A few seconds of inattention can be enough for a truck driver to miss slowing traffic, drift from a lane, or fail to react to a hazard ahead. If that led to your injuries, a distracted driver truck accident lawyer in Cumming can investigate what the driver was doing before the crash and who may be responsible.
Van Sant Law handles serious commercial vehicle claims. Founder David M. Van Sant previously represented a large insurance firm, giving our team insight into the issues insurers may focus on when evaluating an injury claim.
Our Cumming truck accident lawyers can begin preserving relevant records, deal with the insurers, and help you understand what happens next.
How a Cumming Distracted Driver Truck Accident Lawyer Will Investigate the Crash
Our Cumming personal injury lawyers will look for evidence of what was happening inside and around the truck before impact. A police report may mention distraction, but it is often only the starting point.
Georgia’s Hands-Free Law prohibits drivers from holding or supporting a wireless device while operating a vehicle and restricts texting and other device use. Commercial drivers are also subject to federal rules restricting texting and handheld mobile phone use.
A Cumming distracted driver truck accident attorney can compare those rules with phone records, video, vehicle data, witness accounts, and other evidence from the crash.
Phone and Electronic Records
A phone record can sometimes show whether calls, messages, or other activity occurred around the time of a collision. It does not necessarily prove what the driver was doing on its own, so the timing needs to be considered alongside the rest of the evidence.
Commercial trucks may also contain telematics or onboard systems that record information about speed, braking, location, and vehicle movement. If the carrier uses driver-facing cameras or electronic dispatch systems, those records may provide more context.
Our Cumming distracted driver truck accident law firm will look at how the different sources fit together rather than treating any single record as proof of distraction.
What Can Distract a Commercial Truck Driver?
Cell phones are one obvious source of distraction, but they are not the only one. Eating, adjusting navigation, reaching for something inside the cab, interacting with dispatch equipment, or simply losing concentration can all take attention away from driving.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration prohibits commercial drivers from texting while driving and restricts the use of handheld mobile phones. Motor carriers also may not require or allow their drivers to use handheld phones or text while operating a commercial vehicle.
Distraction can be visual, manual, or mental. A driver does not necessarily need to be holding a phone for their attention to be somewhere other than the road.
Why a Brief Distraction Can Matter
Large trucks need more space to slow down and respond to changing traffic than passenger vehicles.
If a driver looks away while approaching a line of traffic, an intersection, or a vehicle braking ahead, valuable reaction time is lost. By the time the driver notices what has changed, there may not be enough room to stop.
A distracted driver truck accident lawyer serving Cumming can examine what the driver should reasonably have seen and how much time was available to respond.
Who May Be Responsible for a Distracted Driving Truck Crash?
The truck driver may be responsible when phone use, in-cab activity, or another distraction contributes to the collision.
The trucking company may also need to be investigated. Its training, supervision, driver policies, or dispatch practices can matter when they played a role in what happened.
For example, records could show whether company communications were being sent while the vehicle was moving. That does not automatically make the carrier liable, but it can become part of the wider investigation.
Preserving Evidence Held by the Carrier
Some of the information needed to investigate distraction may be controlled by the trucking company rather than available publicly.
Van Sant Law can identify records that may need to be preserved, such as onboard video, telematics, dispatch information, driver records, and relevant electronic data.
Nearby surveillance, dashcam footage, photographs, and witness statements may also help show what happened in the moments before impact.
What Compensation May Be Available After a Distracted Driving Crash?
A truck collision can affect your finances at the same time that your injuries make everyday life more difficult.
Your claim may include emergency treatment, surgery, rehabilitation, medication, lost income, reduced future earning ability, and property damage. Future medical care may also need to be considered when your recovery is expected to continue.
Compensation can also account for physical pain, emotional distress, disability, scarring, and other ways the injuries have changed your life.
Looking at Future Losses
It can take time to understand how fully an injury will heal.
If you need additional treatment or cannot return to the same work, those consequences may affect the value of the claim. Medical records, employment documents, and other evidence can help show what the crash is likely to cost you over time.
Van Sant Law will consider those future needs alongside the losses you have already experienced.
Georgia’s Deadline for Filing a Truck Accident Claim
Georgia generally gives you two years to bring a personal injury claim under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33, although the exact deadline can vary depending on the circumstances.
Waiting can create problems long before that period expires. Video can be overwritten, records may become harder to obtain, and witnesses can be more difficult to locate as time passes.
Van Sant Law can work out which deadline applies while taking steps to preserve evidence that could matter later.
Why Work With Van Sant Law?
David M. Van Sant’s previous insurance-defense work gives our team experience looking at injury claims from both sides. We’ll use that perspective to anticipate the questions an insurer may raise and prepare the evidence accordingly.
Van Sant Law has served injured people in Georgia since 2008 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for clients. Past results do not guarantee the outcome of another claim, but they reflect our firm’s experience handling serious injury cases.
We’ll investigate the crash, communicate with insurers, preserve relevant records, and keep you informed while your claim moves forward.
Representation That Works Around Your Recovery
Van Sant Law handles personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis, so you pay no legal fee upfront, and we only receive a fee if we recover compensation for you.
You also do not necessarily need to travel to an office to begin your claim. Paperwork can be completed electronically, and an in-home meeting may be available if your injuries make traveling difficult.
Speak With a Distracted Truck Accident Lawyer Serving Cumming
A distracted driving claim often comes down to what the driver was doing in the seconds before impact. Phone activity, electronic records, video, vehicle data, and witness accounts may each provide part of that answer.
Van Sant Law can investigate those records, identify the parties who may be responsible, and document how the collision has affected your health, work, and finances.
Contact Van Sant Law for a free consultation. A distracted driver truck accident lawyer serving Cumming can review what happened and explain your next steps.
