Roadside Inspections After a Commercial Trucking Accident

When you’ve been in a truck accident with a commercial vehicle, you should take care to understand that this industry is pervasively regulated. When there is a truck accident involving a commercial vehicle, it is treated as an equipment failure. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations are the governing body of commercial trucks and have the full force of law behind them.

All commercial trucks go through a roadside inspection process. One of the most important things to do after a wreck with a commercial truck vehicle is to preserve a record of the scene and collect relevant evidence. Car accident scenes commonly become useless because of lost or degraded evidence. You must be able to prove that you collected evidence before the scene was degraded or changed. One way to do this is to obtain truck roadside inspection documents.

Types of roadside inspections that may apply

There are six levels of roadside inspections. If you have been in an accident with a commercial vehicle, your attorney needs to investigate some or all of these types of inspections.

• Level I. The most standard in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, this inspection looks at all of the driver’s documents, as well as a detailed inspection of the truck itself. This is the most common roadside inspection.
• Level II. This is a standard Walk Around Driver/Vehicle inspection. The driver’s papers are inspected, as is the vehicle in a walk around visual inspection.
• Level III. This is the Driver Only inspection, and only encompasses driver papers and documentation.
• Level IV. This is a special inspection. Typically, the driver’s license or a certain part of the vehicle is inspected.
• Level V. This is a Vehicle Only inspection. It is conducted without the driver present, but is the same inspection as in Level I.
• Level VI. This level only applies to commercial vehicles that have radioactive elements and cargo.

If you are in a car accident with a truck driver, your attorney will need to obtain the most recent roadside inspection reports, as well as the black box report from the truck. After you have been in an accident, it is necessary to understand and review all of these documents in order to best ascertain responsibility. Your experienced Chicago truck accident attorney will review all documentation he can recover.

If you or a loved one has been involved in a commercial truck accident, your lawyer should seek compensation for your injuries and losses. Chicago truck driver accident attorneys should review roadside inspection after any similar accident. At Gainsberg Injury and Accident Lawyers, we are committed to working closely with you to craft an honest case. We will examine all documents, investigate, and advocate for you to be rewarded fair compensation. For a complimentary consultation, call 312-600-9585 or contact us today.