What to Do if You Are Hit by a Commercial Truck in AZ

Large commercial trucks are incredibly important for the economy in Arizona. However, these vehicles can cause severe injuries in the event they collide with traditional passenger vehicles. In the aftermath of being involved in a collision with a commercial truck in Arizona, victims need to know what steps to take to ensure they receive the medical care they need and that they are fairly compensated for what happened.

What to Do Following a Commercial Truck Accident

According to data available from the Arizona Department of Transportation, we can see that commercial truck accidents do occur. During the latest reporting year, there were nearly 2,000 total tractor-trailer accidents reported across AZ. Out of these incidents, there were hundreds of injuries and 60 fatal crashes.

If you are involved in a commercial truck accident, there are immediate steps you can take to ensure that you are treated fairly and that you receive the compensation you deserve.

• Seek medical care immediately. In the aftermath of a commercial truck accident, any victim needs to seek medical care immediately. The signs and symptoms of some truck accident injuries do not appear for hours or even days after the crash occurs, so let a doctor perform a full evaluation. This also documents the injury and establishes a link between the crash.
• Make sure law enforcement is involved. You need to call 911 and ensure that law enforcement officials come to the scene of the crash to conduct an investigation. The police will indicate which party they think was liable, and an accident report will be necessary when it comes to securing compensation.
• Gather evidence. If you can safely do so at the scene of the crash, use your phone or another device to take photographs of any vehicle damages, causes of the crash, injuries, debris, etc. Get the names and contact information of any eyewitnesses to the incident, including spectators who stopped to help.
• Report the incident to your insurance carrier. You need to report the incident to your insurance carrier as soon as you can, even if you think you were not at fault for the incident. Your insurance carrier has reporting deadlines for any incident, and delaying a report could result in a claim denial.
• Continue follow up care. If you have sustained injuries in a commercial truck accident in Arizona, you need to continue all medical care until your doctor says you have reached maximum medical improvement. If you choose to discontinue care before you have completely healed, the insurance carrier or the alleged negligent party could use this as a reason to deny your claim or dispute your injuries.

Contact an Arizona Truck Accident Lawyer

If you or somebody you care about has been injured in an accident caused by the careless or negligent actions of a truck driver or trucking company, you need to contact a skilled Phoenix truck accident lawyer as soon as possible. These cases can become complicated, but an attorney will be able to conduct a full investigation into the case and secure the compensation you are entitled to. An attorney will be able to communicate with every party involved in these cases, including aggressive insurance carriers, the trucking company, any legal teams, and more.