It is never easy to know how to respond to a commercial truck accident in Florida. The sheer scale of the damages is often immense, and finding your bearings in the aftermath is rarely easy, unless you are extremely fortunate.
In many instances, victims in a commercial truck accident are too concerned with their own immediate medical concerns or those of their passengers to consider gathering important evidence at the scene that will make it much easier to build a claim later on. Unfortunately, failing to consider these issues while still at the scene of the accident may mean that you miss crucial evidence that may make your future injury claim much stronger.
Many individuals do not realize that it is possible to request an attorney come out to the scene of an accident to provide legal guidance and begin building a claim before the clean-up crew does its work and clears away potentially valuable evidence. Professional legal counsel after a truck accident may help victims focus solely on their own pressing needs in the moment, keeping their rights and privileges secure while protecting their future opportunities to seek fair compensation for the accident.
Gathering evidence at the scene
Commercial truck accidents are almost always an overwhelming experience, even more so than standard car accidents between consumer drivers. An attorney who understands the process of building a claim involving a commercial truck can get to work immediately assessing the accident and the driver’s relationship to his or her employer, which can significantly prolong the resolution of a claim, if not addressed properly.
In addition to documenting the scene of the account in detail and searching out any third-party documentation of the accident, such as nearby surveillance footage, an attorney may effectively demand access to the driver’s log book, which may shed important light on the causes of the accident and the potential liable parties.
Protecting your legal rights
It is also helpful to have an experienced legal mind on hand to keep you from saying or doing something unhelpful to your own claim. In the confusion and frustration following the accident, it is easy to say things that you do not mean that compromise your future legal opportunities, or accidentally assume liability.
An attorney who comes to the scene of your accident can advise you before you speak to any other party involved, or with police, and may act as a spokesperson on your behalf, allowing you to maintain some wise distance from the other parties involved. This is not to trivialize the seriousness of the accident, but rather to protect your from any accidental slip ups that may cost you dearly.
However you choose to deal with your commercial truck accident, be sure to give the matter the attention and time you deserve. A poorly constructed personal injury claim and legal strategy may simply prolong the process of recovery without yielding useful compensation, or may fail to protect you from unfair litigation from other parties.