Accidents involving delivery trucks often involve unique legal problems. A prominent factor is that many companies place severe time pressure on their drivers; UPS is infamous for this. Delivery drivers may place time pressure on themselves for various reasons that cause them to speed, double park, or engage in other reckless behavior such as illegal passing, weaving, tailgating, or running traffic lights and stop signs. Delivery truck accidents often occur because of problems associated with their cargo, such as spillage, overloading that causes tire blowouts, and improper loading that results in shifting cargo and loss of control of the truck.
Being involved in a truck accident can be an overwhelming process that leaves victims scared and confused about how to proceed. These emotions can leave crash victims uncertain about how to proceed and in some cases can result in mistakes being made. These errors can result in numerous negative consequences that significantly affect the future of a person’s case. Baltimore truck accident lawyer Randolph Rice will review some of the important steps that a person can take to protect themselves after an accident.
Important Steps to Take After a Car Accident
Depending on the circumstances of the accident, responsibility for a delivery truck accident may fall on the truck driver, the driver’s immediate superior, the owner of the truck, the party whose goods are being delivered, even a government agency or department responsible for road maintenance. Regardless of the causes of the accident, it is important for motorists to take the following steps after an accident with an Amazon truck or other delivery vehicle in Maryland.
Collect Amazon Delivery Driver Information
It is essential that a person who is involved in a commercial truck accident obtain information from the other driver about their insurance company as well as personal details.
If there were any witnesses to the accident, it is a wise idea to obtain their contact information so they can support your narrative about how the accident occurred.
The more evidence that a person is able to obtain about how a wreck occurred, the less likely that matters will depend on which driver is more believable about how the accident occurred.
Document the Accident by Taking Pictures and Collecting Evidence
If it is safe to do so, you should also use a camera on your smartphone to document the scene of the accident including any damage that occurred.
Truck accident victims should never throw away bills or documentation that is associated with the truck accident. This includes hospital bills, medication costs, and details about vehicle repairs and rentals. Saving these details help accident victims establish to the other party’s insurance company as well as court of law the exact costs that are associated with an accident.
Never Admit Fault at the Scene of the Accident
Even offering sympathy for an accident could be viewed by some parties as a sign that a driver is responsible for an accident. Instead, it is a wise idea to avoid communication to this degree with another driver on the road. Drivers should focus on just obtaining insurance carrier information and personal details from the other driver.
Seek Medical Help If Needed
It is critical that anyone who is involved in a truck accident contact emergency services as soon as possible. Even if you do not believe that you have incurred any injuries as the result of an accident, it is a wise idea to receive an examination from a medical professional. Other injuries like bruises, strains, traumatic brain injuries, and whiplash injuries can not be apparent at first but readily grow worse.
Consult a Truck Accident Attorney Early On in the Process
It’s hard to overstate how important it is get the help of an experienced truck accident attorney as soon as possible after the accident. It’s crucial to preserve and gather every bit of evidence in order determine precisely what happened during the accident and in the time just before it. the ability to recover compensation will depend on establishing, at a minimum:
- Exactly who did what, when, and why
- The path traveled by each vehicle involved
- Who is legally responsible for each vehicle’s operation
- Who is responsible for hiring and training each driver
- What regulations applied to the operation of the truck
- Whether any of these regulations were violated
- If so, whether that violation contributed to the accident
Filing a Lawsuit for an Amazon Truck Accident in Maryland
One important thing to consider when trying to assess whether or not you have a personal injury case is that a personal injury sustained in a truck accident and need a truck accident lawyer can be afflicted upon both body and mind.
When many people think of personal injury cases, they think of severe physical injuries. However, all of the components of pain and suffering can be applied to psychological problems that originate in the aftermath of a crash. Personal injury can range from PTSD to a traumatic brain injury to any other combination of physical and mental afflictions. However, it is important to be aware of the rules that must be followed in filing a personal injury case, which will vary from state to state. For instance, in Maryland, it is crucial to pursue your personal injury case within three years of the truck accident where the injury or injuries occurred. After this period of time, your personal injury case is no longer considered viable.
Statute of Limitations
This deadline is known as the statute of limitations and means that your case can no longer be brought to trial or prosecuted once it has passed. In Maryland, keeping in mind the statute of limitations is essential even for the filing of insurance claims, as once the deadline has passed no compensation can be legally sought through any venue or means.
Contributory Negligence in a Delivery Truck Crash
It is also important to weigh the possibility of shared fault rules, which are enforced in the state of Maryland as well as in many other states across the country. In Maryland, our state of focus, a rule called contributory negligence is enforced in many personal injury cases where each party in a truck accident (or any personal injury case) have filed personal injury suits against each other.
Contributory negligence means that if the injured party (or both injured parties) contributed in some way to their own injury through negligence or wrongful actions, the other party is not legally required to pay out a settlement. Even small traffic laws can be a means for a ruling of contributory negligence if they were not followed to the “T.” Because of this doctrine, it is important to assess whether or not you have a personal injury case resulting from a truck accident in the first place.
Severity of Injuries
The severity of the injury you sustained matters in the case of a truck accident, but it can be difficult to properly assess that severity objectively. Typically, the more severe the injury, the bigger the settlement and the severity of the injury can even be impactful in deciding the outcome of a personal injury case.
The severity of injuries are typically determined in one of three ways. First, the type of injury that you sustained is taken into consideration. A serious neck injury, spinal cord injury, or serious brain injuries are more likely to cause pain and suffering than more minor injuries like a fracture. This pain and suffering caused by an injury directly influences the determined severity of the injury, as the length of time that it takes to recover is factored in.
For some injuries, the recovery period is never truly over and effects from the injury are life long. Finally, severity can be determined by the overall cost of treatment and the number and amount of medical bills that you have accrued in relation to the industry. it is important to note that at the time of a settlement treatment may not have been completed (or may, in all reality, never be fully completed). In order to adjust for this, future anticipated medical costs will likely be incorporated in the final settlement amount.
Call a Maryland Lawyer for Amazon Delivery Truck Accidents Today
If you have been involved in a truck accident, call Baltimore personal injury attorney Randolph Rice today for experienced legal representation that gets results. the initial consultation is entirely free and you pay absolutely nothing until you receive your compensation award. Failing to obtain the assistance of a skilled truck accident lawyer can result in an accident victim not obtaining the compensation they deserve.
It is important the lawyer who is selected has significant experience with commercial truck accidents, which are very different from accidents involving passenger vehicles. A lawyer like Randolph Rice who has experience helping people impacted by truck accidents knows what it takes to create strong legal strategies in even difficult cases. Call today for a free consultation at (410) 657-5075.