Another reason a trucker will try to evade responsibility is that they know their license may be suspended and risk losing their job.
Indianapolis, IN – Two people were killed in less than a week in separate hit-and-run truck accidents in Indianapolis, and these are only the most recent tragedies of this type. The local police are still looking for the truck involved in the crash that left one woman dead on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as well as for the two vehicles involved in the fatal accident on Indy’s east side.
While local authorities are probably doing the best they can to find the drivers, you cannot rely solely on the police to solve your hit-and-run accident, as there are new crashes they have to respond to every day. In such a case, you must contact seasoned Indianapolis truck accident lawyers as soon as possible. Time is of the essence in hit-and-run crashes as vital evidence may get lost.
Why would a trucker flee the crash scene?
Most of the time, when a driver flees the scene of a crash you have to suspect they were drunk. For commercial drivers, the blood alcohol content limit is .04%, half of that for the general population. Any trucker found to be above the limit will be charged with OWI and they know they risk going to jail if the accident resulted in injury or death.
Another reason a trucker will try to evade responsibility is that they know their license may be suspended and risk losing their job.
On the other hand, some truckers work for shady companies that do not abide by federal safety regulations. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, operating without proof of inspection is one of the most common safety violations. Many trucks shouldn’t be on the roads at all. Nor should some of the drivers.
A trucker in such a situation knows he and his employer will get in trouble so they hit the gas rather than stop and help the victim.
How can you find the driver in a hit-and-run truck accident?
A good thing would be to have a dash cam in your car, but, failing that, skilled Indianapolis accident lawyers will immediately spring into action and start looking for public or private surveillance cameras that may have captured the accident. Even if there’s no footage of the crash itself, your lawyers will try to locate all the trucks that passed through the area around the time of the accident. After all, hiding a semi is not as easy as making a passenger car disappear.
above; image by Matthew Henry, via Unsplash.com.
When they do find a truck that was in the area, your attorneys will request a technical examination to look for signs the vehicle was recently in a crash.
They will also check the driver’s log and other documents from the company that might help place the trucker at the scene of the crash.
Cell phone data can also be used to determine the whereabouts of the trucker.
Important steps to take after a hit-and-run accident
While you wait for the police there are things you can do to help find the driver that hit you:
- Look for debris, such as pieces of metal that may have fallen on the road as a result of the impact
- Write down or record on your phone anything you remember about the crash, no matter how unimportant it may seem
- Talk to eyewitnesses and record what they have to say. Get their name and contact info as your lawyers may need to take their statements.
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