Were you hurt from a truck wreck and have questions? Read these 5 common questions about a truck accident, then contact our Boise attorneys.
1) How is a truck accident claim different from a car accident claim?
Commercial truck accident injury claims in Idaho and car accident injury claims in Idaho are very different things. It seems like a commercial truck accident case is just a big car collision case – it’s not. The reason for that is there are statutory standards that these drivers and trucking companies have to meet, and that makes sense because they cause so much damage when they are involved in collisions as opposed to cars. Obviously, cars can cause substantial damage, too, but when you have 105,000 pounds of rolling death on the interstate causing a collision, you want to follow up with all the regulatory evaluation. Why the wreck happened is a big question in any trucking collision case, not just did the driver not pay attention but the reason the driver didn’t pay attention.
Professional truck drivers have lots of standards they have to meet. There’s lots of regulations on the safety and the safety of the vehicles themselves and standards that limit what they can carry and how they carry it. We often find that inside one of these large trucking semi-truck collision cases there are things that have happened that raise the culpability of others above and beyond merely the driver. Sometimes, it’s the driver and the owners are just looking the other way while the driver is doing things that are not legal and not allowed, and they’re not allowed because they’re recognized by law as being unsafe. We want to be able to track those things down so all damages and full and fair compensation for your losses can be identified and obtained. As a driver gets beyond merely negligent to reckless or an extreme deviation of standards of behavior, the measures of damages change under Idaho law.
These complexities can only be evaluated by a competent personal injury trial attorney with substantial knowledge and understanding of the differences between trucking collision cases in Idaho and car collision cases in Idaho.
2) Should I take the initial offer from the insurance company after a truck accident?
One thing you’ll learn if you’ve been involved in a collision with a semi-truck or any other type of commercial vehicle in an Idaho collision is that insurance company is going to reach out to you, and you want to be careful of that. You want to be careful of that first offer they might make you to try to put the case away. The chances of that offer providing you full, fair, and complete compensation for all your losses is about zero. There will be things that they do not acknowledge, and they will be trying to get out of the case as cheap as they possibly can— that’s their goal. Their goal is not to take care of you and your family, it’s not to really provide compensation for you and the losses you’ve incurred, but it’s to put an end to the potential for a lawsuit and a claim against the driver and the company and put that case to bed from their perspective.
You, on the other hand, have to live with the damages imposed on you of this Idaho trucking collision accident. You have to live with those damages for the rest of your life, and you want to be sure that your compensation is complete. When you hear that first offer, the answer is no.
3) What are common mistakes people make in their truck accident cases?
People who have been injured in a semi-truck collision in Idaho make some basic mistakes that we see that ultimately can impact and reduce their ability to recover full and fair compensation. Among those mistakes are talking to the insurance company for the trucker right away before you’ve talked to an attorney protecting your interests. Why is that? Because they’re looking for ways to minimize the amount of money they pay, ways to blame you, ways to say that your injuries were not caused in this wreck or that your injuries are more minor than they are. A lot of times people, being the decent people that they are, will say things that they don’t understand can be used against them in the course of litigation or in the course of their claim for their Idaho trucking accident case. Don’t talk to an insurance company until you’ve talked to a lawyer. It’s a number one rule in cases like these and one of the number one things people do wrong.
Another thing people do is, when they’re talking to their physicians or their family members or their own insurance company, they’ll minimize the amount of damage or the amount of suffering that they’re going through and try to say, “I’m doing fine,” when in fact there’s a substantial problem going on. Again, this is just language or comments that can be used to reduce the amount of full and fair compensation you ultimately are going to be able to recover.
4) What are common mistakes people make in their truck accident cases?
One of those mistakes is talking to the insurance company for the trucker right away before you’ve talked to an attorney protecting your interests. Why is that? Because they’re looking for ways to minimize the amount of money they pay, ways to blame you, ways to say that your injuries were not caused in this wreck or that your injuries are more minor than they are. A lot of times people, being the decent people that they are, will say things that they don’t understand can be used against them in the course of litigation or in the course of their claim for their Idaho trucking accident case. Don’t talk to an insurance company until you’ve talked to a lawyer. It’s a number one rule in cases like these and one of the number one things people do wrong.
Another thing people do is, when they’re talking to their physicians or their family members or their own insurance company, they’ll minimize the amount of damage or the amount of suffering that they’re going through and try to say, “I’m doing fine,” when in fact there’s a substantial problem going on. Again, this is just language or comments that can be used to reduce the amount of full and fair compensation you ultimately are going to be able to recover.
5) What should I do after a truck accident injury?
Get the medical care you need first— that’s the most important thing. You need to make sure that you’re being taken care. Reach out to your family and your friends to make sure that they understand what’s going on with you.
Before you talk to an insurance company or anyone else, get a hold of an experienced Idaho trucking accident attorney. You’ll want an experienced trucking accident attorney to work with you early in this type of situation because many things are happening, that you probably don’t have an understanding of, that can ultimately impact your long-term outcome and the damages that you will ultimately be able to recover because of the injuries imposed on you in this Idaho trucking collision.
There are many things that need to be preserved and protected when it comes to the records of a trucking accident case that are different than in a car accident case. Once you’ve received your medical care and gotten in touch with your loved ones, get a hold of your attorney before you start trying to do anything else. That’s the most significant thing for you to do following a semi-truck collision that caused you an injury.
These collisions cause substantial and serious injuries. These trucks can be one-hundred and five thousand pounds of rolling death. You want to protect yourself from those who are trying to limit the amount of damages that the people who drive and put these on the road, particularly the dangerous trucks and the dangerous drivers on the road, you want to protect yourself from them limiting the amount of losses that you can recover.
We’re happy to come visit you in your time of need, if you’re in the hospital in the immediate post-collision recovery zone. We’ll come see you because it’s so important to be involved early in one of these cases to make sure that all the evidence is protected and that nothing is done that hurts you, as the injured person, and nothing is done that limits your ability to recover the damages you need.
Were you in a crash in Boise and have questions? After reading these 5 common questions about a truck accident, contact our experienced Boise Truck Accident Lawyers at Hepworth Holzer today for a free consultation and case evaluation.
We are committed to helping individuals and families throughout Idaho navigate the world of personal injury litigation as quickly and efficiently as possible. Let us get results for you and your family.
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