Recovering from a truck accident requires you to carefully consider your losses and what paths toward justice you have. Contending with the interconnectivity of the contracts involved in a truck accident case is complicated enough on its own. When you start weighing your need to recover against your legal opportunities, you can rapidly find yourself overwhelmed.
That’s why it’s often in your best interest to make the ongoing proceedings as simple as possible. One of the best ways to do this is to simplify the data you bring forward to prove your right to civil action. You can do this with a truck’s black box. What, though, is a truck’s black box, and why is it important after a truck accident?
What does a Truck’s Black Box Do?
A truck’s black box is also referred to as its event data recorder device. As that second name implies, the black box tracks the data that a truck produces while it’s traveling from Point A to Point B. This means that upon cracking open the black box, metaphorically speaking, investigators can determine:
- How fast a truck was moving at the time of an accident
- Whether or not the truck driver activated the truck’s brakes
- Whether or not the steering wheel turned
- What the truck’s tire pressure was at the time of an accident
- What the truck’s oil levels were at the time of an accident
- What the truck’s overall travel time was when the accident occurred
Trucking agencies use this wealth of information to ensure that drivers stay on top of their deadlines without violating roadway laws in Nebraska or Iowa.
That said, this information also has a place in truck accident investigations. Because a black box essentially collects raw data about a truck’s behavior on the road, it’s one of the best primary sources truck accident survivors can use to argue for their right to financial compensation after an accident.
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SPEAK TO AN ATTORNEY TODAYWhy do You Need a Truck’s Black Box After an Accident?
You have the right to take legal action against the party you believe to be responsible for your losses after a truck accident. You do this by filing a personal injury claim with a civil judge. That personal injury claim needs to both name the party you believe to be liable for your losses and present evidence of the negligence that allegedly led to your accident.
The data kept in a black box helps attorneys better assess a truck driver’s behavior in the wake of a roadway accident. If that black box data reveals that a truck driver deliberately sped up or otherwise failed to brake before your accident, we can submit that data as evidence arguing that the driver violated the duty of care owed to you.
Alternatively, if a black box reveals that a driver had been on the road far longer than they were legally permitted, we could use that data to hold a trucking agency liable for your roadway losses.
In other words, black boxes hold some of the best possible evidence for truck accident survivors and their lawyers to present in civil cases arguing for post-accident damages. If possible, you’ll want to get your hands on a truck’s black box early into your investigation. That way, you can build your case for compensation around the quantifiable evidence therein.
Can Trucking Agencies Destroy or Hide a Truck’s Black Box?
Trucking agencies are encouraged but not required to include black boxes in their trucks. These agencies may also take possession of a truck’s black box after an accident if the box isn’t made readily available to law enforcement or other authorities on the scene.
With that in mind, trucking agencies may deny placing a black box in their trucks or make attorneys go through an extensive amount of red tape to access a truck’s black box. While it’s rare for a trucking agency to destroy a black box outright, many agencies will use whatever means they have available to them to prevent you from accessing this information.
That said, you have the right to investigate your losses and present your bid for compensation before a civil judge, regardless of an agency’s attempt to deny you that right. If we think that a trucking agency may be deliberately obscuring evidence of negligence from you, we can take steps to access that information and defend your right to post-accident damages.
Can You Make a Legal Case Without a Truck’s Black Box?
Truck accident survivors like you can make a case against a truck driver or their agency without a black box’s data. It may be harder to definitively prove negligence without a black box, but that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible. Our team can use other types of data to argue that a liable party violated the duty of care owed to you. That data can include:
- Video footage of your accident
- Photos of your accident
- Bystander statements
- Accident recreations and other expert witness statements
- Police reports
- Your post-accident medical reports
If the truck that hit you didn’t have a black box, or if a trucking agency makes it too difficult to get a black box’s data, you can trust our team to find other means through which we can hold liable parties accountable for your losses.
Taking Legal Action After a Truck Accident
Truck accident injuries threaten to upend your life by forcing you to contend with physical injuries and all the bills that come with your recovery. Fortunately, there are means permitted through your state that allow you to take legal action against the parties responsible for your accident.
You can work with a personal injury lawyer to bring forward black box data along with other forms of evidence to hold truck drivers and affiliated parties liable for your losses. Contact BDIW Law by reaching out online or calling today to schedule a no-obligation case consultation with our attorneys. We can help you advocate for your recovery on your terms.
