In the span of a few short seconds, a Maryland truck accident can turn your life upside down. It can leave you with serious pain, skyrocketing medical expenses, and unanswered questions.
Those crucial seconds in which the accident took place may be a blur, causing you to wonder what exactly happened and who is at fault for your injuries. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had some way to know just what occurred in the minutes or seconds leading up to the accident?
When it comes to Maryland truck wrecks, that dream is a definite possibility. Most commercial trucks are equipped with an electronic device that works similar to an airplane’s black box. Known either as an Electronic Control Module or Event Data Recorder, both devices record several variables related to the truck’s operation.
Commercial trucking companies are not required to have a so-called black box, but most do simply because the electronic data available can help them monitor fuel efficiency and other cost-saving measures. Some of the data measured may also be relevant to your Maryland personal injury case and admissible as evidence in the courtroom.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requires that these boxes record information regarding at least some of the following activities:
- How fast the truck was traveling
- If and when the brakes were applied
- Any change in the throttle
- Any change in the truck’s velocity
- If seat belts were used
- Time of a crash
- If air bags deployed
These black boxes typically store a limited amount of information, so the recording continually loops to include the latest few minutes or seconds worth of data.
For this reason it is crucial that the black box be recovered immediately following the accident so that the data can be preserved. If the truck is driven anywhere after the accident, even to an impound lot, that short drive can be enough to erase the relevant data.
If the truck was equipped with one of these boxes, the company is required to preserve and produce such evidence in the case of any Maryland truck accident. That information should be readily available to your attorney.
For more information on evidence that is unique to a truck wreck, contact the experienced Maryland truck accident attorneys of Nickelsporn & Lundin at 800-875-9700. We offer complimentary consultations for you to determine if we’re the right law firm for you.