Many people think that an automobile accident with an 18-wheeler, tractor-trailer, or commercial motor vehicle is the same as just a car wreck with a bigger vehicle. That's absolutely not true. Since they are professional drivers—truck drivers, bus drivers—they're held to a high standard. They are also held to federal and state regulations, federal laws, and state laws that apply specifically to truck drivers and trucking companies.
After an accident with an 18-wheeler, within minutes or hours, those trucking companies and their insurance companies will have someone at the scene investigating the accident. Most trucking companies, if the driver is uninjured, tell the driver to get out with his camera and take pictures of the scene immediately. I've even found in discovery and depositions in cases that the trucking companies have told their drivers to get out and take pictures before they get out and put cones down to help people avoid the accident. That's how important early investigation is to them.
Since it's so important to the trucking company and to the trucking company's insurance company, it also ought to be important to you. It's important that you hire an attorney who is very familiar with trucking accidents and with trucking companies. These commercial motor vehicles—tractor-trailers, 18-wheelers, whatever you want to call them, the big trucks—many of them have special devices in them like the black box on airplanes, GPS tracking devices, and communication computers with their company that show exactly where they are, what time of day they're there, how long they've been there, and when they drop cargo off. It's important that we be able to get that information before it is destroyed, changed, or tampered with. Not all trucking companies would change information, but I've run across companies that will delete information after a big accident to try to cover themselves.
It's also important because many times the driver works for one company, the tractor is owned by another company, the trailer is owned by a third company, and the cargo is owned by somebody else. It's important to understand who is responsible and if all of them are responsible, and who has the full responsibility for the driver's conduct.
If you've been involved in an accident with an 18-wheeler or a commercial motor vehicle, a big truck, it is very important that you call a lawyer experienced in dealing with 18-wheelers, trucking companies, and their insurance companies right away. It's important that you get a hold of that lawyer and get them out there, and that they get someone investigating the case immediately.
In my prosecution of cases against truck drivers and trucking companies, I've found oftentimes that the drivers and the trucking companies will keep two or more logbooks. One time I found a driver keeping four separate logbooks. The logbook is the book that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety regulations, promulgated by the United States government, require truck drivers to keep. It keeps track of the time they are working, the time they are driving, the time they are off duty, and the time they are sleeping because there are regulations that limit the amount of time that a driver can be on duty and limit the amount of time that a driver can be driving.
In order to get a load across the state or across the country, many times the drivers have to violate those regulations. The trucking companies require them to get there faster than what they should. So, in order to do so, they keep logbooks that aren't accurate, logbooks that show them not violating the regulations. This is even more reason to hire a lawyer who knows where to look. In this day and age, most larger trucking companies have GPS or Global Positioning Satellites that keep track of exactly where the truck driver is. Comparing the trucker's logbooks with the GPS records often proves that the driver has violated his hours of service regulation—that is, he's driven too much time, which makes him a fatigued or tired driver.
A fatigued or tired driver driving that huge truck at 70 miles an hour, 65 miles an hour, or higher on the highway is like a ticking time bomb ready to explode into your vehicle. Knowing where to look and knowing how to compare the documents and information is key. So, it's important that you hire a lawyer with experience in these matters who knows where to look.
Have You Been Injured In A Texas Truck Accident?
If you've been injured in a truck accident you need to speak with an experienced truck accident injury attorney as soon as possible. Please contact us online or call our Colleyville office directly at 817.380.4888 to schedule your free consultation.
