Truck Accident Attorneys in Saraland

A collision with a semi-truck or tractor-trailer can leave you or a loved one with severe or even fatal injuries, not to mention the substantial property damage you are likely to suffer. Unfortunately, truck accidents aren’t easier to handle legally than passenger vehicle accidents. In fact, they require significantly more skill, experience, and knowledge.

That’s where we come in. The team at Burns, Cunningham & Mackey knows that you have to meet a substantial burden of proof to convince trucking insurance providers to pay up for the damage caused by their clients. To discuss your needs in greater detail, call us at 251-260-3815.

Why You Need a Truck Accident Attorney

With accidents that involve two passenger vehicles, the process of determining liability and asking for compensation is fairly straightforward. Both insurance companies investigate the accident, the involved parties may retain legal counsel, and one party’s insurance company pays a settlement to the other driver.

Truck accidents are much more complicated. The company that employs the truck driver has their own insurance company and a large legal team whose sole goal is to minimize their company’s financial losses and liabilities.

In order to guarantee a positive outcome for their client, the insurance company will likely get in touch with you shortly after a crash. They know that these crashes can lead to tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills, so their only trick is to get a victim to sign away their right to sue before they realize how much the accident has impacted them.

On top of dealing with the truck company’s insurance provider, there may be other parties that are quick to get your side of the story. The company sending the goods in the truck, the company receiving the truck’s load, the truck’s manufacturer, and company-paid investigators may all get involved in this process.

Their goal is not to provide for you. Their goal is to close the matter as quickly and cheaply as possible, a goal that comes at great expense to you. With a Saraland truck accident lawyer, you have an advocate whose only priority is g getting you the compensation you deserve. They negotiate on your behalf, and if negotiations fail, they are ready to file a lawsuit against the truck company to get what you are owed. Facing this possible outcome, insurance companies are far more likely to negotiate in good faith with an attorney than with a victim.

What to Do After a Truck Accident

Protecting your rights as a victim begins immediately after the car accident. Follow these steps to give yourself a solid foundation for a personal injury case:

1. Call 911 and put on your hazard lights. You need to protect yourself from subsequent crashes. Wait in the car until 911 help arrives, because you do not know if you have injuries that could worsen if you move.
2. Check yourself for injuries and let the EMTs check you over. EMTs will give you information on your injuries and recommend a next step. You should follow up with a full medical examination right after the accident and keep copies of any paperwork you receive.
3. Get contact information, company information, and insurance information from the other driver. Your attorney will need all of this information to build a case against the other party and help you get full and fair compensation.
4. Get contact information for any witnesses who stopped to help. If anyone saw the accident, do not leave the scene of the accident before you get their information. An eyewitness account can be invaluable during an investigation.
5. Take note of the responding police officers’ name and badge numbers. This helps you follow up if there are any issues getting your copy of the police report.
6. Take photos and video footage of the scene of the crash. Capture as much as you can from multiple angles and distances. You want a full understanding of how the crash happened and how much damage it caused.
7. Hire an attorney. Before you communicate with the other party’s representatives or insurance company, get in touch with a personal injury lawyer. They will take over communication for you and protect your rights.

Determining Damages

When figuring out how much to ask for in a truck accident claim, your attorney may look at many types of damages. It all depends on the circumstances and severity of your accident. You may be able to seek compensation for:

• Medical costs. This includes the current expenses you have already accumulated for the accident.
• Future medical costs. If you have injuries that require ongoing care or therapy, this will likely be counted into your settlement.
• Lost income and lost earning ability. Any income you lose while seeking treatment or healing should be compensated in a settlement. If the accident permanently impacts your ability to work, you should be compensated for what you would have earned until retirement had you not suffered injuries in the accident.
• Pain and suffering. The amount for this varies quite a bit, depending on the severity of your pain, how long your injuries are likely to impact you, and how severe your injuries are.

To get compensation on your behalf, your attorney will need to collect substantial evidence to prove that the truck driver or their company is liable for your injuries. Everything you gathered at the scene of the accident is crucial. From there, they may also look into trucking logs, electronic records within the truck itself, training documentation, truck maintenance logs, and previous complaints against the truck driver.

In some cases, they may hire an accident reconstruction expert. These experts use available evidence to lay out exactly how the accident occurred, making it easier to prove fault. The strength of the case they create determines how much compensation you receive, which is why it is so crucial to hire an attorney with lots of truck accident cases behind them.

How Burns, Cunningham & Mackey Can Help

At Burns, Cunningham & Mackey, we fight aggressively for every one of our clients. We know the financial devastation that a serious accident causes, and we don’t think that you should be left handling that alone. We will use all of the resources available to us to create a strong case against the other party and their representatives. The sooner you get in touch with us, the sooner we can begin working for the compensation you are owed. Get in touch with us online or call us at 251-260-3815 to set up a consultation and discuss your options.