Home > Truck Accidents > Truck Lawyer Tips  

8 Things You Must Know About Your Truck Accident Case

Truck Accident Lawyer Guide

This guide, prepared by the truck accident lawyers of Michigan Auto Law, outlines the top eight most important things to know if you or a loved one has been injured in a truck accident. To speak with a Michigan truck accident lawyer directly about your circumstances, please call (800) 777-0028 for a free case evaluation.

1. If you wait too long to contact an experienced truck accident lawyer, crucial evidence will be destroyed.
2. Your truck accident lawyer must know the rules of the game.
3. Your truck accident lawyer should file your lawsuit as soon as possible.
4. A Michigan truck accident case has high stakes.
5. Expect an Insurance Services Offices (ISO) search.
6. Expect surveillance.
7. That truck should never have been on the road in the first place.
8. That truck driver should never have been behind the wheel in the first place.

 

1. If you wait too long to contact an experienced truck accident lawyer, crucial evidence will be destroyed.

A truck accident victim who waits too long to contact an experienced truck accident lawyer will fail to retain crucial evidence needed to win the case. Trucking companies are required by law to retain important documents after an accident, but after the retention period has passed, the documents will likely (and legally) be destroyed.

For example, according to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations, the driver log books containing hours of service records must be retained for six months. If a tired truck driver who drove beyond legal hours causes a serious truck crash, you can bet these crucial records will be destroyed exactly six months after the accident by the trucking company’s lawyers — if the accident victim has not retained a lawyer in time.

 

2. Your truck accident lawyer must know the rules of the game.

There are more than 1,000 federal regulatory requirements for motor carriers. These laws hold the key to everything about your truck accident case, from the amount of money that will be available to critical evidence needed to win. A lawyer who is not experienced in litigating serious truck accident cases simply cannot handle one like he handles other types of personal injury cases.

 

3. Your truck accident lawyer should file your lawsuit as soon as possible.

A truck accident lawyer cannot wait to see how his client’s injuries are progressing before filing a lawsuit. A truck accident lawyer also cannot wait to file the lawsuit, in efforts to settle the case with the insurance company first. Read on to see if you have a truck accident case.

Again, a trucking company is only required to keep the bulk of its records after a truck accident — no matter how serious the injuries or even if someone was killed — for a very short period of time. The destruction of these and other incredibly important pieces of evidence in serious truck accident cases is not only legal, it is common-place; and it’s to be expected. The most important advice our lawyers give when they educate other truck accident attorneys at legal seminars, is to file a lawsuit as soon as soon as possible — or you could cost your client millions of dollars. Call (800) 777-0028 to speak with a truck accident lawyer about your circumstances. There is absolutely no fee or obligation.

 

4. A Michigan truck accident case has high stakes.

A truck accident case is different than a car accident case. Trucks are more regulated than other types of motor vehicles because they are more dangerous. Trucks are obviously bigger and heavier, and cause more serious injuries and fatalities than other auto accidents. Truck companies usually carry more insurance and, in general, the quality of defense lawyers hired by insurance companies is better. These defense lawyers are more likely to spend more money defending these cases, and the defense tactics may be very aggressive.

 

5. Expect an Insurance Services Offices (ISO) search.

An ISO search is a vast pool of past insurance claims compiled by collaborating insurance companies. Defense lawyers can access the dates and details of every claim you ever made; whether it was a prior accident, a work injury or even a slip and fall.

Defense lawyers will run an ISO search prior to your deposition (when you testify under oath answering questions from the defense lawyer). But your own truck accident lawyer does not have access to this information. Our advice for anyone involved in litigation is to always tell the truth — and assume that these days, with computers, social security numbers, and private investigators, that defense lawyers will find everything. That means you must tell your own lawyer about everything in your medical and accident history, so he can better prepare to answer the defense lawyer’s questions as accurately as possible.

 

6. Expect surveillance.

Expect that the defense lawyers hired by the insurance company and trucking company will conduct surveillance on you at some point in your truck accident case, and in all likelihood, at multiple points throughout your case.

 

7. That truck should never have been on the road in the first place.

No matter how clear-cut a truck accident case may appear, you can expect defense lawyers to hire accident reconstruction experts and to do everything they can to avoid taking full responsibility for the crash. Don’t get fooled by these ploys.

When defense lawyers try to argue liability, it’s important for a truck accident lawyer to remind them that the easiest way to avoid an accident is to not put an unsafe truck on the road in the first place, especially since one out of every four trucks has such serious safety violations that it would be rendered immediately out-of-service if the safety defects were discovered. When this happens, the most important federal safety law a truck lawyer has is Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulation 396.7, which states that a truck driver shall not operate a truck in a condition likely to cause an accident or break down. There’s a good possibility that a defective truck was responsible for your accident. Read more about the staggering amount of Michigan’s unsafe truck companies.

 

8. That truck driver should never have been behind the wheel in the first place.

The Department of Transportation has discovered that more than 30,000 truck drivers have tested positive for illegal drug use in a year. And that number is probably only the tip of the iceberg. There are strict federal safety guidelines regarding the operation of a commercial truck. In many cases, the negligent truck driver is in violation of a law that requires he shall not drive a truck if he is ill or fatigued. No drugs are allowed without strict medical screenings and examinations beforehand. No illegal drugs or alcohol are allowed, ever.

 

Truck Accident Lawyers of Michigan Auto Law Can Help You

If you have any additional questions or wish to speak to a Michigan truck accident lawyer directly about your circumstances, please call Michigan Auto Law for a free case evaluation at (800) 777-0028. You can also use our consultation form. There is absolutely no fee or obligation.

Please keep in mind that if you retain one of our truck accident lawyers, Michigan Auto Law charges its clients on a contingency basis, meaning that our attorneys are only paid if they win monetary damages for you. This makes it possible for people of all means to hire the most qualified truck accident lawyers. For more information about Michigan Auto Law, please read our law firm quick facts.

---