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When a car comes in contact with an 18-wheeler or other commercial vehicle, there can be catastrophic injuries. Accordingly, the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Regulations (hereinafter referred to as FMCSR) require a minimum of $750,000.00 in insurance to be carried by the owner or operator of the commercial vehicle and usually these companies carry much more insurance as well as excess umbrella coverage.
Immediately upon being retained to represent a seriously injured person, several steps should be considered. First, a spoliation letter should be sent to the trucking company to discourage the motor carrier or owner/operator from destroying any pertinent records.
Next, it is important to send an accident reconstruction expert to the scene to document physical evidence such as skid marks, gouges in the pavement or ruts in the shoulder, which can be important in estimating speed braking and direction of the commercial vehicle.
Finally, an accident reconstructionist should examine the police report and any
accident report produced internally by the trucking company, as well as inspect both the commercial vehicle and any other vehicles involved in the wreck to reconstruct exactly what happened in the collision.
The FMCSR provides minimum safety guidelines for various operating conditions of the commercial vehicle. For instance, at night the commercial vehicle must not travel at a speed greater than that which would allow it to stop within the visual distance of its headlights. This usually means the commercial vehicle should reduce its speed at night.
If the commercial vehicle is driving in the rain, the FMCSR provides that the
commercial vehicle must reduce its speed by at least one-third during raining and slippery conditions. If conditions are foggy, the CDL manual requires that the commercial vehicle stop until the fog clears. No speed is safe in significant fog. The same is true for road icing conditions
While the economic rewards of litigation against commercial vehicles may be large, the complexity of handling these cases properly, as well as the expense of hiring the necessary experts and doing the necessary discovery, can be substantial. It is critical to hire an attorney who is well versed and experienced in trucking litigation
to achieve the best results for each significantly injured client.
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