Filing a Claim After a Speeding Commercial Truck Accident
Operating an 80,000-pound vehicle requires immense control and caution. When a commercial truck driver chooses to speed, they drastically reduce their ability to steer and brake, turning the heavy vehicle into an uncontrollable force of destruction on the highway.
If you were injured in a speeding commercial truck accident, you face severe, life-altering injuries. Proving the truck was traveling over the legal speed limit or too fast for weather conditions is crucial to securing a full settlement.
Under federal law, commercial drivers must adjust their speed based on road conditions. Even if a trucker is driving under the posted 65 mph speed limit, traveling at that speed during heavy rain, snow, fog, or in dense construction zones constitutes illegal and negligent speeding.
How We Prove a Truck Was Speeding
Trucking companies will almost always deny their driver was speeding. To defeat their defense, your legal team will gather specific forms of technical evidence:
The truck's engine control module (ECM) continuously records telemetry, including speed, throttle position, and brake application. Pulling this data immediately shows the exact speed of the truck in the seconds leading up to the impact.
Fleet management systems (like KeepTruckin or Samsara) log GPS coordinates. By dividing the distance traveled by the time elapsed between pings, an expert can easily calculate the truck's speed history.
Accident reconstruction engineers can analyze the length and pattern of black skid marks left on the road pavement to mathematically calculate the truck's minimum speed before braking.
Why Speeding Escalates Damages
The force of an impact increases exponentially with speed. A truck traveling at 70 mph has twice the kinetic energy of a truck traveling at 50 mph. Because speeding causes catastrophic, permanent injuries, juries often award substantial compensation, and if the driver was speeding excessively, the company may face punitive damages for failing to govern the truck's speed engine limit.