Are there different rules that apply to accidents involving commercial trucks? | Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp

Yes. The majority of federal regulations dealing with the trucking industry can be found within Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations. These federal regulations apply to commercial tractor-trailers in interstate commerce and are adopted by many states. 

Trucking accident lawsuits involve a variety of elements which are different from car accident cases. For example, an extremely important piece of evidence in a trucking accident case is the driver’s logs. Federal law requires truck drivers to record their driving data in a driver’s log. In a trucking accident case, a thorough examination of the log is important. The driver’s log may be used to show violations of federal hours-of-service regulations, illegal conduct and negligent conduct.

The training, education, experience, traffic violations, and mental and physical status of the truck driver are all elements that should be considered in determining whether the driver and trucking company were following federal and state regulations.

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