Careful investigation of truck accidents can help identify the causes of the accident and what parties are liable for the resulting damages. An important source of information and possible evidence of the cause of an accident include the involved truck driver’s logbook.
If you have been injured in a truck accident caused by someone else’s fault, you should promptly consult an experienced truck accident attorney in Chicago to help protect your rights. A truck accident attorney can take action to preserve evidence and will know what to look for when identifying causation and liability, including the logbook which contains essential information.
What Are Logbooks?
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has established regulations for the trucking industry that govern how many hours of service (HOS) a driver may work without a break, how often trucks must be inspected, and other factors to help keep our roads safer.
Truck drivers are mandated by these regulations to maintain a continuous record of this information. These records, known as logbooks, help prevent driver fatigue and other conditions that contribute to accidents.
Logbooks used to be maintained as paper records. However, most truck drivers are now required to use Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) rather than paper logs. ELDs automatically record data such as the truck’s driving time, location, and movement. The use of ELDs has made it much more difficult to falsify records.
How Logbooks Help Prove Liability in Truck Accident Investigations
Logbooks can help prove liability by providing evidence of the truck driver’s negligence. If a driver violates an FMCSA regulation, such as driving more hours than permitted, the logbook will contain proof of that violation. Violating an FMCSA may be considered negligence per se in a truck accident claim since the HOS regulations help establish a standard of care owed by the driver.
Logbooks may also be used to prove the trucking company’s negligence. They can establish a systematic violation of regulations, failure to adequately train and monitor drivers, and the company’s pressure for the driver to exceed HOS limits.
Electronic logbooks can also help truck accident reconstructionists to determine and explain how the accident occurred. Reconstructionists use numerous types of evidence when creating an accident map, including trucking ELD data.
ELDs help us prove liability much better than paper logbooks because they work automatically and are tamper resistant, whereas paper logbooks could more easily be falsified or lost after an accident. They also provide advanced data such as vehicle location tracking, engine diagnostics, and vehicle movement.
When insurance companies and defense attorneys attempt to argue that an electronic logbook contains errors, we can use experts such as accident reconstructionists and FMCSA auditors to compare the evidence obtained from dashcam video, GPS tracking, and other sources to the ELD data and provide objective proof of its accuracy.
Contact Meyers & Flowers Trial Attorneys Today
The Chicago injury attorneys at Meyers & Flowers Trial Attorneys have decades of experience protecting the rights of accident victims. We have secured billions of dollars in client compensation and are dedicated to helping you recover maximum compensation for your damages.
Call us today at (630) 394-5189 or visit our contact page and schedule a free consultation to discuss your truck accident claim.