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You had things to do on the day that you were hit by a truck. You had places to go, people to see, and things to get done. Unfortunately, your to-do list suddenly changed when a truck hit you as you were walking or waiting on the side of the road.
What Should You Do Immediately After a Truck Accident?
The answer depends on how badly you are hurt. If you are conscious and physically able to take action, then you should:
- Call the police. The police will come to investigate the accident and make sure that you and everyone else involved in the crash are safe. Additionally, the police can direct traffic to prevent a secondary accident, which is especially important if you are hit on the road and can’t safely get out of the way of traffic.
- Get medical attention. You may know that you are hurt right away. You may feel intense pain, lose consciousness, or bleed profusely. These would all be signs to get emergency medical help. However, symptoms of other injuries may not appear quickly, even though you are hurt. Accordingly, it is essential to get medical attention as soon as you can so that all of your injuries can be diagnosed and treated as quickly as possible.
- Take pictures. If you are physically able to do so, then you should take as many pictures as you can of the accident scene, the truck, and your injuries. Your cell phone camera works fine for this purpose. These pictures may contain critical evidence that will help you prove who was at fault for the accident or the extent of your truck crash injuries.
Sometimes pedestrians are so severely injured that they can’t take any of the actions described above. If this happened to you, then the trucker or an accident witness may have called the police, gotten medical attention for you, and taken pictures of the accident scene. Your physical safety must be your top priority, and the failure to take any specific action at the accident scene will not prevent your fair accident recovery.
Your Next Step: Call an Illinois Truck Accident Lawyer
A personal injury attorney can help you after any accident, but contacting a lawyer is particularly important after a truck wreck. The experienced Illinois truck accident lawyers of Hupy and Abraham can make sure that:
- All evidence is preserved. Trucking companies have control over essential evidence in many truck crash pedestrian cases. For example, you may want to know more about the trucker’s experience, medical condition, or driving hours. You want to know about truck maintenance or get information from a dashboard video recording. The trucking company won’t want to give you this information, but an experienced lawyer can help you get it.
- The insurance company treats you fairly. Insurance companies make money by paying out as little as possible in accident claims. Therefore, the insurance adjuster is going to try to get you to accept as low a settlement as possible for your truck accident injuries. Insurance companies know that our lawyers mean business, and they are often willing to settle claims with us.
- Your recovery is protected. If an insurance company won’t offer you a fair settlement, then our lawyers won’t hesitate to go to court. We will fight to protect your recovery of past and future medical costs, lost income, out-of-pocket costs, pain, and suffering.
Over the past half-century, our lawyers have helped more than 70,000 clients recover more than $1 billion for their injuries. We’ve accomplished this by working hard for each and every client whom we represent.
We would be happy to provide you with a free consultation to discuss how we may help you after a truck accident wreck. Call us or fill out our contact form to schedule a free consultation in our Bloomington, Gurnee, or Rockford offices, in your home or hospital room, or virtually by phone or video. We are here for you 24/7/365, so please don’t hesitate to contact us today.
