If you were injured in a truck accident in South Carolina, your ability to obtain compensation depends on proving that the truck driver or another party was at fault for your injuries. After the chaos of an accident, it isn’t always easy to remember what happened and establish who was responsible. Luckily, the black box data in the truck can provide your lawyer with the evidence you need to obtain compensation.
The truck’s Event Data Recorder (EDR), commonly known as the “black box,” tracks data about the truck’s speed, acceleration, braking, and other vital factors in a personal injury case. Black box truck accident evidence can help your lawyer establish what happened in the accident and why.
How Black Box Data Helps in a Truck Accident Claim
Truck accident liability depends on negligence, which is sometimes difficult to prove. Black box data is some of the most useful information in a truck accident case because there’s nothing subjective about it. The black box provides objective, factual, crash reconstruction data, which your lawyer can use to:
- Reconstruct what happened to cause the accident
- Establish that the truck driver was at fault for the accident
- Provide evidence for your negligence claim
An Electronic Logging Device (ELD) differs from an Event Data Recorder. The ELD tracks hours of service and compliance with safety regulations, but it doesn’t track everything an EDR would track. Information about hours of service (HOS) violations can help your lawyer establish the liability of the driver.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) does require trucking companies to install an ELD but doesn’t require them to install a black box or EDR. However, many companies install EDRs voluntarily. ELD and EDR data and commercial truck safety records can be invaluable for your case, but that doesn’t mean the black box retrieval process will be easy. Forensics experts can help analyze and interpret the data, but first, your lawyer needs to obtain it.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the data from a black box is the vehicle owner’s property. That means this data belongs to the truck driver or the trucking company, depending on who owns the truck. Your lawyer must request the data, and its owner may not be eager to comply. After all, this data may prove the driver’s negligence in your case. Your lawyer can seek a court order to compel the driver or trucking company to share the black box data if necessary.
The company may also be tempted to delete the data to keep your lawyer from getting access to it. However, data tampering in truck accidents is illegal.
What Data Does a Truck’s Black Box Record?
A truck’s black box or Event Data Recorder tracks several pieces of data, including:
- The speed the truck was going at the time of the crash
- Whether the truck was accelerating or decelerating when the accident happened
- When the driver stepped on the brake and how hard
- The position of the steering wheel
- Whether the airbag deployed
- Whether the driver was using the seatbelt
- How the truck engine was performing
- The truck’s location on GPS
Much of this black box data will be highly useful to your personal injury attorney. For instance, if the truck driver was speeding in the moments before the accident, the black box will record that fact. If the driver hit the brakes hard just before the accident, that will prove that the driver saw a collision was about to occur. If the driver didn’t hit the brakes, that can indicate the driver was distracted. Speed and braking data will help your lawyer reconstruct the accident and establish the driver’s negligence. The black box can also help your lawyer prove trucking company negligence by showing that vital safety equipment did not work properly due to a lack of maintenance.
What Kind of Compensation Is Available After a Truck Accident?
Compensation that may be available after a truck accident includes:
- Medical expenses
- Lost income
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Punitive damages
Medical expenses include emergency room bills, doctor’s bills, the cost of medications, physical and occupational therapy, and long-term nursing care. If you need to modify your home because of your injuries, you can also seek compensation for the construction costs.
Lost income includes any wages or commissions you couldn’t earn because of your injuries. It also includes income you might have had the opportunity to earn in the future but no longer do, such as raises or promotions.
Medical expenses and lost income are economic losses, but you will also have noneconomic losses after an accident. For instance, you can seek compensation for your pain and suffering and any emotional distress you have suffered since the accident.
If the at-fault party’s actions are especially willful, wanton, or reckless, you may also be able to seek punitive damages in South Carolina. Punitive damages are capped at $500,000 or three times your other damages.
Evidence preservation in truck crashes is especially important when negotiating with the insurance company. Fault determination in truck wrecks isn’t always easy, and the insurance company will use any uncertainty to justify dismissing your claim or offering a smaller settlement. When your lawyer obtains the black box data, it can put you in a better position to file a truck accident lawsuit. This will give your lawyer leverage in the negotiations and may result in a significant settlement.
How Long Do I Have to File a Lawsuit in South Carolina?
South Carolina’s statute of limitations gives you three years to file a personal injury lawsuit. This may seem like ample time, but your lawyer will need enough time to complete an investigation of the accident and negotiate with the insurance carrier to settle your claim. The sooner you contact a lawyer, the better your situation will be.
How Can a Truck Accident Lawyer Help?
A truck accident lawyer can help you in several ways, including:
- Investigating the accident
- Reviewing the police report
- Interviewing witnesses
- Reviewing your medical records
- Obtaining and analyzing the black box data
- Filing your claim with the insurance company
- Negotiating full compensation for your losses
- Taking the case to court if the insurance company won’t agree to a fair settlement
Contact a Charleston Truck Accident Lawyer Today
Murphy Crantford Meehan is a personal injury law firm serving Charleston, South Carolina. We have extensive experience with semi-truck accident lawsuits and know how to obtain black box data before the company can tamper with it. If you’ve been hurt in a truck accident in South Carolina, contact Murphy Crantford Meehan immediately.
