After a truck crash occurs, the person or entity responsible for causing the accident is also legally responsible for compensating any accident victims. This means paying for all damages and losses sustained by someone who was hurt in the crash. If the truck accident leads to fatalities, then the person/entity responsible for the crash can also be liable for wrongful death damages, which are paid out to surviving family members.
The damages after a truck accident should include payment of medical bills that have already been incurred, as well as any medical bills and costs that will be necessary in the future to treat accident injuries. If the accident made working impossible or forced accident victims to take time off from work or change to a lower paying job, then lost wages should also be paid.
Accident victims also need to be paid monetary damages to compensate them for non-economic losses such as emotional distress and pain and suffering. And, of course, if a death occurs, surviving family members need to be compensated not just for funeral costs and medical expenses paid prior to death but also for a lifetime of lost financial support and lost companionship.
The amount of money at stake to cover truck accident losses can be huge- sometimes resulting in six and seven figure settlements to victims. However, to recover this money, the accident victim or surviving family members has the burden of pursuing a claim and proving that they are entitled to compensation. In order to do this successfully, a trucking accident investigation is essential.
The Importance of a Trucking Accident Investigation
An accident victim or surviving family members must demonstrate that there was negligence or wrongdoing involved in the truck crash. The victim could prove this, for example, by showing that the truck driver was unreasonably careless in operating his vehicle or by showing that the truck driver broke traffic safety laws or violated the rules of the road. The victim could also show that the trucking company failed to enforce safety rules, failed to properly maintain the truck, or negligently hired the truck driver.
No matter what the situation or specifics of the cause of the crash, the accident victim MUST show that someone else did something wrong or careless in order to recover compensation. This is called proving fault. A truck accident investigation is essential to allowing the accident victim to prove fault.
A truck accident investigation can involve many different things. The investigation can involve:
• Obtaining information from law enforcement about what happened at the crash site. The accident report by police can be one of the best pieces of evidence an injured victim has, which is why calling the police is always essential when a truck accident happens.
• Getting witness statements from those who observed the accident.
• Subpoenaing maintenance records, hours-of-service records and other essential data from the truck driver or trucking company.
• Working with an accident reconstruction expert to show what happened in the moments leading up to the crash.
These are just a few of the different things that can be done in a truck accident investigation to help injured victims prove they are entitled to compensation. Truck accident investigations can be highly technical and there may be many legal hoops to jump through, so an experienced truck accident lawyer should always be consulted as soon as possible to aid in the investigation and build a strong case for damages.
