In an effort to prevent crashes involving 18-wheelers, federal law prohibits handheld cell phone use when truckers are on the job. Unfortunately, just because there is a law prohibiting that behavior doesn't mean truck drivers never cause accidents while using their phones behind the wheel. This raises the question: How does a commercial truck accident victim accident prove the at-fault truck driver was looking at a phone instead of the road?

Answer: Proving that a truck driver was illegally using a cell phone before a serious 18-wheeler accident typically requires obtaining and analyzing the phone and its usage records.

In this article we will look at why the phone and records are so important, as well as how to get them.

Why Are a Truck Driver's Phone and Records Important?

Cell phones cause so many traffic accidents these days, commercial accidents among them, that investigators often check everyone's phone activity as a first or early step. In the event of a truck accident the contents of the trucker's personal and company phones (call histories, text logs, data usage records, etc) can provide a wealth of evidence to support the victim's case.

Sometimes the phone will contain clear signs that the truck driver was distracted, like a text timestamped just before the crash or a paused video. Other times the phone's GPS data might indicate the truck was speeding, even if the driver said he wasn't. Call history might even identify another witness: If the truck driver was in the middle of a call when he crashed, whoever was on the other end could provide more details about what they heard or even contradict the driver's statements about what happened.

All the information a truck driver's cell phone could potentially hold means it's critical to examine it. Since that information could harm the trucker and his employer, though, neither will hand the phone over willingly. So how does an accident victim obtain the evidence they need to make their case?

How Does an Attorney Get a Truck Driver's Phone and Records?

Using a court's power to force a trucking company, driver, cell phone carrier to hand over records is the only sure-fire way for victims to get their hands on this vital information. But why is it necessary to get the courts involved?

Since using a hand-held device while driving a commercial truck is prohibited, a trucker caught using one illegally may have committed an act of negligence per se. That basically means they violated a law created to protect people from harm (in this case 49 CFR 392.82), which would mean they are presumed negligent from the start. That eases the burden of proof for the victim—though there is still plenty more to do.

Because of the damage the phone and its records might cause to any potential defense, we want to stress again that the truck driver and his employer will almost never hand over such damning evidence. It is therefore necessary for the truck accident victim's attorney to take the necessary steps to preserve and obtain said evidence, then work with relevant experts to interpret it. Whether or not they reveal a smoking gun, their discoveries may help convince a jury that the truck driver's eyes weren't on the road when he caused the victim's serious injuries.

Grossman Law Can Help

To be clear, almost no truck accident is simple and they are rarely (if ever) resolved neatly or quickly. Cell phone misuse leads to truck accidents, but the law places the burden on the victim to prove that improper behavior happened in the first place. Since most people have no experience obtaining evidence, it's usually necessary to have a skilled and experienced truck accident attorney on their side.

The Texas truck accident lawyers at Grossman Law Offices have decades of experience helping truck accident victims build and win cases against negligent truck drivers and the companies that put them behind the wheel. If you were hurt or lost a loved one in an 18-wheeler accident, whatever its suspected cause, call Grossman Law today for a free and confidential consultation.