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Mississippi Tractor-Trailer Accident Lawyers Suggest Some Important Questions to Ask When Interviewing a Trucking Accident Attorney

Many people who experience catastrophic injuries or lose a family member in a tractor-trailer accident have never had to retain an attorney.  The chances are that you will not have had reason to retain let alone speak to a trucking accident lawyer until you or a loved one suffers an injury in a trucking collision.  We represent many clients that have never dealt with an attorney in any context before retaining our law firm.  This lack of familiarity makes it difficult to determine what questions to ask when interviewing attorneys to handle your trucking accident claim.  In this blog post, our Mississippi trucking accident lawyers highlight key areas of inquiry when evaluating a personal injury lawyer to represent you in trucking litigation.

What types of trucking litigation cases have you handled in the past?

Tractor-trailer accident lawsuits are not simply motor vehicle collision cases that involve a large vehicle.  Trucking litigation involves special issues and challenges that are not present in a typical car accident case.  For example, the trucking industry is subject to extensive regulation both at the federal and state level, so effective representation in a trucking case requires extensive knowledge of trucking laws, regulations, and industry practices.  If a potential lawyer does not have specific experience in successfully handling trucking litigation, you might want to keep looking because trucking accident litigation does not provide a good venue for on-the-job training.

How does your law firm intervene to preempt trucking companies from manipulating or destroying evidence?

The trucking industry has developed a reputation for the alteration or destruction of evidence in tractor-trailer litigation.  The practice of falsifying driver logbooks or keeping two sets of books is so common that these records are derisively referred to as “lie books” by a fair number of commercial drivers and trucking companies.  Many trucking companies have investigators that can be dispatched to a crash scene within minutes, so they can quickly gather evidence.  A commercial carrier might repair damage to a cab or trailer which prevents an accident reconstruction expert from analyzing the damage patterns to the vehicle.  The big-rig also might be placed back in service causing data on the event data recorder to erase vital information about the vehicle and driving of the trucker immediately before the crash.

Our experienced Mississippi tractor-trailer accident lawyers at Barrett Law take affirmative steps to preserve evidence in trucking accident lawsuits.  Our trucking accident law firm frequently sends a notice to the trucking company advising that the semi-truck that was in an accident is the subject of litigation and must not be changed or altered from its current condition.  This notice includes the data maintained on the electronic recorder for the large truck.  If the commercial carrier does not comply with the notice, we can seek sanctions.  These sanctions can impair the position of the trucking company in litigation or result in an attorney fee award.

While the threat of sanctions often will be sufficient to discourage attempts to modify or destroy evidence, we also might seek a restraining order prohibiting such action if the commercial carrier ignores our notice.  Our Mississippi trucking accident lawyers recognize the importance of acting promptly to prevent evidence from disappearing, which might prove critical issues, such as driver fatigue, speeding, inadequate vehicle maintenance, sudden braking, GPS location, and other information that might be relevant to liability, causation, or damages.

If you have been injured in a trucking accident in Jackson or the surrounding areas, our Mississippi Tractor-Trailer Accident Lawyers have successfully represented many victims of negligent commercial carriers and their drivers.  At Barrett Law, we are here to help.  Contact our law firm today at 800-707-9577 to schedule your free consultation, so we can answer any questions you may have regarding filing your claim.

 

 

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Fog Suspected Factor in Fatal Jackson Tractor-Trailer Crash with School Bus

The community of Jackson was again shaken this week by yet another fatal accident between a school bus and tractor-trailer, which is the second such fatal crash between these two types of motor vehicles already this year.  The accident earlier this week occurred when a school bus was stopped at a stop sign on Mississippi Highway 450 and began to make a left turn.  The driver of the tractor-trailer slammed into the school bus when the bus pulled in front of the tractor-trailer while making the left turn onto U.S. Highway 61.  The driver of the tractor-trailer indicated that he tried to brake to avoid the collision but did not see the school bus until it was too late.  Law enforcement authorities have indicated that the area was impacted by heavy fog, which may have played a role in the fatal Jackson crash.

This is the second fatal accident between a tractor-trailer and school bus during the first quarter of 2011.  This tragic accident highlights a number of critical risk factors related to Mississippi motor vehicle accidents.  While school buses are relatively safe they lack seat belts and airbags so if they rollover or a passenger is ejected the injuries can be catastrophic and even fatal.  In the Jackson crash, both the bus and tractor-trailer rolled over in the collision.  Rollover collisions are particularly dangerous because they can result in head, neck and spine injuries, crush injuries as well as vehicle ejections.

In most accidents involving tractor-trailers, occupants of the other vehicle are those that are injured.  The Jackson crash was no different as a fifth grade student lost her life and eight other students were taken to the hospital including four that were airlifted.  Statistics indicate that the occupants of the other vehicle in a tractor-trailer collision are 98 percent more likely to die in an accident with a commercial truck.  Tractor-trailers are less responsive, need greater braking distance and have larger blind spot, which means that they are at greater risk for being involved in a motor vehicle collision in Mississippi.  This provides a partial explanation for why there are 500,000 tractor-trailer accidents per year in the U.S.

Tractor-trailer accidents also are more likely to cause traffic-related fatalities because of the massive size and weight of the vehicles.  A fully loaded tractor-trailer may way 80,000 pounds, which is in excess of 25 times more than a typical passenger vehicle.  The force of impact caused by the weight differential between a tractor-trailer and most other vehicle typically results in catastrophic injuries and fatalities.

When the hazard of fog is added to the risk factors related to these inherent risks involving a bus collision or commercial truck accident, the consequences are often tragic.  Most people are well aware that fog will reduce visibility and increase motor vehicle collision risk, but many do not realize that fog also impairs visual perception.  Fog reduces the color contrast between a vehicle and its background making it harder to identify the vehicle or judge speed and distance.  A driver’s ability to judge speed is impaired further by fog because drivers typical use their peripheral vision to judge speed by using other objects as reference points to judge the speed of a vehicle as it passes objects on the side of the road.  Fog impairs a driver’s ability to judge speed so drastically that a driver is often unable to distinguish between moving vehicles and vehicles that are stationary.

If you are driving in fog, you should slow down and allow more stopping distance to compensate for less visibility and impaired visual perception.  Unfortunately, many drivers in Jackson and throughout the roadways of Mississippi do not show the proper respect for foggy conditions.  If you or a family member suffers serious injury or a loved one is killed in a fog related tractor-trailer accident, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries and loss.  Our experienced Mississippi tractor-trailer accident lawyers represent commercial trucking accident victims in Jackson and throughout Mississippi.  If you have suffered a serious commercial trucking accident, we offer a free no obligation initial consultation so that we can evaluate your case and advise you regarding your rights to compensation.

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