Auto accident cases against businesses and trucking companies often generate reams of information in the discovery process. One important area your lawyers may look into is the maintenance records of the negligent driver’s vehicle.
These records can be important to show the condition of vehicle at the time of the accident. Did it have working lights? Were the brakes properly functioning? The records can also show the knowledge of the company or the driver about those defects. Lawyers must pay attention to the dates of inspection and maintenance, and notes about repair or replacement of various vehicle parts.
In many cases, the maintenance records help the jury to understand that the company and driver exhibited a pattern of negligence and recklessness toward their responsibilities. If a company ignored warning signs of vehicular defects, they are responsible for the injuries those vehicular defects caused.
Not only can the actual maintenance records be useful, but billing records can help identify exactly what preventative maintenance was performed. Lawyers should cross-reference this information with the vehicle’s recommended guidelines in order to determine whether equipment failures, which may be argued as random, were actually foreseeable and preventable.
These documents are all discoverable through written discovery, subpoenas, and depositions of corporate employees and other fact witnesses. In cases with significant damages and injuries, these documents can go a long way toward proving an auto accident claim.
Contact Us
If you have questions after an automobile accident in Maryland or West Virginia, contact our personal injury lawyers at 1-800-776-4529, or send us some brief information about your automobile accident to us through our online portal. We’ll put our expertise to work for you right away.
More Maryland Automobile Accident Information
- Dealing with Insurance Companies After an Accident
- Maryland Automobile Accident Lawsuits:Â Last Clear Chance
- Contributory Negligence
- Proving your Injuries in a Maryland Lawsuit