Are Expert Witnesses Necessary in a Trucking Accident Lawsuit?

Expert Witnesses Although any type of motor vehicle accident can result in serious, even fatal, injuries to the occupants of the involved vehicles, the victims of a trucking accident are at far greater risk of serious injury given the sheer size and weight of the vehicle involved in the crash. Consequently, litigating a trucking accident case can also be more complicated than the average passenger vehicle accident lawsuit. Expert witnesses, for example, are often required in a rucking accident lawsuit in order for the victim to prove negligence and/or to prove the extent of the injuries caused by that negligence. Only an experienced Tennessee trucking accident attorney can advise you regarding the need for expert witnesses in your specific case; however, it may help to understand ahead of time why they are often required in the event your case does require the assistance of expert witnesses.

In the average passenger vehicle collision it is usually fairly easy to tell what happened prior to the crash and, therefore, easy to determine which vehicle caused the accident. Not always the case in a collision wherein a tractor-trailer was involved. There are several reasons for this, including the fact that the accident scene in a trucking accident is often so mangled that it is not easy to tell what happened. Moreover, the best witnesses are usually the injured victims; however, they may have received such severe injuries that they don’t remember exactly what occurred. Even in collisions where the crash was not so catastrophic and the injuries not so severe, the true cause of the accident may lie in the truck itself and is, therefore, not obvious to the naked eye. The truck may not have been properly inspected or maintained for example. Even more likely is the possibility that the truck driver was fatigued from being on the road more hours than he/she should have been, often in violation of federal “hours of service (HOS)” regulations.

In any of the above mentioned scenarios you will need an expert witnesses in order to prove that the truck driver and/or trucking company, was negligent. You might need an accident reconstruction expert to determine precisely what occurred just prior to the collision that caused the crash itself. You might also need an expert to go over the trucking company maintenance and service records to determine if the truck was properly maintained and inspected as is required by federal law or to go over the driver’s log books to figure out if the driver could have been driving drowsy at the time of the collision.

The possibility that you will need an expert witness in your case is just one of the many reasons why you should retain the services of an experienced Tennessee trucking accident attorney because an experienced attorney will have the resources to locate and secure an expert’s services. If you are the victim of a trucking accident, contact the Tennessee trucking accident attorneys at Bennett, Michael & Hornsby to discuss your legal options. Contact the team today by calling 615-898-1560 to schedule your appointment.

 

 

Dinah Michael