You may have been hurt in a truck accident that was not your fault. You deserve to make a full legal and financial recovery, but such a recovery is not automatic. Instead, the legal burden is on you to prove who caused your injuries, why they are liable, and what you can recover. This is not easy to do—even in truck crashes that seem clear-cut.
Accordingly, it is important to work closely with an experienced Wisconsin truck accident lawyer to protect your rights and to do everything that you can to understand those rights and to protect your recovery.
Eight Things You Should Know After a Truck Crash
As you navigate the complicated road to a legal recovery while suffering through the pain of your physical recovery, it is important to know the following information that could help you get the financial recovery that you deserve:
- There are minimum insurance requirements for trucks. Many trucks travel from state to state. Trucks that engage in interstate travel are required to carry insurance policies of at least $300,000 to $5,000,000, depending on the size of the truck and type of cargo it transports. Trucks that are used only in Wisconsin are also required to have minimum amounts of insurance that could cover you if you’ve been hurt in a truck wreck.
- Whether you could have avoided the accident. It is not possible for you to avoid every truck crash. However, your own actions will be looked at closely in any truck accident settlement negotiation or during litigation to determine if you were partly to blame for the crash. If you were partly to blame for the accident, then it could reduce the damages that you are able to receive.
- What you should do after a truck crash. After a truck crash, it is important to collect as much evidence as you can, to be cautious about who you speak with, and to contact an attorney as soon as possible for help protecting your rights.
- What mistakes you should avoid after a truck crash. Mistakes that you make after a truck wreck could cost you your fair recovery. Accordingly, it is important that you do not apologize, speculate about what happened, fail to follow your doctor’s orders, discuss the case with anyone other than your lawyer, or post on social media.
- How to collect evidence at the scene of the crash. If you are physically able to gather evidence at the scene of the truck wreck, then it is important to record the names and contact information of truck accident witnesses, to take pictures, and to record the trucker’s and trucking company’s name and contact information.
- How to keep a trucking company from destroying evidence after an accident. The trucking company has control over a lot of evidence that could be useful to your recovery. This evidence includes the truck itself, driving logs for the trucker, inspection and maintenance reports, and the results of the trucker’s alcohol and drug testing. Your attorney knows the legal papers to file to compel the trucking company to preserve evidence.
- What federal safety regulations may be relevant to your accident. Federal safety regulations are designed to help prevent truck crashes. Accordingly, it is important to know if the trucking company and trucker were in compliance with all applicable regulations. These regulations include—but are not limited to—how much time a trucker spends on the road each week, the physical qualifications of truckers, drug and alcohol testing, and more.
- Why truck accidents are different from car accidents. Truck accidents are often complex and they often have different defendants than typical car crashes.
This information is important and could impact your recovery.
But There’s More
Truck accidents are complicated. Identifying the right defendants, figuring out who was at fault for the crash, and proving the extent of your physical injuries can be difficult. However, you don’t have to do it alone. Instead, you have the right to work with our experienced attorneys. Please contact us online or call us directly at 800.800.5678 at your earliest convenience. We would be happy to schedule a free consultation with you. We have several Wisconsin offices for your convenience including Milwaukee, Appleton, Green Bay, Madison, and Wausau.
