Like airplanes, semitrucks often have black boxes

Few motor vehicle accidents have the chances of being more catastrophic than collisions with tractor-trailers. After all, these commercial vehicles may weigh as much as 80,000 pounds, making them significantly larger and heavier than passenger cars. If a semitruck crashes into your vehicle, you may suffer serious and life-altering injuries.

Recovering from a tractor-trailer accident may take years. Treating your injuries may also be extraordinarily expensive. Fortunately, you may be able to pursue financial compensation from the trucker or trucking company. To boost your odds of receiving the compensation you deserve, you may want to get your hands on the truck’s black box.

What is a black box?

When a commercial airliner crashes, investigators work diligently to locate the plane’s event data recorder. Also known as a black box, this recorder contains critical information about the airplane and its operation. Many commercial trucks have similar black boxes.

Data inside the box may tell you the following about the semitruck, the driver and the accident:

• Whether the trucker was speeding
• Whether the trucker applied brakes
• Whether the trucker was wearing a seat belt
• Whether the truck had undergone regular maintenance

How do you access a trucker’s black box?

Because semitruck black boxes can only hold a limited amount of information, data may automatically overwrite or delete. The trucker or the trucking company may also have the ability to erase information inside the black box. Consequently, you may need to act quickly to preserve information critical to your accident claim.

Ultimately, attorneys have a variety of ways to force truckers and trucking companies to maintain crash-related data. Exploring all available options for securing the black box soon after the accident is likely to be in your legal and financial interests.