Preserving Key Evidence Following a Truck Accident
Figuring out how to preserve evidence after a truck accident can be daunting. When you have been involved in a serious truck collision, you likely need to focus on your physical recovery. However, if you want to recover compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and other losses, you must preserve evidence and prevent the trucking carrier from destroying it. You need evidence to prove the truck driver, carrier, or another at-fault party is liable. Because of the importance of gathering and preserving evidence, it’s important to work with a qualified injury lawyer with significant experience handling truck accident claims. Here are the types of evidence that might be important in your case and some steps your attorney will take to preserve critical evidence.
Important Evidence in a Truck Accident Case
Trucking carriers are legally required to keep certain records for a minimum amount of time. For example, under the regulations enforced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), trucking carriers must retain copies of their driver-duty status reports for six months. They also must retain copies of electronic logging data (ELD) for six months. Trucks also have black boxes that record critical information about what was happening with the truck in the moments before a crash, during it, and immediately afterward.
Some of the types of evidence that might be relevant to your case include the following:
- The driver’s duty status reports
- Black box data
- ELD data
- Hiring and training records for the driver
- Daily truck inspection logs
- Maintenance and repair records
- Testing of the vehicle
- Any accidents the driver has been involved in previously
It’s important to start working to gather and preserve these and other types of evidence immediately following an accident. In some cases, trucking carriers will destroy or spoliate critical evidence to avoid liability. For example, a trucking company might try to clear data from the truck’s black box, destroy other pieces of evidence, or falsify records. An experienced lawyer understands the tactics companies sometimes use and will work to keep them from acting in bad faith. Below are some of the steps your attorney might take to preserve evidence and prevent its destruction.
Drafting and Sending a Spoliation Letter
Your attorney will likely draft and send a spoliation letter to the trucking company. This letter tells the company to preserve all of the evidence included in the letter and gives the company notice of its legal obligation. If a trucking company then tampers with or destroys evidence listed in the spoliation letter, the company can face serious legal repercussions. The court might also use the company’s spoliation as an inference of the company’s responsibility for the collision.
Requesting an Injunction
If there is a risk the trucking carrier might destroy evidence, your lawyer might file a motion for injunctive relief from the court to get a restraining order against the trucking company. This order would prohibit the carrier from destroying any of the important pieces of information being sought by the plaintiff during the pendency of the legal case.
Preserving Evidence from the Accident Scene
Preserving and gathering evidence at the accident scene is also important. Right after your collision, take photographs of vehicular damage to your car and the semi that hit you, tire skid marks, nearby road signs, road debris, road conditions, weather conditions, and anything else that is relevant. These types of evidence often disappear within a few hours to days, making it important to act quickly.
Retaining an Accident Reconstruction Expert
Accident reconstruction experts review all evidence and visit the scene of the collision. They take measurements and perform calculations to determine the accident’s cause. Expert testimony can be crucial for determining liability and helping you recover compensation for your losses.
Interviewing Witnesses
Your attorney might contact any witnesses who saw what happened and interview them. Witness testimony can be helpful because witnesses are neutral parties and can provide objective observations about what occurred.
Consult a Truck Accident Lawyer
If you’re wondering how to preserve evidence after a truck accident, it’s important to speak to a lawyer as soon as possible. Evidence can be quickly lost or destroyed. Contact the law firm of Ellis & Associates to schedule a free consultation and obtain help with preserving evidence by calling us at 800-MR-ELLIS or sending us a message online.