Evidence at the scene of a trucking accident is vital for court. It’s all needed for criminal and possibly a personal injury lawsuit.
When you hear the saying that, “Time is of the essence,” from your Austin personal injury lawyer, you need to know they mean that – literally. In the event of a big rig accident, everything that may be relevant to the case needs to be collected and complied. The pieces, pictures and reports will tell the story of the accident, property damage and injuries. What is also vitally important is the information about the trucker who was driving at the time of the accident and the trucking company.
Most accident scenes are alive with debris and tire marks. Every piece of evidence will have a story to tell to the people who process the scene; usually the police. However, having said that, it’s crucial for you, the victim, to keep a record of what happened, including pictures of the damage and the actual scene and statements from any eyewitnesses.
Not everyone has the chance to do that, and this is where it is important for the Austin personal injury lawyer to get ahold of all the reports and statements that he can. He will do this with painstaking care and be very particular about it for a very good reason; the evidence may wind up in court. Attention to details is crucial if your case is bound for trial.
Every bit of evidence used in a big rig crash case is important. The complete scene needs to be photographed and that includes every vehicle involved, all markings on all vehicles such as company signs and lettering, and all of the surrounding area and traffic signal locations (if applicable). The physical evidence needed for court will include crash debris and skid marks. The scene of the accident needs to include sight distances (e.g. from the stop sign to the crash site), the weather at the time, and whether or not there were any trees or buildings impairing a driver’s sight.
The Austin personal injury lawyer’s job is to get the police accident documents and any pictures or videos taken at the scene. The next thing that needs to be done is get the big rig involved in the crash inspected by an expert. If the rig has a black box, and many of them do now, get the information it contains about the truck’s speed downloaded.
If you are too badly injured to be able to collect any evidence, then it’s crucial you get ahold of a competent and skilled Austin personal injury lawyer, as indeed, time is of the essence in cases like this.
Beverly Aylmer writes for The Lee Law Firm. If you need an Austin personal injury lawyer, contact an Austin personal injury attorney from The Lee Law Firm. Visit RWLeelaw.com.
