Semi-Truck Crash Victims Need to Know How Fast FMCSA Evidence Preservation Deadlines Expire

After a severe truck accident, injured victims have the duty to prove up their legal right to damages with evidence that can disappear within weeks of the crash under FMCSA time deadlines.

For commercial truck accident victims and their loved ones, the 18-wheeler crash is often life-altering. Victims and their family and friends often look back on their lives as either (1) what happened before the crash or (2) what happened afterwards. The date of that horrific big rig accident is seldom forgotten: it becomes a dividing line in the sand of their memories.

After that catastrophic semi-truck crash, the injured victim and all those that care about them are having to deal with all sorts of new realities (think medical treatment; financial stressors; continued chaos as daily lives are altered; child care; etc.). And then, everyone also has to cope with a whole gamut of emotions, too. Sad, mad, frustrated, depressed, anxious, grieving, overwhelmed ….

And commercial truck accidents are more likely to happen in our part of the country than in other states. The volume of big rig traffic is simply higher here in the “Crossroads of America,” and the danger of being involved in a fatal or incapacitating truck crash is greater here. See Huge and Growing Freight Truck Traffic in Northern Indiana: Increasing Danger of Semi-Truck Crashes and Illinois and Indiana: Both Top 10 States for Most Truck Crash Fatalities.

Evidence Burdens and Legal Deadlines for the Truck Crash Victims

For advocates of truck crash victims and their loved ones, it is a very sad reality that the law places even more on their shoulders. First, there are statutes that establish deadlines for these victims to pursue justice against those who caused the truck accident and its resulting harm.

Claims must be pursued within a set time frame, or they are barred as a matter of law no matter how meritorious. These are called “statutes of limitations.” For more, read Deadlines for Injury Victims to File Lawsuits: Statutes of Limitations.

This time ticker alone can be overwhelming for those trying to deal with things after a tragic truck collision. However, it is also vital that these injured victims and their families understand that there are even more deadlines that apply in truck accident cases that can make or break their claims. There are deadlines under the law regarding safeguarding the things that will be evidence in their truck crash case.

The truck crash victims have the burden of proving their right to justice, not only in (1) determining all the parties that are legally liable for what happened, but in (2) confirming the extent of monetary damages due them under the law.

In most truck accident matters, the bulk of that evidence must be collected from the very entities that may be responsible for the accident. The crash victims have to go and get the facts from those who they are pursuing as wrongdoers in the case.

Is there a temptation for these entities, companies and individuals, to hide things that might prove they are liable for the victim’s harm? Of course there is, and that exists even with those who operate with integrity and honor. Imagine the motivation to hide things, or destroy things, when the victim is dealing with a ne’er-do-well defendant, like a Chameleon Carrier? For more, read: Chameleon Carrier Truck Crash Injury Claims in Illinois and Indiana.

Evidence Preservation Letters Sent by Truck Crash Victims

Accordingly, there are all sorts of trucking regulations focused upon preservation of evidence for the crash victims. They set deadlines for things to be secured and preserved after a trucking accident has caused an injury.

And the truck crash victim will need to assert their rights to all this stuff in what their lawyers will send in “evidence preservation letters” that confirm records along with other things (like black boxes) must be protected pursuant to law. For more, read When Should You Contact an Injury Attorney after a Truck Accident in Illinois or Indiana?

Injured Victims Must Act Before FMCSA Preservation Deadlines Expire

Under federal regulations overseen by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (“FMCSA”), different things come with different times within which the carrier (or other third parties) must protect and safeguard the items, allowing for their inspection and review by the safety regulators and victims of the truck accident. These include:

1. Six Months for RODS and Other Data

Six months can past pretty fast for the loved ones of a truck crash injury victim, but this is the deadline under the federal regulations for securing the records of duty status (RODS) and supporting documentation, which will include things like the logs from the Electronic Logging Device (“ELD”), along with any paper logs, and any other kind of digital or automated tracking of the driver’s hours on the job. Think GPS stuff, toll road receipts, dispatch paperwork, bills of lading. 49 CFR 395.8(k)(1).

Why is this important? These are the things that the accident reconstruction experts and the legal advocates for the truck crash victim can use to demonstrate that there was fudging of the logs themselves, or that the trucker was driving drowsy or fatigued at the time of the accident.

2. Testing Within Hours of the Crash and Secured for Five Years if Refused or Tested Positive

Evidence of the truck driver’s physical condition and any possible influence from drugs or alcohol must be obtained by law within hours of the truck crash. And this could be prescription drugs or over-the-counter medication, just as much as something illegal or off the street. See, FDA Warns of Over-the-Counter (“OTC”) Medications and Drugged Driving Accidents.

Pursuant to 49 CFR § 382.303, drug and alcohol testing of the trucker must be done within two hours of the accident if there has been a death of any crash victim, or if law enforcement cited the truck driver for a moving violation traffic citation. It also applies if at least one vehicle involved in the collision was towed away, or if anyone required medical attention away from the accident site.

Legally, these tests must be completed with 120 minutes (2 hours) of the actual crash. Drug tests have to be done within 32 hours of the actual crash.

And under 49 CFR § 382.401, if the tests come back negative, they have to be held for at least one year but if they come back positive, or if the trucker refused to undergo testing, then they have to be secured for five years.

Truck crash victims need to be aware of these deadlines because any company that fails to meet these well-known regulatory deadlines is putting the spotlight on themselves for legal culpability. Why didn’t they do this? Is this a separate claim of negligence supporting damages for the crash victim?

3. Vehicle Records: One Year

There are other deadlines, too. Vehicle maintenance and repair files must be protected for review for one year or at least six months after vehicle’s sale under 49 CFR § 396.11 and 49 CFR § 396.3.

These documents are important to truck crash victims, where reconstruction experts may find defects or problems with the truck, tractor, or component parts contributed to the truck crash.

4. Carrier Accident Register: Three Years

Under the law, the carrier must keep a record of any crashes within its fleet. Details for each truck accident involving the carrier have to include things like (i) Date of accident; (ii) City or town, or most near, where the accident occurred and the State where the accident occurred; (iii) Driver Name; (iv) Number of injuries; (v) Number of fatalities; and (vi) Whether hazardous materials, other than fuel spilled from the fuel tanks of motor vehicle involved in the accident, were released. 49 CFR 390.15(b).

This can be invaluable to the truck crash victim’s claims for personal injury damages, because this history of past accidents can demonstrate a pattern of behavior and a clear foreseeability of the victim’s injuries, supporting a significant claim for damages against the carrier itself.

Burden On Truck Crash Injury Victims In Getting Justice After the Accident: It’s Important to Act Fast

Accidents are not fair. There is nothing fair about anyone being involved in any kind of motor vehicle accident, but a semi-truck crash can be particularly tough. Big rigs are heavy and huge machines that can cause horrible bodily harm to anyone involved in a collision, even if the truck is not moving at a high rate of speed.

Truckers, rig occupants, and all others (pedestrians, other vehicle drivers and passengers) all have a legal right to investigate the crash and learn all the reasons why it happened. No one can know the causes at the scene. It may take weeks or months for special truck crash experts to determine fault. Maybe a failed engine part started a chain reaction that ended in tragedy. Maybe a condition on the surrounding premises sparked the events.

Whatever the ultimate opinions are, the common denominator in all truck crash claims is the need for the crash victims to have access to all the facts and data, witness statements, videos, and records that may be evidence helping to prove up their claims. Most of this evidence will be found within the possession, custody, or control of the very parties that may have liability for the crash under state personal injury laws.

Truck crash victims need to know not only that they have a deadline to file any legal claims (limitations deadline) but that there are all sorts of regulatory deadlines that impact the preservation and protection of key evidence they need for their claims.

The clock begins to tick at the time of the truck crash. If the deadlines pass, key evidence can be overwritten or deleted and lost to the injured victim.

For more on truck crash injury claims, read:

Without an evidence preservation letter from the victim’s attorney, wrongdoers may be able to dump things that may be key to the victim’s case if the FMCSA deadlines pass. Unfair as it is, truck crash victims must deal simultaneously with injury recovery and seeking justice under the law. Please be careful out there!