What Should I Do If a Truck Driver Tries to Blame Me for an Accident?
If you were in a crash with a large commercial truck, you may have suffered significant property damage and injuries. Your car may be totaled. You may still be recovering from serious injuries or learning to accept long-term disfigurements or physical limitations. Semi-trucks can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, and at high speeds, they can cause considerable damage and fatalities. While you are trying to heal and move forward, though, you are pushed into the position of having to prove the truck driver or trucking company is responsible and should compensate you. This is a complicated and difficult task, especially if the truck driver tries to blame you for the crash.
When a truck driver is blaming you, the best thing you can do is contact an experienced truck accident lawyer from Graham Scofield Injury Lawyers at (404) 939-9470 or through our online contact form. We offer free, no-risk consultations.
If the Truck Driver Blames You at the Scene of the Crash
If the truck driver is angry and combative immediately following an accident, do not reciprocate. Do your best to remain calm. Do not blame the driver and do not accept blame. Do not apologize. If you can diffuse the situation, do so. If you can’t, keep your distance until the police arrive.
Gather Evidence Regarding the Crash
When you are being blamed for a truck accident, the best thing to do is to work with an experienced truck accident lawyer. You and your attorney will take steps to gather evidence regarding what happened and why.
Witness Statements
Contacting witnesses who saw the crash is important. After the wreck, it is a good idea to ask for witnesses’ names, phone numbers, and email addresses. One of our attorneys will contact these witnesses and ask them to make a detailed written statement regarding what they saw and heard.
Witnesses are important because they are neutral third parties. A witness that was not in your car or the truck has no stake in who wins the case. They can provide an honest statement regarding what they saw without creating a reason for the truck driver or trucking company to claim the witness is biased or lying.
The Police Report
Another important task in gathering evidence is obtaining a copy of the police report. This report should include basic facts regarding the crash, including when and where it happened, the directions all the vehicles were heading, and the officer’s analysis of what happened. The report also may include the names and statements of witnesses to the accident.
Your truck accident lawyer also will review whether either you, the truck driver, or both received any traffic tickets.
File a Personal Injury Lawsuit
When you are injured in a truck wreck and another party is at fault, it can be important to file a lawsuit after your attorney performs a thorough investigation.
Through a lawsuit, your truck accident lawyer can gather a lot more information that is controlled by the trucking company, including:
- Electronic information stored by the truck’s “black box”;
- Maintenance records for the truck;
- Employee and driving records for the truck driver; and
- Facts and conclusions drawn from the trucking company’s accident investigation.
Hire Expert Witnesses
To obtain more in-depth information regarding trucking accidents and a professional’s opinion regarding the cause of your crash, you need to hire one or more expert witnesses.
By working with an experienced truck accident lawyer, you can connect with semi-truck experts, truck mechanic, trucking industry and regulation experts, crash reconstructionist, engineer, metallurgist, and more.
At Graham Scofield Injury Lawyers, we have worked with expert witnesses in many truck accident cases. We will find the professional best suited to analyze your crash and injury claim.
Contact a Truck Accident Lawyer
Above all, the most important thing you can do when facing a contentious truck accident claim is to hire a highly experienced truck accident attorney. It will be extremely tough to hold your own against a trucking company and its major insurance company without the help of someone knowledgeable regarding the law and truck accident cases specifically.
Our attorneys at Graham Scofield Injury Lawyers are here to help when you have been hurt in a truck wreck. Contact us online or call (404) 939-9470 to schedule your free consultation.