Ylla Gosney, Attorneys at Law can help you if you’ve been injured in an accident with a farm truck in Norman. When most people think about farming around Norman, they picture the farms and rural areas outside the city—and they’re not wrong. But for you, it means seeing plenty of farm trucks sharing the road with you. If you get hurt in an accident with one, we can help. Set up a free consultation today.
When a Lawyer Makes Sense After a Farm Truck Accident
Getting around Norman and Cleveland County means regularly seeing farm trucks on the road. They’re hauling livestock, crops, equipment, chemicals, water, and everything else that makes up the agricultural industry here.
That’s also why there are a lot of different variables when you’re involved in an accident with one. And that’s also when talking to a lawyer makes sense. Our team can help you by:
- Figuring out how the accident happened, what the truck was carrying, and what the driver was doing before it.
- Getting the evidence that’s available and making sure it doesn’t get overlooked.
- Dealing with the insurance company so you don’t have to keep explaining the accident to an adjuster while you’re trying to get better.
The last thing you need at this point is more stress and more uncertainty. Having our team gives you the space to focus on getting better and moving forward. That starts with getting information.
Information to Look For After a Farm Truck Accident
Like other truck accidents, one with a farm truck isn’t easy to handle. There’s a lot of different moving parts, and also like other truck accidents, information is going to be important—but not as important as your health and safety. The first thing you should do is call 911 and get an ambulance and police to the scene. While you wait (and if you’re able), it’s a good chance to get a few basics like:
- Pictures and videos of the vehicles, road conditions, debris, skid marks, traffic signs, the truck’s cargo, and your injuries.
- The farm truck driver’s name and insurance information.
- The name of the farm, business, or company the driver works for.
- A picture of the truck’s license plate and any other identifying numbers or markings.
- Names and contact information for anyone who saw what happened.
That’s about as much as you should be worrying about at the scene. Listen to the paramedics, answer the police officers’ questions, and get the medical care you need.
Then, once things start settling down over the next few days and weeks, there’s going to be more information that becomes important, including:
- Medical records and treatment plans
- Hospital and prescription bills
- Physical therapy and rehabilitation expenses
- Towing, rental car, and vehicle repair costs
- Pay stubs or work records showing lost income
- Emails and letters from the farm, trucking company, or insurance company
- Notes about your pain, recovery, and how your injuries are affecting your everyday life
There’s also information about the farm truck itself that can become important. Depending on the truck and what it was being used for, that could include:
- Maintenance and inspection records
- Information about the truck’s brakes, tires, and other mechanical systems
- GPS or tracking information
- Driver logs or records showing how long the driver had been working
- Cargo loading records
- Information about the driver’s training and qualifications
- Records showing what the truck was hauling and where it was headed
Some of this information may be sitting with the farm, business, or other company that owns or operates the truck. They’re not necessarily going to hand everything over just because you ask for it. But that doesn’t mean you’re stuck. Get what you safely can, get medical attention, and start keeping track of everything after that.
Liability and Farm Truck Accidents in Norman
Farm trucks are used for a lot of different jobs, but they still have to follow the same basic rules of the road as everyone else. That gives you a clue about who might be liable for your injuries, but it’s far from the only possible answer.
Legally, it’s still about negligence. Basically, you’re trying to show that:
- Somebody did something—or didn’t do something—that led to the accident and your injuries.
That narrows things down a bit, but it still comes down to your particular accident and what happened. Normally, liability for these kinds of accidents falls on:
- The driver, if they were speeding, distracted, fatigued, or otherwise driving unsafely.
- The farm or company that the driver was working for.
- Companies that made the truck, parts, or cargo.
- Companies that loaded the cargo, if it wasn’t secured properly or the truck was overloaded.
- The city or county government if road conditions led up to the accident.
- Another driver who was being careless or reckless and caused a chain-reaction that the farm truck couldn’t avoid.
All of these things can come together at the worst possible time and leave you dealing with a serious accident. Once that happens, the next question is what you can actually recover.
What Damages Can You Get in a Norman Farm Truck Accident Claim?
At its core, a farm truck accident is still a truck accident. That means it brings all the normal challenges that these kinds of things bring—usually pretty serious injuries, pretty heavy damage to your car, and a lot of anxiety.
That’s what makes up the bulk of the financial support that you can get in the claims process, whether you decide to go with:
- An insurance claim outside of court
- A personal injury lawsuit in civil court
In other words, you’re filing an injury claim to get these “damages” that are made up of your:
- Current and future medical expenses
- Current lost income or a loss of future earnings if you can’t work anymore
- Repair/replacement costs for your car
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Reduced quality of life
- Wrongful death expenses in fatal accidents
Remember, there’s also deadlines in place. Oklahoma gives you two years from the date of the accident to file a claim, and if you miss it, you typically can’t recover anything. But it’s also about the particulars of your accident, and that means the details matter. But regardless of the type of truck it was, what it was carrying, or even why it happened, you don’t have to go through the entire thing alone. Our team will be there to support you.
Reach Out to Ylla Gosney After a Farm Truck Accident in Norman
Whether you’re driving around Norman or heading out into the more rural parts of Cleveland County, you’re going to see farm trucks on the road. They’re hauling equipment, supplies, livestock, and plenty of other things, and sometimes that can lead to a serious accident.
If you’ve been hurt in one of those accidents, our Norman farm truck accident lawyers at Ylla Gosney, Attorneys at Law will be there to help you figure out what happened, what your options are, and what you need to do to move forward with a claim. Reach out today to set up your free consultation.