence to prove liability. The most valuable evidence is only available right after the accident. For instance, you want to take detailed photographs of the accident scene before skid marks wear away. You want to talk to witnesses before they become hard to find or forget the details of what they saw and heard. You want to get ahold of footage from traffic cameras and security devices before that footage is recorded over. It can be very difficult to gather evidence effectively while you’re recovering from a devastating truck accident, particularly if you don’t have lots of experience demonstrating liability in accident cases. When you start working with an attorney right away, your legal team can begin investigating to get the best evidence to prove your claim.

Your Attorney Can Evaluate Settlement Offers

Sometimes, rather than undertaking the effort to deny all liability for a truck accident, the insurance companies or legal teams will try to put an end to the legal claim by offering a small settlement. They will often insist that the accident victim must accept it right away or they will get nothing. This is a bluff. They are hoping you will give in so they don’t have to spend money defending the case or pay what you actually deserve. 

In most cases, the early settlement offers are far lower than they should be. But when they learn that an accident victim is working with an experienced attorney who understands the value of a truck accident claim, then the insurance company may decide to offer a settlement that provides fair compensation for pain, suffering, and other losses. Your attorney can estimate the value of your claim based on a variety of factors and tell you how it compares with settlement offers so you can decide whether you want to accept.

Michael M. Day Law Firm Knows How to Gain Maximum Compensation for Truck Accident Victims

Truck accidents have the potential to destroy lives, and those who are responsible should be required to do what they can to make life easier for victims and their families. But in the rush to maintain corporate profits, commercial legal teams are often effective at keeping victims from receiving fair compensation. You deserve to have an equally experienced and tenacious attorney fighting for your rights and your future. And that’s just what you get with Michael M. Day Law Firm.We stand up to insurance companies and corporate legal teams to get truck accident victims full compensation to cover all of their losses. If you or a loved one were hurt in a truck accident, put our experience to work for you today so we can start working toward your best recovery. Just call us at 404-480-4284 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation and case evaluation.