Steps Used By A Philadelphia Injury Lawyer During A Personal Injury Case Involving A Truck

By Author: Sue McCrossin
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If you have been injured in a truck accident in the Philadelphia area, first and foremost, get medical treatment if you need it. The next most important step is to protect your rights after a truck accident by hiring an experienced Philadelphia injury lawyer.

Truck accident lawsuits are very different from car accident lawsuits for several reasons. The government regulates the trucking industry in a whole variety of ways. For instance, the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (FMVSR) require trucking companies to purchase at least $750,000 in liability insurance. Usually more insurance coverage is available depending on whether the driver is independent or captive to the company hauling the merchandise.

A personal injury lawyer who handles trucking accident cases has to follow a process in handling these types of cases. Stuart A. Carpey and the law firm of Kreithen, Baron and Carpey, P.C handles these cases and has for years. In the proper case, your lawyer should immediately try to preserve the evidence. To do this suit usually has to be filed first. To make sure the evidence ...
... is not destroyed Mr. Carpey says a lawyer must utilize “preservation letters” to every potential person that may have important evidence in the case. Federal law 49 C.F.R. § 395.8 requires that potential evidence be kept for six months, but the preservation letter ensures that evidence must be kept until the end of the potential civil trial. If evidence does disappear, these letters will help prove notice in a spoliation claim.

All evidence in a truck accident case is extremely important for two reasons. First, it can be used to prove liability in the case, and second, it can be used to identify all potential defendants in the case.

In certain cases it may be necessary to actually secure the truck. Trucks move, and when they move, evidence can be lost. So your lawyer will immediately try to find the truck and make sure no one manipulates it. Lawyers for the trucking companies and their insurance carriers will likely be doing the exact same thing, and it is important for a personal injury lawyer to investigate the vehicle, check its “black box” and any other evidence on board that is pertinent to the case. The black box may record the last time the trucks brakes were applied, and the speed it was traveling. Moving the truck may erase this evidence and replace it with new data. Even though the police at the scene filed an accident report, it is still very important to inspect the truck involved. If the trucking company uses a service such as Qualcomm, your lawyer may be able to tell where the truck has been over the last days. Your lawyer can compare that to the driver's log books to check the accuracy of these records, and see if the driver had been driving too much.

Mr. Carpey says it may be necessary to hire an expert to inspect the accident victim’s car, to check any on board evidence there as well. Evidence including the speed the vehicle was traveling may be discerned from an investigation of the car.

Mr. Carpey also advises the following. “The evidence at the scene of the accident is often quickly removed, so it is essential that the victim or someone on his or her behalf take photos of the accident scene to preserve the evidence. Pictures should be taken of all vehicles in the accident, injuries, and the physical location and circumstances around the accident.

I also caution my clients not to talk to insurance representatives, provide a statement, or sign any documents without consulting with me first. The insurance company may seem sympathetic, but in reality, their agents are trying to get you give them information which will limit your claim. By speaking first with your lawyer, you can ensure that you will not harm your case.
Also, do not discard any evidence such as clothes or cell phones because anything remotely connected to the accident may be valuable in your case.”

A Philadelphia personal injury lawyer handling a trucking case will then begin to delve into the specifics of the case, checking drug and alcohol use records, the driver’s license and qualifications of the truck driver, insurance requirements of the trucking company, driving rules about fatigue, schedules, and inspections, the number of hours the truck was in service, truck inspections, truck repair and maintenance requirements, and any hazardous materials the truck may have been carrying. Your lawyer will check the weather conditions at the time of the accident, the history of accidents that occurred at the accident site, the condition of the road, and many more items of interest in recreating the accident scene.

A Philadelphia injury lawyer will check telephone records, faxes regarding the truck route, the accident report, internal accident reports from the trucking company, the driver’s logs, dispatch records, the trip summary, driver’s credit card receipts, weigh tickets, state entry and departure records, expense sheets, contracts, inspection records, maintenance records, vehicle history, any documents the trucking company has about the accident including disciplinary records, government records, employment records, driver’s medical records, drug test results, annual reviews, and the trucking company’s policy and procedure documents.

Hiring a Philadelphia injury lawyer quickly can avert potential downfalls in the truck accident case. This is because a Philadelphia injury lawyer understands how to use the evidence they find to prove liability in a trucking accident case. On a case by case there may be other potential defendants other than the truck driver and his or her employer. A Philadelphia injury lawyer will try to find every liable defendant in order to get the best compensation for his clients.

Sue McCrossin is a freelance writer working with personal injury lawyer Philadelphia, Stuart A. Carpey, to inform motorists in Pennsylvania about their rights if they have been injured in a trucking accident in the state. To learn more about injury attorney Philadelphia, please visit our website.