EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — Trucking companies are required under federal law to carry insurance coverage of at least $750,000, attorney Daniela Labinoti said during a weekly legal Q-and-A segment of Legal Jargon focused on truck-accident issues.
Labinoti also said texting while driving is a common cause of truck crashes and that phone records can be critical evidence in those cases.
“That’s why it’s important to hire a lawyer,” she said. “You need to get their cell phone data because they’re always on the cell phone. They’re looking at videos and they’re texting.”
Labinoti said she has handled a case in which phone data helped prove what happened.
“I had a case where I was able to prove that they were on the phone and they were not sleeping and that’s how we won the case,” she said.
Labinoti warned drivers not to speak with the other driver’s insurance company without legal representation.
“The answer is false. You should not talk ever to another driver’s insurance company without an attorney. A huge mistake. So, always false. Don’t even think about it,” she said.
She also said data from a semi-truck’s “black box” can be used as evidence, and that attorneys can obtain and analyze it.
“Absolutely. We do it all the time,” Labinoti said.
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She said accident reconstructionists can download the data to help determine factors such as speed, how long a driver had been driving and whether the driver violated driving requirements.
On the question of whether weather conditions can affect who is at fault in a truck accident, Labinoti said it can depend on the circumstances.
She said she is currently handling a case in which weather is being used as a defense, but added that truck drivers have duties in bad weather, including adjusting speed and, in some situations, pulling over.
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