For drivers who travel along the roads and highways around the Columbus metro area, large commercial trucks are a common sight and sharing the road with these hulking machines is simply a routine part of driving. Often, drivers forget just how dangerous these enormous vehicles are and the devastation they can cause if they collide with smaller vehicles.

When commercial trucks are involved in traffic accidents with smaller vehicles, the results often prove disastrous. Victims may suffer serious injuries, changing the course of their lives for months or even years. The minutes and hours after a commercial truck accident are important for gathering evidence that may prove to be invaluable in a personal injury claim.

Of course, if you’ve just experienced an accident with a large truck, you may not have the presence of mind to gather important evidence. It is always wise to consider calling an attorney to come to the scene of the accident to advise you about your rights and to help you begin building a claim while the evidence and your memory are still fresh.

Watch what you say after an accident

Especially when an accident involves a large truck, the matter of liability is very serious. It is important that you do not say anything that may suggest to some other party at the scene of the accident that you caused the accident or hold liability for the injuries and damages.

An attorney can help you communicate clearly to other parties in an appropriate way without saying anything incriminating. This alone may save you thousands of dollars in liability and can prove crucial to your own claim later on.

Gathering evidence at the scene

An attorney can assess the scene of an accident fairly quickly and begin gathering evidence to build a claim. Not only does this remove the burden of collecting evidence from you as a victim, it ensures that you don’t overlook evidence that you may not realize is important.

The attorney may interview individuals at the scene, speak with police, take photographic and video evidence, as well as review the logs that a commercial driver must keep to identify any discrepancies that may explain the causes of the accident.

Not only this, but the attorney can help you determine quickly the nature of the driver’s relationship with the shipping company using his or her services. If the driver is an independent contractor, the lawsuit may play out differently than if the driver is classified as an employee.

Don’t wait to protect yourself

There is no need to wait in order to begin protecting yourself when you are involved in a traffic accident with a large commercial truck. You can call an attorney out to the scene of the accident to protect your rights immediately while you focus on more pressing matters.