A Personal Injury Case Analysis: Semi Driver on Cell Phone

Two carpet installers were travelling on State Road 46 in Southeastern Indiana in their work van. They had put a full day in at work and they were on their way home. They were going east. The area where they were travelling was two lanes, one going east, and one going west. They were going to be turning across the west bound lane of travel and onto a County Road.

The van slowed with it’s left turn signal on waiting for westbound traffic to clear so the driver could make his left hand turn onto a County Road. Unfortunately, a semi pulling a trailer, also heading east on State Road 46 failed to slow to a stop and rear ended the van. The impact was violent. The van was crushed and knocked off the road. Both occupants of the van suffered serious injuries. The driver suffered a brain injury.

My personal injury law firm, Craig, Kelley, & Faultless was hired to represent the two occupants of the van. Once we were hired, we immediately began taking steps to preserve evidence and protect our two clients. Luckily, they hired us quickly, so we were able to get a quick start.

The first thing that we did was send our investigator to the scene of the accident to look for evidence such as skid marks, yaw marks, glass, fluid, and other evidence that would help show point of impact, braking, avoidance movements, or the lack of these things. Evidence at the scene can disappear quickly. I also went to the scene. I personally like going to the scene of the wreck as well as being present when the vehicles involved in a wreck are inspected. This hands-on approach has been beneficial in many, if not most, of the cases that I have handled. This hands on, personal involvement of attorneys that are experienced and knowledgeable in truck accident cases separates Craig, Kelley, & Faultless from many other personal injury attorneys or law firms.

What was significant about what we observed at the scene was what we didn’t find. There were absolutely no skid or yaw marks. There was absolutely no evidence of braking on the road’s surface from the semi. It was clear from the scene that the 18-wheeler had not braked hard or made an evasive action to avoid crashing into the rear of our clients’ van.

You could tell where the impact occurred because there was a stain on the road from radiator fluid and marks from the van’s tires as it was hit and slid off the roadway. There was not even evidence of hard braking at the scene from the semi tractor even after impact. There were no obstructions that would have blocked the view of the van for the semi driver. The weather was clear, so that wasn’t a factor. Also, it was still daylight when the wreck occurred. So, it was clear that the wreck was caused by the semi driver. The next question we had was why had had he not braked to try to avoid the wreck.

We immediately sent out Preservation of Evidence letters to the truck driver, the trucking company, and the insurance company. Then, the lead of our Crash Response Team located the semi tractor, trailer, and van. He made contact and made sure the vehicles wouldn’t be moved or altered before we had a chance to inspect the vehicles. Next, we hired an accident reconstructionist who had experience with semi and big truck wrecks. We also hired a mechanic who regularly worked on big rigs and other commercial motor vehicles.

Next our team went to the salvage yard and inspected the van, the semi tractor, and its trailer. The key findings were that the brakes on the semi tractor and trailer worked and were in good working order. We also established, by downloading the Electronic Control Module (ECM), that the driver didn’t apply the brakes before the wreck and didn’t apply the brakes until after impact. The inspection of the van showed that the van was stopped when it was rear-ended, and the occupants had their seatbelts on.

Next, we needed to determine why did the semi driver rear-end our clients without braking or swerving. At this point we filed our lawsuit and subpoenaed the driver’s employment file, his driver logs, and any paperwork that might be relevant to our investigation. We also requested that the truck driver turn over his cell phone for a forensic examination.

At this point we suspected that the driver had either fallen asleep or was distracted. Another possibility was drugs or alcohol, but police didn’t suspect drugs or alcohol at the scene. Plus, the drug test was negative. So, our suspicions centered around fatigued driving, cell phone usage, or another distraction.

We hired a cell phone expert. The defense wanted to examine the cell phone of our client, the driver of the van. So, the defense cell phone expert and our cell phone expert met in a conference room, and they downloaded the semi driver’s and our client’s cell phones. Our expert then provided us with a report of both cell phones downloaded. Our client was not on his cell phone at the time of the wreck or at any time immediately before the wreck. The same wasn’t true for the semi driver. He was on his cell phone before, at the time of the collision, and immediately following the wreck.

It turned out that the semi driver had been texting and commenting on photographs of a naked woman for several minutes before the wreck and at the time of the wreck. There were several photographs of the same woman. He was texting a friend the photographs and he was commenting by text on those photographs at the time of the collision. Immediately after the wreck he texted his girlfriend that he had screwed up and caused a wreck. He also commented, by text, that he would certainly be fired.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, the Commercial Driver’s License Manual, and Indiana state law prohibited the semi driver from using his cell phone for texting. Only hands-free usage is allowed.

The driver was holding his cell phone and texting while driving. He could have killed whoever was in front of him because his eyes were not on the road, and he was traveling over 60mph. This made his deposition very interesting. The evidence that came out of the investigation, the downloads, the discovery responses, and the defendant semi driver’s deposition increased the value of the case.

Ultimately, the case settled. The semi driver was fired by the trucking company and hopefully isn’t driving a commercial motor vehicle today. Our law firm’s ability to get involved early in this case before the evidence was destroyed/lost was critical in getting the client a fair settlement.

If you or a loved one has been involved in a car accident with a semi, you need to do the following:

1. Hire a personal injury attorney who has the knowledge, experience, and resources to properly handle a semi wreck case.
2. Hire a personal injury attorney who has a rapid response team that can get to the accident scene as soon as possible.
3. Hire an attorney who knows what experts to hire. In this case, a big truck mechanic, an accident reconstructionist familiar with semi downloads and accidents and a cell phone forensic expert were critical.
4. Worry about getting better, go to the doctor, and follow your doctor’s instructions. While you are getting better a good lawyer will be prosecuting your case on your behalf.
5. Don’t be afraid to go to trial and hire an attorney with experience trying cases. No one wants to go to trial. Everyone would prefer to settle but you will get more money if you hire an attorney who can take your case to trial, has a good trial record, and you show a willingness to go to trial with him or her.