Truck accidents can be devastating, leading to severe injuries, financial strain, and prolonged legal battles. Unlike standard car crashes, trucking collisions often involve multiple parties, including drivers, trucking companies, insurers, and regulatory bodies. This complexity makes preserving evidence crucial for ensuring fair compensation and holding responsible parties accountable.
In the aftermath of a crash, victims must act swiftly to collect and protect evidence before it is lost, destroyed, or altered. Trucking companies and their insurers often work aggressively to limit their liability, sometimes even tampering with crucial evidence. This guide explains the importance of preserving evidence, the types of evidence to collect, and the legal steps necessary to ensure that your rights are protected.
Why Preserving Evidence is Critical After a Truck Accident
The Legal Importance of Evidence
Evidence plays a pivotal role in determining liability in truck accident cases. Because trucking accidents involve large commercial vehicles, injuries tend to be severe, and damages can be extensive. Proving fault requires physical, digital, and witness-based evidence, which helps reconstruct the accident and establish what went wrong.
A lack of preserved evidence can jeopardize your case, making it easier for the trucking company to shift blame. If evidence is destroyed or lost, proving negligence becomes significantly harder, which can negatively impact the amount of compensation a victim receives.
Challenges in Truck Accident Investigations
Truck accidents often involve multiple liable parties, which makes investigations more complex than typical car accidents. Some of the challenges include:
- Trucking companies deleting or altering digital data to hide violations.
- Delays in obtaining official reports from law enforcement.
- Corporate attorneys aggressively disputing claims and discrediting victims.
- Complex federal and state trucking regulations that must be reviewed.
Because of these challenges, early evidence preservation is key to ensuring that all parties responsible are held accountable.
How Trucking Companies May Try to Hide Accident Data
Trucking companies have an incentive to minimize their liability, which means they may take steps to hide or destroy evidence. Some common tactics include:
- Erasing black box data before investigators can access it.
- Falsifying logbooks to hide violations of federal driving hour limits.
- Delaying accident reports to make it harder for victims to collect key evidence.
- Making unauthorized truck repairs to remove signs of vehicle defects.
Victims and their attorneys must act quickly to secure evidence before it disappears. A lawyer can file a preservation order to ensure that all relevant information remains intact.
Types of Evidence to Collect at the Truck Accident Scene
Physical Evidence at the Crash Site
Physical evidence is often the most compelling proof in a truck accident case. Collecting photographs, videos, and physical objects from the accident scene can help accident reconstruction specialists determine fault.
Skid Marks and Road Conditions
Skid marks provide critical insight into a truck driver’s actions before impact. Investigators can analyze skid patterns to determine:
- Whether the driver attempted to brake before the crash.
- The truck’s approximate speed at the time of impact.
- If the driver tried to swerve or avoid the accident.
Wet, icy, or poorly maintained roads may also play a role in truck crashes. Documenting road conditions at the time of the accident is essential.
Vehicle Damage and Debris
The extent and location of vehicle damage help forensic experts determine the angle of impact and the force of the collision. Additionally, scattered debris—such as broken vehicle parts, cargo spills, or tire blowouts—can indicate whether a mechanical failure or improper load securing contributed to the crash.
Digital Evidence: Black Box and ELD Data
Modern commercial trucks are equipped with Electronic Control Modules (ECMs), commonly known as black boxes. These devices record valuable data that can be crucial in determining the cause of a crash.
What Black Box Data Can Reveal
Black box data typically includes:
- Truck speed before and at the time of impact.
- Brake usage, steering movements, and acceleration patterns.
- Engine diagnostics, including any mechanical failures.
- Hours of service, which indicate whether the driver was fatigued.
Trucking companies routinely erase black box data if it is not subpoenaed quickly. A lawyer can send a legal preservation letter to prevent this.
Driver Logs and Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs)
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) requires truck drivers to follow strict limits on driving hours to prevent fatigue-related crashes.
Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) track:
- The number of hours a driver has been on duty.
- Breaks and rest periods required by law.
- Whether the driver exceeded the legal limit of driving hours.
ELD data can prove violations of federal trucking laws, strengthening a victim’s case.
Witness Statements and Police Reports
Eyewitnesses can provide objective testimony about what happened before, during, and after the accident. Witness accounts often confirm if the truck was speeding, swerving, or failing to follow traffic laws.
Police reports also play a critical role in documenting accident details, including:
- Statements from drivers, passengers, and witnesses.
- Traffic violations issued at the scene.
- Preliminary assessments of fault.
Steps to Secure Truck Accident Evidence Immediately
1. Call 911 and Seek Medical Attention
Immediately after an accident, calling 911 ensures that emergency responders and police arrive at the scene. Even if injuries are not visible right away, some conditions—such as concussions or internal bleeding—may appear later.
2. Take Photos and Videos of the Scene
Using a smartphone or camera, document:
- The position of the vehicles after the accident.
- Skid marks, traffic signals, and road conditions.
- Any visible injuries sustained by you or others.
3. Obtain Witness Contact Information
If there are bystanders or other drivers who witnessed the accident, collect their names, phone numbers, and statements. Witness testimony can support your version of events if the trucking company disputes liability.
4. Request a Copy of the Police Report
Law enforcement officers will create an official accident report, which serves as a key piece of evidence. You can request a copy from the police department handling the case.
5. Contact a Truck Accident Attorney
An attorney can send legal notices to trucking companies, insurers, and law enforcement agencies to preserve evidence. This prevents critical documents and digital records from being destroyed or altered.
How a Lawyer Can Help Preserve Truck Accident Evidence
Filing a Legal Preservation Order
A lawyer can send a spoliation letter, legally requiring the trucking company to preserve all accident-related evidence. This includes black box data, ELD logs, maintenance records, and dashcam footage.
Subpoenaing Trucking Company Records
Trucking companies may not willingly provide incriminating records. An attorney can file a subpoena to demand access to:
- Employment records of the truck driver.
- Past safety violations or complaints against the trucking company.
- Drug and alcohol test results for the driver.
Hiring Forensic Experts and Accident Reconstructionists
Legal teams work with accident reconstruction experts who analyze evidence, such as black box data, skid marks, and vehicle damage, to prove liability.
Frequently Asked Questions About Preserving Evidence After a Truck Accident
What should I do immediately after a truck accident to preserve evidence?
After a truck accident, the most important steps to take are calling 911, seeking medical attention, and documenting the scene with photos and videos. Gathering witness contact information and requesting a police report are also crucial. Contacting an attorney as soon as possible can help ensure that critical evidence, such as black box data and electronic logging device records, is legally preserved before it is deleted or altered by the trucking company.
How long do trucking companies keep accident-related records?
Trucking companies are required to keep certain records, but the length of time varies. Black box data is often overwritten within days or weeks unless legally preserved. Electronic logging device records may be kept for six months, while maintenance records and driver logs could be retained for longer. If a legal claim is not filed quickly, important evidence may be lost or destroyed.
Can trucking companies delete or alter evidence after an accident?
Yes, trucking companies sometimes attempt to erase or modify evidence to avoid liability. Black box data can be deleted, electronic logs can be falsified, and maintenance records can be altered. Some companies may even repair trucks before investigators have a chance to inspect them. A legal preservation letter sent by an attorney can prevent the company from tampering with evidence and ensure that all records are maintained.
What is black box data, and why is it important?
Black box data, also known as electronic control module data, records key information about a truck’s operation before, during, and after an accident. This data includes speed, braking patterns, steering movements, and engine diagnostics. Black box data is critical in proving whether a truck driver was speeding, failed to brake in time, or violated federal driving regulations.
How can an attorney help preserve truck accident evidence?
An attorney can take immediate legal action to ensure that crucial evidence is not destroyed. They can send a preservation letter to the trucking company, subpoena accident-related records, and work with forensic experts to analyze black box data and reconstruct the accident. Lawyers also ensure that all evidence meets the legal chain of custody requirements so that it is admissible in court.
Contact Fulginiti Law Today
Preserving evidence after a truck accident is critical to securing justice and fair compensation. Trucking companies have legal teams working to protect their interests, making it essential for victims to act quickly.
If you or a loved one has been involved in a truck accident, consulting an experienced attorney can make the difference between winning or losing your case. An attorney can secure crucial evidence, prevent its destruction, and hold the trucking company accountable.
Do not wait—contact Fulginiti Law today to protect your legal rights.
