Traffic accidents involving big rigs, 18 wheelers, tractor trailers, or semi-trucks are different than other kinds of crashes or collisions. Statistics confirm that even when operated at slow speeds, these huge and heavy machines will likely cause significant bodily harm for all involved in the accident, especially those drivers and passengers of smaller vehicles, from the biggest One Ton pickup to the smallest motorcycle. Read, Pulugurtha, Srinivas S., Sarvani Duvvuri, and Sonu Mathew. “Risk Factors Associated with Crash Injury Severity Involving Trucks.” (2022).
For those of us sharing the roadways of Illinois and Indiana with these large trucks and commercial vehicles, it is important to understand we face a greater danger of being involved in a severe or deadly truck crash. Our part of the country is known for having a greater amount of semi-truck traffic than other states; therefore, our risk is higher. See, Illinois and Indiana: Both Top 10 States for Most Truck Crash Fatalities.
Minimizing our risks is imperative. We need to know about things like keeping a greater distance from a semi-truck when driving at high speeds (think the Borman Expressway) because these behemoths will need a longer distance to stop should the truck driver need to brake suddenly. Read, The Dangers of Aggressive Driving: Following Too Close Behind.
And, sadly, there will be times when accidents do happen and these truck crash victims and their loved ones will learn about the consequences of a catastrophic collision. Our previous article went into some considerations for these victims and their families in the first 48 hours after a semi-truck crash. See, What To Do After a Serious Semi-Truck Crash: The First 48 Hours.
There will be more things to evaluate and actions to take in the weeks and months following a serious big rig or tractor-trailer truck accident. These include the following.
Liability After a Serious or Deadly Semi-Truck Crash
Each truck crash must be evaluated and investigated with respect for its unique circumstances. For instance, winter weather conditions may seem the obvious reason for the fatalities and severe injuries until experts reveal that a defective product on a truck, on a roadway, or on another vehicle is a proximate cause of the accident.
There is the possibility that a fatal or severe truck crash may have a number of parties who have legal liability. Each of these parties may be legally responsible and investigating, alongside their various insurance carriers who provide them with accident or liability coverage. Their identities may not be known to the victim and their loved ones for weeks or even months after the crash itself.
For details, read: Trucking Companies Liable for Semi-Truck Crashes in Indiana and Illinois; Winter Weather Accidents Caused by Negligent Fleet Management; and Semi-Truck Crashes: Who Can Be Held Legally Responsible for Commercial Trucking Accidents in Indiana and Illinois?
Insurance Company Investigations After a Catastrophic Truck Accident
Consequently, there may be several insurance policies that may provide coverage for the truck crash. Each of these insurance carriers will be involved in investigating things, with the goal of minimizing their financial exposure in paying truck accident claims. Their argument will be they have a duty to do so because of their policyholders’ and company shareholders’ interests.
From the perspective of the accident victim and their loved ones, those interests may conflict with their right and need for justice to be done in the aftermath of a horrific commercial truck collision.
Truck crash victims should be alert and forewarned of this clash in interests, no matter how friendly or charming or compassionate the insurance adjuster or accident investigator may be.
For more, read: Bad Faith: When an Accident Victim is Victimized a Second Time by the Insurance Company and Bad Faith Insurance Claims in Personal Injury Cases: Indiana and Illinois.
1. Asking to Record Victim Statements
Red flags here include the victim being asked to give a recorded statement after the truck crash. This may be as simple as a friendly, sweet request to record a phone call.
However, these recordings are known to be tools used to try and limit liability (and payment of claims) as the potential defendants review them, word by word, for anything that can help them. Their focus will be to find things like two places in the recording where the crash victim appears to be saying two different things: can this be argued as a deception or lie, or even an admission of fault? This is just one example.
2. Wanting Access to Past Medical Records and Medical History
Similarly, after a serious truck crash, victims must be vigilant against defense tactics where they want to comb through prior medical records to try and find illnesses or injuries that can be labelled as “pre-existing conditions” and a basis for denying a claim.
Waivers must be given by the individual for legal access to medical records. It is wise to read any waiver being offered to a truck crash victim. Is it for records that pertain solely to the crash itself? Or is there language that will allow access to the victim’s medical record history, covering their entire lifetime?
3. Speedy Settlement Offers
There will be severe truck crashes where liability is obvious. In these situations, the truck crash victim and their loved ones may be faced with a very speedy settlement offer from those who clearly have legal responsibility for what has happened.
These must be viewed with an understanding that the victim may not yet have a full picture of their long-term injuries (and corresponding damages). It may be too soon for doctors to tell the permanent outcomes involved in things like spinal cord injuries or brain trauma. How many surgeries will be needed? How extensive will the rehab have to be? These determinations take time.
A speedy settlement amount may not cover the true long-term financial needs of the victim. Furthermore, on more than one occasion, insurance companies have made a fast settlement offer that upon review is clearly a “low ball” offer. Victims need to know that their financial distress after a life-altering truck accident may be viewed as an opportunity to manipulate a speedy settlement by the insurance company.
Having an Advocate: Hiring a Truck Crash Accident Attorney or Law Firm
These companies, particularly trucking companies, as well as insurance companies providing coverage to the trucking industry, will have not only years of experience and past claims histories to study, but they will have employees whose sole job is to investigate severe truck crashes with the goal of finding ways to limit the financial impact of the claims as much as possible.
They will be on the job within hours, if not minutes, of the crash itself. The temptations they face to manipulate, fear-monger, or deceive people who are suffering, grieving, or overwhelmed and shell-shocked cannot be underestimated.
For many truck crash victims and their families, the way to balance things out is to find an advocate in the form of a personal injury truck crash lawyer or law firm who can act on their behalf. These will be attorneys with their own history of truck crash representations and an understanding of truck accident investigation complexities as well as insurance carrier gamesmanship.
Accordingly, in the weeks or months following a serious truck crash in Indiana or Illinois, most truck accident victims and their loved ones will hire legal counsel to help them in their pursuit of justice.
For more on finding and hiring a truck crash lawyer, read our earlier discussions in:
- Questions To Ask Your Personal Injury Lawyer About Your Injury Claim;
- Questions To Ask When Choosing A Personal Injury Lawyer In Illinois Or Indiana;
- How To Choose the Right Personal Injury Lawyer for You and Your Family; and
- What To Look For in a Personal Injury Lawyer in Indiana or Illinois.
Each severe or deadly semi-truck crash accident is different. Victims will include not only the truck driver but the rig’s occupants as well as those who were drivers or passengers in other motor vehicles on the roadway, or even pedestrians or bicyclists.
And, importantly, under the laws of Illinois and Indiana, victims who may seek damages in these cases will also include family members impacted by events, such as spouses or minor children. This is true for federal law, as well, should it apply.
For more, read:
- Worker’s Compensation vs. Personal Injury Claims: Who Has to Pay?
- Death on the Job: Industrial Accident Fatalities in Illinois and Indiana
- Wrongful Death Damages After Fatal Work Accidents in Illinois or Indiana
- Loss of Earning Capacity Damages After Accident in Illinois or Indiana
- What are Legal Damages After a Work-Related Accident in Indiana or Illinois?
- Catastrophic Injury Accidents: Special Legal Protections for Victims and Families in Indiana and Illinois;
- Loss of Consortium Damages in Illinois or Indiana Work Accidents; and
- The Law of Bad Faith Insurance Claims in Indiana and Illinois.
Truck crashes are often horrific collisions where impacts result in the tragic death of more than one victim and lifelong injuries or disabilities for those that are blessed to survive. It is vital that these victims and their loved ones are informed on things to expect in the weeks and months after the event insofar as protecting their rights for justice against those responsible for what has happened. Please be careful out there! Allen Law Group helps victims of serious truck accident injuries in Chicago, Chesterton, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and all throughout Illinois and Indiana.
