After a semi-truck accident, you should collect various pieces of evidence, from medical records to police reports. This evidence is essential and can make or break a semi-truck accident case. Continue reading for more detailed information about this subject.
Evidence You Should Collect After A Semi-Truck Accident
Evidence is essential in semi-truck accident cases. It’s used to prove that you were injured and show that someone else is responsible for your damages. These are the types of evidence you should collect after a semi-truck accident:
- Medical records: To document your injuries, schedule an appointment with a doctor. They can provide you with a treatment plan and provide a verifiable record of your injuries.
- Images and video: Before the advent of the camera, courtrooms, and insurance claims relied on word of mouth. Now, we can use visual evidence to back up our claims. Dashcam footage, phone videos, phone images, and traffic camera footage can all be used to show that another party is responsible for your injuries.
- Contact information: Semi-truck accidents often involve multiple parties, like witnesses, insurers, drivers, and trucking companies. To succeed in your claim or lawsuit, you’ll need to jot down the contact information for all these parties.
- Police report: Police are required to document serious crashes via police reports. These reports contain information about the crash and those involved. While you can acquire one yourself, you can also rely on a semi-truck accident lawyer to submit a police report request.
- Medical bills and other expenses: Insurance claims and lawsuits exist to provide compensation to victims. To ensure you receive the right amount of compensation, you need to document your expenses. This can include medical bills, car repairs, lost wages, and other receipts for purchases related to your accident.
What If I Don’t Have Time To Gather This Evidence On My Own?
Collecting evidence after a semi-truck accident is a tall order, particularly if you or a loved one were seriously injured. Luckily, you can hire a semi-truck accident to conduct an investigation on your behalf. In addition to gathering evidence, an attorney can offer you the following services:
- Answering questions about your case
- Explaining what to do next
- Contacting and negotiating with insurers
- Protecting your best interests
- Pursuing the best settlement award possible
- Filing a lawsuit if needed
What Should I Do After A Semi-Truck Accident?
Alongside gathering evidence, there are a few steps you can take to keep your case on track:
- Seek medical attention
- File a police report if law enforcement didn’t arrive at the scene of the crash
- Consider legal support
Seeking medical attention is a priority. You need a medical professional to evaluate your injuries to ensure that you aren’t seriously hurt. Then, they can provide you with a medical report than can be used during a claim further down the road.
What Semi-Truck Accident Damages Am I Eligible For?
Collecting evidence has a purpose. Without it, it’ll be difficult to pursue damages. Insurance claims and lawsuits both necessitate considerable amounts of evidence.
The types of damages you can pursue depending on the context of your accident. First, you (or your lawyer) need to determine if you’ve suffered a serious injury. Under Florida Statutes § 627.737, the following qualifies as a serious injury:
- Significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function
- Permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, other than scarring or disfigurement
- Significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement
- Death
Damages If You Don’t Have A Serious Injury
In Florida, drivers are required to carry personal injury protection (PIP) insurance, according to Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV). This insurance provides medical coverage regardless of fault. This coverage will only cover 80% of your medical expenses with a standard $10,000 limit. The law governing mandatory PIP coverage and usage is known as no-fault.
Damages If You Do Have A Serious Injury
If you do have a serious injury, you have additional options beyond your PIP coverage, including:
- Filing a liability insurance claim against the responsible party
- Filing a lawsuit against the responsible party
These approaches allow you to pursue these types of personal injury damages:
- Medical expenses (beyond the $10,000 limit imposed by PIP coverage)
- Lost wages and reduced earning capacity
- Wrongful death damages if you lost a loved one
- Car repair expenses
Gathering Evidence And Establishing Fault In A Semi-Truck Accident Case
Evidence serves two goals:
- Establishing the extent of your injuries
- Proving that another party is responsible for said injuries
To do so, you must collect evidence that establishes the four elements of negligence. Each element is a criterion that must be met. If all the criteria are met, you’ve successfully proven that someone else is responsible for your injuries and owes you damages.
These are the four elements of negligence:
- The responsible party owed you a duty of care: All drivers, including truckers, are responsible for keeping others from harm, making this criterion a given.
- The responsible party behaved negligently: Speeding, distracted driving, and drunk driving are all types of negligence. A trucking company can also behave negligently by hiring irresponsible drivers or failing to enforce safety policies.
- This negligence caused your accident: There must be a verifiable link between another party’s negligence and your accident.
- You suffered damages: Finally, the evidence you’ve gathered can be used to show that you suffered damages like medical expenses and mental anguish.
We Can Help Gather Evidence After A Semi-Truck Accident
Our team is here for clients who need help gathering evidence after a semi-truck accident. At the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine, we’ve won millions of dollars in compensation for our clients. We can gather evidence on your behalf and take the fight to insurers and the responsible party. Contact our offices for a free case evaluation today.
