What to Do if a Commercial Vehicle Hits Your Car
Posted on: July 28, 2025Being struck by a commercial vehicle, whether it’s a box truck, delivery van, utility pickup, or rideshare car—can feel chaotic and intimidating. Unlike a typical fender‑bender between two private motorists, these vehicles often outweigh passenger cars by a ton or more, so the forces, and injuries, involved tend to be far more severe.
On top of that, crashes involving commercial vehicles often trigger bigger insurance policies, dedicated corporate safety or risk departments, and added layers of legal complexity.
Below, you’ll find a practical, step‑by‑step game plan for protecting your health, your finances, and your legal rights after a commercial vehicle accident.
Step‑by‑Step Guide To Accidents with Commercial Vehicles
Even after the initial shock, the minutes and hours following a collision often feel like a blur. The checklist below breaks the process into clear, manageable steps so you can safeguard your health, preserve critical evidence, and protect your legal rights.
1. Put Safety First & Check for Injuries
- If your car is drivable (and it is safe to do so), pull over to prevent further accidents.
- Assess yourself and your passengers for injuries. If anyone is seriously hurt—or if you’re unsure—call 911 immediately.
2. Call 911 & Report the Crash
Florida law requires drivers to notify law enforcement whenever a crash involves injury, death, or more than $500 in property damage. It’s important to note that nearly every commercial vehicle accident meets this threshold. Even an unloaded Amazon delivery van may weigh twice as much as the average sedan.
A police report creates an official record that can become vital evidence when negotiating with multiple insurers.
3. Document the Scene Like a Journalist
- Photograph or video the damage to every vehicle, roadway debris, skid marks, street signs, and weather conditions.
- Capture shots of company logos on the commercial vehicle and any unique identifiers such as USDOT numbers or fleet decals.
- Look for dashcams—yours and theirs. If your vehicle has one, preserve that footage. Commercial fleets often have inward‑ and outward‑facing cameras; note their presence so your attorney can request the files before they are overwritten
Likely, the commercial vehicle driver will be documenting the scene. Or the company will send out a risk manager whose job is to document everything and protect the company.
4. Exchange Information – And Dig a Little Deeper
Beyond the basics (name, address, driver’s license, and insurance policy) ask for:
- Employer or carrier name and primary business address.
- The driver’s employee ID or contractor relationship (if they drive for a gig platform like DoorDash or UberEats).
- Vehicle owner (sometimes different from the employer, e.g., a leasing company).
Politely gather contact information from witnesses before they leave. Many bystanders will wait only a few minutes, and officers may focus on the drivers rather than impartial witnesses. Even exchanging phone numbers is important. It is unfortunately not uncommon for witness information never to be collected, and the potential testimony is then lost forever.
5. Notify Your Insurance & Start Your Claim
Call your insurer as soon as possible, but watch your words carefully. Corporate adjusters and risk managers are trained to limit liability from day one; an inadvertent remark can be used against you.
Provide facts, not opinions. And remember: if the other carrier (or a third‑party administrator) phones you, you are not required to give a recorded statement. If your carrier wants a statement, it is not recommended to do so without counsel present.
6. Seek Medical Attention Within 14 Days
Under Florida’s Personal Injury Protection (PIP) rules, you must see a qualified medical provider within 14 days of the crash in order to use your PIP benefits. Even if you feel “okay,” schedule an exam. Early documentation ties latent injuries—such as herniated discs or traumatic brain injuries—to the collision and keeps your medical options open.
7. Watch Your Words & Your Social Media
After you file an accident claim, the insurance company may be watching you closely. Assume that phones are recording and investigators are browsing all of your public posts. Share only essential facts with insurers, and avoid posting photos or status updates about the crash, your injuries, or your daily activities.
Even a harmless picture of you playing with your kids or being social with your friends could be twisted to downplay your pain.
8. Call a Commercial Vehicle Accident Attorney
Time is critical after a commercial‑vehicle crash. The sooner you involve an accident attorney, the sooner they can get to work protecting both the evidence and your future.
Here’s how an attorney can help your case:
- Freezing critical data by sending immediate preservation letters for dash‑cam footage, telematics, GPS logs, and driver‑app records—before the company overwrites or deletes them.
- Deploying investigators to photograph the scene, download the vehicle’s black‑box, and secure physical evidence.
- Uncovering every insurance layer—primary, excess, umbrella—and verify policy limits so no dollar is left on the table.
- Coordinating medical care & billing while tracking your treatment, lost income, and long‑term needs.
- Handling all communication with corporate adjusters and risk managers, shielding you from tactics that can undermine your claim.
- Building a compelling damages package backed by experts in crash reconstruction, vocational rehab, and life‑care planning.
- Negotiating or litigating as needed, from settlement conferences to a jury trial, always focused on maximizing your compensation.
While you focus on healing, your lawyer is moving the case forward—collecting evidence, confronting big‑company tactics, and fighting for the full recovery you deserve.
Wondering if you have a case? Take our quiz to find out.
Collisions with company‑owned vehicles raise the stakes for injured drivers and passengers.
Businesses typically carry million‑dollar liability policies, and many also layer excess or umbrella coverage on top of that. Although this means there may be more money available to cover your medical bills, lost wages, and long‑term care, it also introduces a maze of overlapping policies, each defended by professional adjusters whose job is to save their company money—not to make you whole.
Additionally, responsibility for the crash can be shared among several parties, including the driver, the employer, a vehicle‑leasing company, or even a shipping broker, and each one may point the finger at someone else to avoid paying.
Finally, it’s not uncommon for corporate risk teams to reach out quickly with what seems like a generous settlement offer. Unfortunately, accepting that check closes your case forever, leaving you on the hook for any future surgeries or therapies that have not yet surfaced.
Simply put, commercial vehicle wrecks bring higher insurance limits, more potential sources of compensation, and far more aggressive defense tactics—all of which make it vital to understand the full value of your claim before signing anything.
Get Back On Track
A collision with a commercial vehicle can upend your life, but taking the right actions in the first days and weeks can safeguard your health, your finances, and your future. From seeking prompt medical care to preserving digital evidence and navigating complex insurance webs, each step matters.
If you or someone you love has been injured by a company vehicle, Beers & Gordon is ready to help. Our attorneys have decades of experience on both sides of the insurance aisle, giving us an insider’s view of how carriers value—and undervalue—claims.
Reach out today for a free consultation and let us fight for the full compensation you deserve.
Jim Gordon
Jim Gordon earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Nebraska in 1997, and two years later began working at a firm in Orlando handling insurance defense matters on cases involving vehicle accidents, negligence, product liability, and more. He established Beers & Gordon P.A. with David Beers in 2009 to represent the rights of people injured because of negligence. He is a member of the invitation-only National Trial Lawyers organization and the Million Dollar Advocates Forum.