Truck accidents by nature are more critical and involve more severe injuries and loss of life than car accidents. Accidents like in Pasadena, Texas, where a truck crushed a young woman in her car as she slowed down are horrible to hear about or even witness.

To the devastated family, evidence was critical in finding out what happened to their loved one. If your family or someone you know is involved in a truck crash, collecting as much evidence as possible to help everyone involved is crucial in proving who was at fault and exactly what happened.

After a truck accident, time is of the essence and evidence needs to be collected as soon as possible so a personal attorney can start the process of examining the evidence.

Knowing the types of critical evidence to gather is extremely important after an accident. There are many different pieces of evidence that is needed for any truck accident law suit.

Here are the top five evidence sources needed after a trucking accident.

1. Complete Truck Driver’s Information – Getting the name of the driver along with his/her contact information and the company information he/she works for is one the most important sources to get. You also, need to get the license plate number, vehicle information and company insurance information from the driver. These are extremely important to gather. If at all possible get the truck driver’s license number. Make note of the load or what was being hauled as well. Knowing the contents of the load could be pertinent information for you to have.

2. Accident Photos – Having photographic evidence of the scene and the vehicles is another critical element to have. If at all possible, you need photos of all vehicles, all sides and especially focus on the damaged areas of each vehicle involved. Next, if there are any injuries to you and the other driver/s make a point to take pictures. Don’t worry if they are graphic and hard to look at. This type of actual photo evidence is vital and pictures do not lie. Look around and take pictures of the road conditions, road marks, skid marks, traffic signals, and lights all around the area.

3. Black Boxes Data Systems – (Engine Control Module, Brake Module, GPS Tracking Systems etc.) The little black boxes located in Semi-trucks such as the Engine control module, or GPS Tracking system tell a whole lot of the story and are critical pieces of evidence needed. Information contained in these boxes can be downloaded to verify, speed, location, system operation, brake condition, and brake failure warnings or more. Data from onboard communication systems such as GPS tracking systems can generate exact locations and how the vehicle was traveling, speeds and times of day before and after the crash.

4. Load and Cargo – Important pieces of evidence can come into play that are directly related to the load and cargo. Items such as Weight Tickets, Trip Envelopes and Bills of Lading. Most or all of these documents are mandated to be present by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) and even include Dispatch instructions and Delivery Documents. All of these documents are only kept for a specific time period. This is why it is vitally important to get the current and up-to-date records as soon as possible after a truck accident.

5. Witnesses – Most important is to ask anyone around what they saw and how they saw it. Their view of what happened could be a critical piece of evidence later on. Get their statements on exactly what they saw and heard.

The evidence gathered at a scene of a truck crash will help piece together the events and explain in detail what happened minutes, hours and days before a crash. The sooner you obtain an attorney to begin gathering, preserving and examining the evidence the better you and your family will be in knowing exactly what happened.

Contact Attorney McClure for a Free Case Evaluation and let us start helping you today! Call (713) 904-1765.

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