Trucks are essential to transport goods across our country, and their drivers are typically well-trained and certified to drive the large, heavy vehicles that take over highways. When truck drivers aren’t vigilant, sober, well-rested, or properly trained, they can cause serious accidents with other drivers on the road. If they collide with a regular sized vehicle, that’s when the injuries can be catastrophic and even deadly.
When you’ve been hit by a tractor trailer and suffered from injuries and other damages, you deserve justice for how you’ve been harmed. Our Philadelphia truck accident lawyer will fully investigate what happened to you and collect all necessary evidence to prove that the truck driver was at fault. From there, we’ll calculate how much you’re owed so that you can financially recover from the collision.
Important Evidence from a Truck Accident
An experienced attorney knows which evidence to bring forward for your claim to ensure that fault is proven and to get you the maximum settlement possible. Your truck accident lawyer will ask you to bring all important documentation to your meeting so that they can compile all the necessary evidence that they need to build you a strong case.
Here’s the evidence that your truck accident lawyer will use to support your claim:
- Police Report. Immediately after your large truck accident, you should have called the police so that they could come make a report about the scene. This report will have facts about the accident, statements from the people involved, and the officer’s determination of who caused the collision.
- Photographs. Pictures of the scene and any damage done to you, your car, and any surrounding objects can help prove who was at fault for the wreck. They can also reinforce the damage that you’re claiming that you suffered from the wreck because they provide proof.
- Witness Statements. While some of these statements might be included in the police report that your lawyer will also use, some could be gathered separately after the accident. After speaking to the police and taking pictures, speaking to witnesses of the collision and getting their information can be vital to a claim you make later. Your attorney can use these witnesses as further proof that you weren’t at fault.
- Electronic Logs. Electronic logging device (ELD) records data from the tractor trailer. Information like time logs, speed, and braking are all tracked by an ELD, which is also known as a black box in big rigs. Your lawyer will consult this data to see if the truck driver was possibly fatigued, speeding, and how they applied the brakes before colliding with your vehicles.
- Drug and Alcohol Tests. Even though truck drivers are required to stay sober behind the wheel, just like any other driver, sometimes they break the law and drive on drugs or while drunk. When they’re driving drunk or after doing drugs, then they could easily cause a serious accident. Testing the trucker for drugs and alcohol can help build your claim.
- Truck Inspection Reports. Sometimes the truck driver isn’t the person at fault for the accident after all. If the trucking company failed to properly inspect the rig, it wasn’t properly loaded, or the truck manufacturer placed a defective part on the truck, then one of those parties could be the cause of your wreck.
- Expert Testimony. On top of all of this evidence, your lawyer could bring on an expert to provide testimony about what happened. A trusted expert in the field will be able to talk about what is expected of drivers, trucking companies, or truck manufacturers to further prove that you weren’t at fault for what happened. They might also hire experts to recreate the scene of the collision to give all parties a better visual of what happened and show that the driver or another party was responsible.
Documentation is vital in your truck accident claim. An experienced attorney knows this and will use all of your documents and all of your evidence to build the strongest case possible.
Our Philadelphia Lawyers Can Help You
When you’ve been involved in a truck wreck that gave you injuries and other damages, then you could use the help of experienced legal representation. At Shrager, Sachs, & Blanco, our Philadelphia truck accident attorney is here for you through every step of the legal process.
We know that bringing forth solid evidence is an essential part of your claim. You can trust our expert team to compile all the necessary documents to prove that you were wrongfully injured from someone else’s negligence. Contact our office today so we can get started on your claim as soon as possible.
