Thousands of people are injured and hundreds killed every year in truck accidents in Wisconsin. So many families are left to deal with tremendous pain and suffering, as well as financial problems. What do you do when you’re faced with huge medical bills and you’re unable to work? It’s time to think about filing a personal injury claim, but to make sure you get the damages you’re entitled to you need to talk to a knowledgeable Wisconsin truck accident lawyer.What to do immediately after the truck accidentPreparing for a potential financial claim should start immediately after the accident. If you’re in any condition to do that, you should take pictures of the crash scene and get the contact details of all those present. When you hire a truck accident lawyer in Milwaukee they will certainly want to talk to the eyewitnesses to get a better sense of what happened. Make sure to call the police as their report will be an important piece of evidence in your file. Next, you should see a doctor, even if you’re not in any particular pain at the moment. Do not tell yourself that those bruises you have will fade in a few days and you’ll be alright. If you have sustained some internal injury, it might be a while till you start noticing there’s something definitely wrong with you. Keep all the medical records and bills in a file, as you will need them to calculate the total value of your claim.You should talk to an experienced truck accident lawyer as soon as you are able to. If you are in the hospital, don’t worry, the lawyer will pay you a visit to review your case. Not all accidents warrant filing a personal injury claim. In order to do that, you, or rather your lawyer, will have to prove there was some sort of negligence involved. How do you determine liability for a truck accident?Unlike car accidents, in a truck collision more than one party could be liable for damages. If, for instance, your accident was caused by an inexperienced driver, the responsibility of his employers might be called into question. The trucking company can be accused of negligence if they failed to check that the driver had a valid commercial driver’s license or failed to do a background check to see if he had drunk driving convictions on his record. Also, if the company failed to provide adequate training before putting that guy behind the wheel of a big rig, they are liable for the damages caused by their negligence.

Trucks in mechanics bays for service; image by Carlos Daniel, via Unsplash.com.

If your accident lawyers discover that there was some type of mechanical failure involved, they will ask to see documents on when the truck was last inspected. Sometimes, trucking companies use a maintenance company to service their vehicles, in which case you can file a claim against them. There’s also the possibility that the crash was caused by a defective part, in which case you can file a claim against the manufacturer.Finally, if there was a problem with the cargo, you can take it up with those responsible for loading the truck.Once they have determined liability, your lawyers will help you figure out how much your claim is worth. The settlement should include both economic damages and non-economic damages, meant to compensate you for your pain and suffering.