Can My Lawyer Collect Cell Phone Data in My Truck Accident Case?

It is well known that using a cell phone while driving is dangerous. Indiana law prohibits drivers including truck drivers from holding mobile devices such as phones while driving to reduce distracted driving.

Our attorneys and accident investigators at Craig Kelley & Faultless LLC, know that a trucker’s cell phone is a trove of information about the truck driver’s activities and whereabouts. After a truck accident, our attorneys move quickly to obtain the cell phone of a truck driver who may have caused the accident. We work with forensic experts who can retrieve information from the phone.

If you have been injured in a truck accident in Indiana that was not your fault, a knowledgeable truck accident attorney can preserve evidence on the truck driver’s phone before it is lost—evidence that may be crucial to your accident claim.

Cell Phones and Truck Accidents

Federal crash statistics say that distraction on the part of truck drivers is the second most common cause of fatal accidents involving large trucks. The most common cause of distracted driving is using a cell phone while behind the wheel.

The trucker’s cell phone and phone company records can establish that a truck driver was talking on a cell phone or texting in the moments just before a crash. The use of a cell phone over a long stretch of time might help to show that a trucker was driving while fatigued, another common cause of truck accidents in Indiana.

But that is just the start of what cell phone records can reveal.

What Kind of Evidence Can Be Found in a Cell Phone?

In a truck accident investigation, one of the first tasks on our list is to gain access to the drivers’ cell phones and obtain data from them.

A specialist can make a copy of what is on a cellphone, including what is recorded when using various apps. In some cases, we get information from the cell phone service provider.

Data that may be retrieved from a cell phone include:

• Calls and call logs, including time, date, and duration
• Text message date, time, sender, and recipient
• Text messages on the phone
• Email or voicemail downloaded to the phone
• Short audio files from Siri commands
• Social media messages from Facebook Messenger
• Photos
• Videos
• Contacts
• Calendar notes

With a phone, we can also identify the cell tower or cell site the phone was connected to for each call. With this, we can plot the general location of the truck, and its movement over a span of time.

With a court order, we can retrieve data loaded to the cloud and access other apps, such as information on Facebook pages or Snapchat. Even data that has been deleted can be retrieved if it is still in the phone’s memory.

How Does Cell Phone Information Supports a Truck Accident Case?

To prevail in a truck accident claim, we must demonstrate that another party such as a truck driver was negligent in some manner, and their negligence led to the accident.

A driver’s cell phone data can be used to show that the driver was on the phone at the time of a crash and was engaged in distracted driving. Cell phone use over a long stretch of time and/or when a trucker should have been sleeping per Hours of Service rules may be part of a drowsy/fatigued driving case.

If we collect data from multiple sites along the route the driver said he or she drove, we may be able to confirm whether the driver took that route. We may also show, from the time of each cell tower hit, how fast the driver covered the route, which may indicate speeding.

Data from the cell sites along a driver’s route over several trips may show the driver was familiar with the route and contradict claims that a driver was unfamiliar with the roadway or surprised by a construction zone.

Each case is different. Once we have data from the driver’s cell phone, we look to confirm what our client has said about their activities prior to the crash or establish inconsistencies in what the truck driver has said about the accident.

How a Semi-Truck Attorney Can Help You Obtain the Cell Phone Data You Need

As your attorneys in a truck accident claim, we would seek access to cell phones and/or cell phone records of any driver involved in the crash. Our forensic expert may make images of what is on a cell phone or obtain the information from the cell phone company. Sometimes police have seized phones after a crash and will make a forensic image of content available to us.

Often, both sides in a case are interested in what is on cell phones, so they cooperate.

When there is a dispute, we can seek a court order defining our access to particular cell phones. This has become easier to do as phone records have played larger roles in cases over the last several years.

What is crucial in a case that involves cell phone data is obtaining and isolating cell phones as soon as possible. With ongoing use, data on a phone can eventually be overwritten and become lost forever. When individuals understand the damage that their cell phone’s data can do to their case, their phones can become “lost.”

Contact Craig, Kelley & Faultless, LLC today.

If the data on a driver’s cell phone can help you win your truck accident claim, you need to be working with an attorney who understands the value of cell phone data and has an investigative team that can retrieve and interpret it. At Craig, Kelley & Faultless LLC, in Indianapolis, IN, our truck accident attorneys regularly work with cell phone forensics specialists. We’ll move promptly to isolate and access cell phones and cell phone data relevant to your claim.

At Craig, Kelley & Faultless, we investigate truck accidents thoroughly and prepare each case as if it will go to trial. Contact us by telephone or online for a free consultation about your potential claim. If you cannot come to us, we will come to you.