Get Your Hands on the Black Box After a Trucking Accident
When commercial airliners crash, investigators devote significant resources to finding the plane’s black box. Also known as an event data recorder, the black box gives aviation officials valuable insights into why the crash may have occurred. Many commercial trucks have similar boxes.
A trucking accident may leave you with painful and life-altering injuries. Depending on the cause of the trucking accident, the truck driver or the trucking company may have a legal obligation to provide you with financial compensation. Getting your hands on the truck’s black box may improve your chances of receiving what you need to put your life back on track.
What Information Can a Black Box Give You?
Truck black boxers were originally a way for truck manufacturers to control warranty claims. If you suffer an injury in an accident, you may use the black box to learn any of the following truck-related information:
- Speed
- Brake Position
- Accelerator Position
- Seat belt Usage
- Maintenance Schedules
- Vehicle Condition
- Driver Rest Breaks
A black box may also maintain records of communications between the trucking company, the driver and others. This information may help you gauge the driver’s state of mind at the time of the accident.
How Do You Preserve Valuable Evidence?
Even though a truck’s black box may contain valuable information, a computer inside it may overwrite information with new details to save disc space. Likewise, drivers and owners of trucking companies may have the ability to erase or edit black box information.
It is usually possible to force a driver or a trucking company to preserve crash-related evidence, including black box records. Still, you may need to act quickly to receive full benefit of the contents of the truck’s black box.