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TRUCKING ACCIDENTS

A TRUCKING ACCIDENT CAN UPEND YOUR LIFE IN AN INSTANT

An 18-wheeler weighing 70,000 pounds going down the road at 65 mph is just like a freight train moving on land without any tracks. The driver must be professional, well-trained, and safe. When the driver isn’t professional, isn’t safe, or is poorly trained bad things can happen to good people. The person driving the family car, the passenger van, or the SUV almost always loses, and death and catastrophic injuries often result from a sloppy or careless driver.

Unfortunately, some companies and drivers don’t take this seriously. The lure of money is just too much, corners are cut, and people and their families are needlessly endangered. Income from trucking operations is expected to approach $1 trillion by the year 2015, so there is plenty of incentive for some bad operators to break the rules.

NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO BREAK THE RULES

When people are injured or lives are lost in truck tractor-trailer wrecks it is almost always because someone breaks the rules. Here are some of the common violations seen in trucking accidents:

  • Driver fatigue and error

  • Cellphone usage

  • Poor or sloppy maintenance

  • Driver fatigue

  • Speeding

  • Alcohol and drug use

  • Unsafe shifts and timetables

  • Faulty vehicle inspections

  • Mechanical failures

  • Unsafe equipment

  • Overloading

  • Load shifts

  • Aggressive drivers

  • Unsafe driving

  • Excessive or illegal work shifts

Each of these things may lead to vital evidence of carelessness, neglect and rules violations. However, it is not unusual for these items to be neglected and oftentimes evidence fades, memories fade and things get lost.

The trucking companies and their lawyers will most certainly be doing these things. Timing is everything and early action is crucial.

BOWLING GREEN, KENTUCKY, TRUCK ACCIDENT LAWYER

Mike Breen has been handling tractor-trailer and trucking accident cases for decades. He has the experience and the resources to begin an immediate investigation into the causes of a truck wreck, and protect the rights of the victims and their families. Contact Bowling Green attorneys, at Breen & Williford, Injury Lawyers, P.S.C.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act regulates almost every aspect of driving a big rig, and those regulations set many of the rules that drivers and companies have to follow. Every state, including Kentucky, has its own rules that also must be followed. When the rules are broken, then the law requires that companies pay for their violations.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

How do you prove rule violations? How do you make sure that critical evidence isn’t lost or destroyed?

In the days following a truck accident or tractor-trailer wreck, most people don’t think about these types of things. They have devastating and overwhelming injuries, and may not be able to take care of themselves. Family members may be rightly concerned with the terrible injuries or wrongful death of a loved one.

Immediate action is critical, and that’s where an experienced lawyer can come in and take over the responsibility of protecting the rights of the victim and the victim’s family. Here’s what a lawyer who has experience with truck and tractor-trailer accidents will want to do:

  • Demand that the trucking company preserve evidence

  • Hire a trucking expert

  • Hire an accident reconstructionist

  • Keep insurance companies from bothering the family

  • Take witness statements

  • Inspect the accident scene and take photos

  • Interview the investigating police officer

  • Review the accident report for errors

  • Obtain 911 call recordings

  • Demand that the truck driver preserve cellphone and texting records

  • Obtain the safety history of the company and driver

  • Criminal records check of the driver

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