If you’re driving in a passenger car, getting involved in an accident with a semi-truck can be incredibly dangerous. Part of the reason for this is that the size difference between your two vehicles is substantial, and someone in a smaller vehicle is more likely to suffer more severe injuries. Even the largest passenger cars on the market today are much shorter and lighter than a fully-loaded semi.
If you do get involved in an accident like this, the first step should be ensuring that you have not been injured and that anyone who has gets the medical care that they need. But what else should you do after getting involved in the crash? Below are a few important steps to take.
Exchange information
The last thing you want is a scenario where you have trouble filing your insurance claim or starting a lawsuit because you’re not even entirely sure who the driver was that caused the accident. You want to talk to the driver and exchange both contact information and insurance information. In some cases, the easiest way to do this is to take a picture of that driver’s license plate and other identifying information.
Take more photos
Speaking of taking photos, going through the scene and taking pictures of the crash can certainly help your case. The authorities are going to arrive and clean up the scene to get traffic moving again, so you may not have a second chance to do this. Try to get as many photos as you can showing the position of the vehicles, the scene where the crash happened and the damage or injuries that were caused.
Whose fault was it?
Trucking accidents are also interesting because it may not even have been the driver’s fault. For instance, maybe the trucking company did not maintain its vehicles properly and the brakes went out. Or maybe the workers at the warehouse didn’t load the truck correctly and a load shift caused the crash.
When something other than a driver caused the crash, you may still be able to seek financial compensation from this other entity. Be sure you know exactly what legal steps to take.