• ✓Georgia is an at-fault state — and federal rules govern the truck. The party who caused the crash is responsible for the harm. On top of Georgia negligence law, an interstate motor carrier and its driver must follow the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations: no driving beyond 11 hours, no driving after the 14-hour on-duty window closes, 10 consecutive hours off before a shift, and a 30-minute interruption once 8 hours of driving time have passed (49 C.F.R. § 395.3). The carrier must also obtain and keep supporting documents that let those hours be checked (49 C.F.R. § 395.11). A violation of those federal rules can be powerful evidence that the driver or the company was negligent.
• ✓More than one company can be liable — and fault is apportioned. Georgia’s apportionment statute reduces your damages in proportion to your own share of fault and then divides the rest among everyone liable according to each one’s percentage, as a several rather than joint liability (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33(a)–(b)). The trier of fact weighs the fault of every person or entity that contributed, whether or not they were named as a party (§ 51-12-33(c)) — the driver, the motor carrier, a broker, a shipper or loader, and a maintenance contractor can each carry a piece, and each may carry separate insurance. But a plaintiff who is 50 percent or more responsible recovers nothing (§ 51-12-33(g)).
• ✓You have two years to sue — and six months before the logs can lawfully disappear. A Georgia action for injuries to the person must be brought within two years after the right of action accrues (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33). The tighter clock is the evidence: a motor carrier only has to retain the driver’s records of duty status and the supporting documents behind them for six months from the date of receipt (49 C.F.R. § 395.8(k)(1)). A written demand that the carrier preserve the electronic logging device data, engine data, and dashcam footage needs to go out well inside that window.
• ✓Under Senate Bill 68, whether you wore your seat belt is evidence against you. This is the change most Georgia drivers have not heard about. Before Senate Bill 68 the statute said seat-belt nonuse “shall not be considered evidence of negligence or causation” and could not be used to diminish a recovery. Senate Bill 68 struck that and made nonuse evidence that “may be considered in any civil action as evidence admissible on the issues of negligence, comparative negligence, causation, assumption of risk, or apportionment of fault” and “may be evidence used to diminish any recovery for damages” (SB 68, § 5, amending O.C.G.A. § 40-8-76.1(d)). The court still screens that evidence under the ordinary rules, and the change reaches cases that were already pending when the Act took effect (SB 68, § 9(b)).

• •Driver fatigue & hours-of-service violations. A driver pushed past the federal 11-hour driving limit or the 14-hour on-duty window (49 C.F.R. § 395.3) falls asleep or reacts slowly — and the electronic logs are what prove how long they had been at the wheel.
• •Speeding & following too closely. A loaded rig needs the length of a football field to stop; too much speed or too little space on I-85 or GA-316 turns a slowdown into a violent rear-end crash.
• •Distracted driving. Phones, dispatch messages, and navigation pull a commercial driver’s eyes off the road — at highway speed, for a vehicle that cannot stop quickly.
• •Improper or overweight loading. Cargo that is overloaded, unbalanced, or poorly secured can shift, cause a rollover, or spill into traffic — and the loader or shipper may share the blame.
• •Poor maintenance & brake failure. Worn brakes, bald tires, and skipped inspections cause blowouts and stopping failures the carrier’s own maintenance records can expose.
• •Inadequate training & unsafe hiring. Carriers that put undertrained or unqualified drivers behind the wheel can be independently negligent, separate from the driver’s own mistakes.

1. A rapid-response team at the scene. Major carriers send investigators, and sometimes lawyers, to a serious crash within hours — gathering evidence and shaping the story long before you have counsel of your own.
2. “The logs are fine.” Disputing that the driver violated hours-of-service, or producing only the records that help them, while the underlying electronic data quietly cycles out unless a lawyer demands it be preserved.
3. Shifting blame onto you. Arguing you stopped short, changed lanes, or were speeding — because every point of fault they pin on you cuts what they pay, and at 50 percent it wipes out the claim entirely (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33(g)).
4. Fast, low offers and recorded statements. A quick call to get you on record, then an early check framed as help — almost always far below what a serious truck case is worth, and cashing it usually closes your claim for good.
5. Hiding behind the corporate structure. Carriers, brokers, and leasing companies point at each other to muddy who employed the driver and whose insurance applies — sorting that out is central to the case.
6. Asking whether you were belted. A question that used to be legally pointless. Since Senate Bill 68 took effect, seat-belt nonuse may be argued on negligence, causation, and apportionment of fault, and may be used to reduce a recovery (SB 68, § 5) — so expect it early, and expect it in the recorded statement.

The most important protection is simple: talk to a lawyer before you give the trucking company’s insurer a statement — and before the black-box data disappears.

• ✓We move immediately to preserve the data. We send a spoliation letter demanding the motor carrier keep the electronic logging device records, engine control module data, dashcam footage, and driver logs before they are overwritten — often within days of the crash.
• ✓We pull the federal safety record. Driver-qualification files, hours-of-service logs, drug and alcohol testing, and the carrier’s FMCSA inspection and violation history can reveal fatigue, unsafe hiring, or a pattern of cut corners.
• ✓We identify every liable party and policy. The driver, the motor carrier, the broker, the shipper, and a maintenance contractor may each be responsible — and commercial claims often involve layered and excess insurance policies that are easy to miss.
• ✓We reconstruct the crash. In serious cases we bring in accident-reconstruction and engineering experts to turn the physical evidence and the truck’s own data into a clear account of what happened and why.
• ✓We prepare every case for trial. A trial-ready file is what moves a carrier off a lowball offer. If they still will not be fair, we are prepared to try the case to a Gwinnett County jury.