In the hours after a serious truck crash, you may be in an ambulance or helping an injured family member. Call 911 and follow the emergency responders’ instructions. Leave evidence gathering until people are safe. When you can, put the photos, contact details and medical papers you already have in one place. The harder task is identifying records you cannot see: a camera recording, a dispatch message or data held by a trucking company’s vendor. Those sources do not all keep information for the same length of time.
At the scene: focus on safety and reliable details
Skip a photograph that would require entering traffic or a damaged vehicle. Medical care comes first. Where it is safe to take pictures, include:
- The vehicles’ positions and directions of travel before they move.
- Signals, signs, weather, road conditions, skid marks, debris and damage.
- The location and time, plus nearby businesses or cameras facing the road.
Names and phone numbers are easy to lose in the confusion. Put the drivers’ and witnesses’ details with the crash-report reference number. Add any safely visible identifiers:
- Company name and USDOT number.
- Matrículas.
- Tractor number and trailer number, recorded separately.
Attribute a witness’s statement to the witness. For example, a note that someone reported a lane change is different from a note that you saw it. Keep that distinction clear throughout your account.
In the first day: organize the information
When you are well enough to deal with paperwork, separate your notes into two parts:
- Your recollection: What happened before impact? What came next? Write down the sounds, sights and statements you remember. Mark anything you cannot recall. Someone else’s account should not silently fill that gap.
- Your care: Tell providers about each symptom, even a minor one, and when it began. Follow their instructions. File the discharge papers, visit summaries, referrals, prescriptions and receipts together.
Save the original photo or video, even if you also send someone a screenshot. An edited or forwarded version can lose timestamps or other file information. The same applies to messages, call logs and location records. Note the date and who supplied each file. Leave crash-related material intact, and avoid posting an explanation of fault online while you are still sorting out what happened.
Identify evidence held by others
The driver’s log and a dashcam recording may belong to different systems. An evidence list should account for the ELD, engine or event recorder, telematics and GPS, dash and cab cameras, dispatch software, driver phone, maintenance system and company or vendor portals. For each source, identify its likely custodian and the trip, driver, tractor, trailer and collision time needed to locate the records. See what electronic evidence must be preserved after a Texas truck accident for more on these systems.
There is no single retention period for every record. It can depend on the record type, system, carrier and applicable law. Video, device messages and engine data may follow different schedules. A lawyer can send a focused preservation notice to a carrier, owner, employer, vendor, shipper or other likely custodian. It should identify the collision, sources and relevant date range. Follow up to learn what the recipient actually preserved; sending a letter alone does not confirm that records were kept.
Do not access a company or driver account without authorization, alter vehicle data or move damaged equipment on your own. Inspections, downloads and testing may require coordination, documentation and qualified participants. Keep responses to preservation requests and note when each request was sent and received.
In the next few days: build a clean chronology
Create a timeline of the collision, emergency response, medical visits, insurer or company calls, inspections and evidence discussions. Keep letters, emails, texts and voicemails; note who sent each item, when it arrived and what was requested. Before responding to a request for a recorded statement, broad medical authorization or settlement document, make sure you understand what it does. A lawyer can explain how it applies to your circumstances. The Centro de información sobre el valor de las reclamaciones por lesiones y los litigios en Texas discusses how early requests can affect a claim.
If safe to store, keep damaged clothing, a helmet, a child seat or another item that may matter. Photograph its condition before cleaning, repair or disposal. Save repair estimates and towing and storage receipts. Do not test an item yourself or discard a part that may need inspection.
There are limits to what a preservation notice accomplishes. Even after a carrier agrees to retain a recording, a lawyer may need discovery to get a copy. For electronic records, the request must identify both the data and the production form under Regla 196.4. Rule 196.5 addresses the physical inspection: obtain court authorization before any testing, sampling or examination that would destroy or materially alter the item.
Lo que no se debe asumir
The officer might list a carrier in the crash report. That is useful information, but it is not a civil-liability ruling or a complete list of defendants. A trailer owner, employer or maintenance contractor could be a different business. Follow the records to identify their roles; the Centro de litigios sobre accidentes de camiones en Texas discusses how those roles affect a case.
With a missing video, start by finding out why it is missing. Nobody can determine its contents from its absence alone. For a screenshot, find the original and the person who can explain it. Record the source system, creator and any known changes.
Lista de verificación rápida
- 911 called, urgent care addressed and the treating provider’s instructions kept.
- Contact sheet: drivers, witnesses, company, tractor and trailer IDs, plus the report reference if available.
- Original files saved: photos, video, messages and location history. Source and date noted.
- A factual timeline, with what you personally saw kept apart from what you heard later.
- Treatment records, repair paperwork, towing receipts, and every insurance communication.
- The company and vendor systems that may hold data. Ask a lawyer about specific preservation notices.
- No account access, no altering data, no destructive testing without authorization and a written protocol.
Lectura relacionada
Continúe con el elemento Centro de litigios por accidentes de camiones en Texas o el más largo Texas truck accident litigation guide. For help understanding a lawyer’s credentials, see the Centro de conocimientos sobre lesiones personales de TBLS, including what board certification does and does not establish.
Follow the evidence from preservation to trial
El Centro de conocimiento sobre litigios por accidentes de camiones en Texas explains how electronic records, safety duties and corporate discovery can fit into a serious collision case.
Abogado fundador
Aaron A. Herbert es un abogado de Texas, certificado en Derecho Procesal de Lesiones Personales por la Junta de Especialización Legal de Texas.
Durante más de una década, ha demostrado un compromiso inquebrantable con clientes que sufrieron lesiones graves en accidentes importantes y catástrofes industriales. En ese tiempo, se ha ganado la reputación de ser uno de los abogados litigantes más enérgicos de Estados Unidos, logrando importantes indemnizaciones por parte de jueces y jurados, así como acuerdos extrajudiciales sustanciales, la mayoría de los cuales incluían acuerdos de confidencialidad negociados a petición de la defensa. Al ser consultado sobre estos casos, el Sr. Herbert ha afirmado que cada caso no solo justificaba la cuantía de la indemnización, sino que nadie cambiaría el lugar de ninguna de estas víctimas por dinero alguno, una vez que conocen los hechos, la gravedad de las lesiones y la tragedia. Según el Sr. Herbert, "no hay sustituto para la pasión, la preparación y la perseverancia en el ejercicio de la abogacía". Es conocido no solo por esta preparación tenaz, sino también por su ingenio en la sala del tribunal. Es apasionado y perseverante en su búsqueda de obtener el máximo beneficio para cada cliente, ya sea en juicio o mediante un acuerdo, a la vez que reduce el estrés que supone el litigio para sus clientes.
Nacido y criado en Dallas, Texas, el Sr. Herbert se alistó en el Cuerpo de Marines de los Estados Unidos tras terminar la secundaria y posteriormente recibió una baja honorable. Después de su servicio en los Marines, obtuvo una licenciatura en Justicia Penal de la Universidad de Texas A&M y, posteriormente, un doctorado en Derecho de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Oklahoma. Allí se graduó con honores y se convirtió en un ferviente seguidor del equipo de fútbol americano Sooners. Aaron ha trabajado como defensor comprometido de clientes lesionados en varios bufetes especializados en litigios por lesiones personales, donde obtuvo numerosos veredictos favorables del jurado. Tras un año como el abogado litigante mejor pagado en un bufete que suele figurar entre los primeros puestos en la búsqueda de veredictos por tener el mayor número de victorias en juicios en Texas, Aaron aceptó un puesto como abogado gerente de la fase previa al litigio en otro bufete de lesiones personales de Dallas. Durante los siguientes siete años, pasó a ocupar el cargo de abogado gerente de litigios, y dicho bufete se convirtió en uno de los más grandes de Dallas en este ámbito. En 2010 fundó el bufete de abogados de Aaron A. Herbert, con el objetivo de volver a centrarse en el desarrollo de cada caso individual y en maximizar el valor del caso para cada cliente.
El Sr. Herbert ejerce la abogacía convencido de que un equipo de empleados bien atendido, comprometido y motivado, que trabaje en un entorno de colaboración, brindará una representación superior y excelentes resultados a los clientes del bufete. Su objetivo es siempre lograr los mejores resultados posibles para cada cliente.
Educación
- Universidad de Texas A&M (Licenciatura en Justicia Penal, 1999)
- Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Oklahoma (Doctorado en Jurisprudencia, 2002)
Asociaciones Profesionales
- Autorizado para ejercer en Texas (2002)
- Certificado por la Junta de Especialización Legal de Texas en Derecho Procesal de Lesiones Personales (2008).
Publicaciones
- Litigios en casos de mordeduras de perro, Seminario de Derecho Canino de Texas, Dallas 2009
Miembro
- Barra del estado de Tejas
- American Bar Association
- Asociación Estadounidense de Abogados Litigantes
- Asociación de Abogados Litigantes de Texas
- Asociación de abogados litigantes de Dallas
- Asociación de Abogados del Condado de Dallas
- Colegio de Abogados del Condado de Tarrant
- Foro de defensores del millón de dólares
- Abogados litigantes nacionales: los 100 mejores abogados litigantes
Número de colegiado en el Colegio de Abogados de Texas: 24036761 · Bufete de abogados de Aaron A. Herbert, PC · Dallas, Texas
Información general, no asesoramiento legal para un caso particular. La experiencia previa y las credenciales no garantizan un resultado.