Protecting your guests during a celebration goes beyond preventing intoxicated guests from driving home and fixing tripping hazards. You may have an incident involving a commercial vehicle crashing into the festivity.
If this incident occurs, it can cause panic, with potential injuries and extensive property damage. Take the following steps to help protect your guests’ rights in the aftermath.
Get Legal Help
Once you’ve reported the accident to law enforcement, don’t hesitate to get legal help after a commercial crash. The truck company is already building a case to protect their profits, even when at fault.
Recovering from a truck wreck can be time-consuming and painful. If you or others have serious injuries, it can result in mounting medical debt that the liable party, the trucking company, should cover. To protect your right to compensation, it’s important to thoroughly document what happened and the losses you’ve suffered. If the accident happened in Oklahoma, a local truck accident attorney can help gather and preserve this evidence while dealing with the trucking company’s insurance carrier on your behalf.
Start Documenting Everything
You and all of your guests should quickly record what you saw when the crash happened while still fresh in your minds. Check for injuries or damage.
Save witnesses’ contact info such as:
- Names
- Phone numbers
- Email addresses
Does your home have security surveillance like Ring Door cameras and other video footage? Neighbors’ cameras may also capture something. These can provide evidence of what happened and when.
Seek Medical Treatment
Immediately seek emergency care for any injuries directly linked to the crash and ensure any injured guests do the same. Everyone who had to seek medical care should save every doctor’s note, test result, and related bill.
Track All Expenses
In addition to medical expenses, there may be expenses related to damage to your home and other personal items. Your guests may have damaged items, such as parked vehicles that the commercial vehicle may have crashed into.
Tracking all these costs through saved receipts is vital for insurance compensation. You should also photograph anything that’s damaged and keep it in a file related to the accident.
Give Insurance Advice
How you handle insurance matters, and make sure your guests understand how to do so as well. Everyone should avoid giving statements to the company’s insurance representative without legal advice.
Your lawyer can handle all communication for you and ensure you don’t accidentally say something the company can use against you to provide a reduced or no settlement.
Plus, insurance companies are known to not be eager to give compensation to victims or lowball them when they do. Experienced commercial accident attorneys can speed up this process and protect your rights. They can usually get a settlement so you can avoid a court trial.
Prepare for Accident Mishaps at Parties
When you’re gathering with friends and family at home, you don’t expect your celebration to be interrupted by a truck barreling onto your property. However, a commercial vehicle accident may happen for various reasons and cause damage and potential harm to you and your guests. If this happens at your celebration, use the above advice to protect everyone’s rights.
