Tractor-Trailer Accidents

A fully loaded truck can weigh 25 times more than a car. It’s no surprise that a collision between two such mismatched vehicles nearly always results in serious and life-altering, if not fatal, injuries.

The trucking industry is highly regulated by both federal and state law, with “standards of care” outlined in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations that are meant to ensure safety.  However, these standards also have made trucking accident litigation more complex.

Kopelman Law Group understands the intricacies of commercial trucking regulations and will work quickly to protect accident victims’ rights, preserve critical evidence, including trucking logs, and establish liability.  Through the firm’s early experience working for defense firms, we learned that trucking companies and their insurance carriers will immediately begin an investigation to limit their exposure.  Moreover, absent an appropriate notice being served on a trucking company following a collision, applicable Federal Regulations allow motor carriers to discard certain critical evidence within weeks of a collision.  It is, therefore, imperative that appropriate steps are taken in a timely fashion to preserve important evidence, and to ensure a level playing field is maintained for the victim.  With each day that passes, an unrepresented injury victim runs the risk of allowing evidence to disappear, evidence that could hold the key to his or her case.

Click here for a sample “preservation of evidence” letter.