Determining Trucking Company Liability in a Wreck
The legal claims arising from these wrecks involve issues more complex than those which arise in other motor vehicle accidents. Determining the liability of a trucking company is often a complicated undertaking. Issues requiring investigation routinely include the following:
- Was the driver of the truck fatigued -- do the driver’s logs demonstrate driving in excess of the hours allowed by federal regulations?
- Were the brakes on the tractor-trailer truck out of adjustment?
- Did any other equipment failures contribute to cause the collision?
- Did the trucking company provide proper training to the driver of the truck?
- Was the driver under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the collision?
- Was the driver operating his tractor-trailer in excess of the posted speed limit?
- Was the tractor-trailer driver distracted by use of the cell phone or texting?
- Was the tractor-trailer driver otherwise inattentive prior to the wreck?
- Did the tractor-trailer driver have sufficient time and distance to have avoided the collision had he or she been paying attention?
- Did the tractor-trailer driver adjust his or her speed and following distance to accommodate any adverse weather conditions that were present at the time of the collision?
- Did the tractor-trailer driver maintain a safe following distance behind the traffic ahead of him or her?
Our lawyers have investigated and prosecuted tractor-trailer truck wreck cases for the past three decades. Although each collision is different, the knowledge and insight gained through our experience helps us identify the issues and evidence necessary to hold the trucking company legally responsible.
Expert Witnesses
Successfully prosecuting a tractor-trailer truck wreck case almost always requires use of expert witnesses. Often an accident reconstruction expert is required to calculate pre-collision speeds, stopping distances, appropriate perception/reaction times, sight line distances and/or to reconstruct how the collision occurred. Trucking industry safety experts knowledgeable of federal trucking regulations, driving regulations, driver qualification requirements and trucking industry safety practices are also required. With current technology, semi-trucks are often equipped with computer programs that record the truck's speed and movement on a second-by-second basis. Therefore, an expert with working knowledge of this technology is also often required. Our lawyers work with and have access to some of the most experienced experts in these fields.
For these reasons and others, we feel we are uniquely qualified to represent you, your family member, or your friend in any case involving a tractor-trailer wreck. Let us putour experience to work for you.