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Truck accident claims require a lot of evidence to prove who was at fault to insurance companies or juries.
When we build truck accident claims, we collect evidence like dashcam or surveillance footage, witness statements, accident debris, and more to determine what happened and who was at fault.
However, all that evidence isn’t always enough to prove who was at fault. Because we didn’t witness the accidents we investigate (and because the crash scenes are often cleaned up by the time victims contact us), we do the next best thing: we reconstruct them.
Here’s what happens during truck accident reconstructions.
One of the first things we do after determining whether a reconstruction is necessary is reach out to people who specialize in reconstructing semi-truck accident scenes.
These experts can perform complex computer simulations using physics, road conditions, tire marks on the road, impact points on the vehicles, and more to determine what caused crashes. They can also thoroughly inspect the trucks involved in crashes for signs of neglected maintenance or component defects.
The data that crash reconstruction experts create and collect can help paint a clearer picture of what happened in the moments leading up to a crash.
All crashes involving property damage or injuries in Ohio must be reported to the police. When a police officer arrives at a crash scene, they create a report of what they see and what drivers, passengers, and witnesses tell them.
We use all the information in the official police accident report to further build a model of the crash we’re investigating.
The trucking industry is heavily regulated in America. Truck drivers must abide by a strict schedule for when they can work and when they need to take breaks or be off-duty to sleep.
In addition, trucks must be serviced regularly, and their trailers can’t be loaded beyond a certain capacity to avoid violating federal weight limits.
By reviewing these logs, we can better determine what may have contributed to a truck accident, including a sleepy or fatigued driver, worn brakes or tires, or an overloaded or unevenly loaded trailer.
Some semi-trucks are equipped with event data recorders (EDRs). These are similar to black boxes found in planes that help investigators determine what happened before and during crashes.
When equipped in semi-trucks, EDRs can record:
EDRs can provide valuable evidence for determining what a truck and its driver were doing just before a crash, but they aren’t infallible. For example, crashes that involve multiple impacts or that cause trucks to roll over can give misleading results in the data.
Trucking companies and their insurers want to avoid paying big settlements to victims after crashes. After learning of a crash involving one of their trucks or drivers, their first priority is proving they aren’t at fault. That means they usually send their own teams of investigators to crash scenes right away.
Trucking companies and their insurers know how to twist evidence and data in their favor and use it against innocent victims, and they often accomplish that by creating their own self-serving crash reconstructions.
When victims file crash claims and don’t have enough evidence to overrule the insurer’s reconstruction and prove the driver or trucking company was at fault, it’s difficult for them to get the money they deserve.
There’s no time to waste after a truck accident. At Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy, our legal team has in-depth knowledge of truck accidents, and we have the resources, professional connections, and personal experience to maximize our clients’ chances of winning their claims.
In fact, attorney and partner Jordan Lebovitz is so dedicated to better understanding truck accidents and helping truck accident victims get full compensation that he pursued his own commercial driver’s license (CDL). He knows what it’s like to be behind the wheel of a semi-truck, and he uses that firsthand knowledge to help his clients.
Jordan and our entire team of Ohio truck accident attorneys and support staff are ready to help you and your family get the money you need to move forward with your lives after a devastating crash. Contact us anytime for a free consultation.
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