The Truck Accident Law Firm Blog

Anyone who's been involved in a truck accident knows that you have to make some critical decisions, as well as statements, immediately, at a time when you may not be thinking as clearly as you should. Statements you make in a state of confusion, fear, or anger can come back to haunt you, so say as little as possible.
Sometimes injuries aren't apparent immediately after a truck accident. They may develop over several days time. Telling an officer or someone else that you are not hurt may not be accurate but will be documented.

To make matters worse, there is much you need to learn about the legalities and consequences of your accident and any injuries that resulted. While you sometimes have as many as four years to file a lawsuit certain states' statutes of limitations, bear in mind that other parties involved in this accident also have the same amount of time to file a suit. The full cost of someone's injuries may incur over a lifetime, beyond the time allowed to file a lawsuit. If you are the injured party, you will want to have your rights protected from the moment of the accident.

By seeing an experienced truck accident attorney as soon after the accident as possible, you will be taking steps to collect and preserve evidence that may otherwise disappear. This evidence could be used to establish your claim or to protect you if a claim is filed against you. Since evidence begins to disappear as soon as the vehicles are moved from the scene, shortly after the accident occurs, statements documented by the officer are often the most complete information available regarding the accident. A good truck accident and injury lawyer can do much to preserve evidence that protects your rights to compensation.

Often in truck accidents, the accident is caused by an unsafe act on the part of the driver of the car. Many car drivers do not fully understand a truck's performance capabilities such as braking, steering, and visibility issues. For this reason, we have compiled a list of "don'ts" for passenger vehicles in an effort to help reduce the number of truck accidents in the United States each year.

Some common unsafe acts by passenger vehicle drivers include:

• Driving in the zones where the trucker cannot see you. I'm sure we've all seen those signs that say, "If you can't see my mirrors, I can't see you." Well, you need to abide by those because they're true.
• Changing lanes abruptly around a truck
• Misjudging a truck's speed and making a left turn in front of a truck at an intersection
• Merging abruptly causing a truck to maneuver quickly
• Passing a truck and then being blown by the cross-wind
• Driving between large trucks
• Pulling into traffic without accelerating sufficiently (causing a truck to brake abruptly)
• Failing to get a disabled vehicle fully off the roadway and onto the shoulder

We have heard of defensive driving. To minimize the amount and severity of truck accidents on our country's roadways, we need to take the offensive approach and drive more carefully and more cognizant of our big rigs.

If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in a truck accident, you do have legal rights. Please contact an experienced truck accident attorney in your area today to schedule a no-cost, confidential consultation to discuss how to get the compensation you need and deserve following this tragic event.