Hit by an 18-wheeler that ran a red light in Austin? Evidence that can explain the crash

The evidence that explains a red-light truck crash is mostly about timing: when the signal changed, where the truck was, and how fast it was moving. Expect the truck driver to say the light was yellow. In Texas a yellow light is only a warning, and the violation is entering the intersection on red, so a few seconds often decide the case. The records that pin down those seconds are spread across the signal system, the truck itself, the trucking company's files, and the cameras and people at the intersection. Much of it sits with the trucking company. Some of it can disappear within days.

Why the yellow light is where the fight starts

Texas traffic law says a driver facing a steady red light must stop at the stop line, or before the crosswalk if there's no line, and stay stopped until the signal says go. A right turn on red is allowed after a full stop unless a sign forbids it. A yellow light only warns that the green is ending and a red is coming. No Texas rule requires a driver to stop on yellow.

That's why "it was yellow when I went through" is the first thing you'll hear. It's also why your own memory, however clear, usually isn't enough by itself. You saw your green. You probably didn't see the truck's red.

Weight is part of the story. A loaded 18-wheeler can weigh about 20 times as much as a typical car, and it needs far more road to stop. A truck driver may argue the light turned yellow when the rig was already too close to stop safely. The answer to that argument is math: the truck's speed, its distance from the stop line when the yellow came on, and how long the yellow lasted. A professional driver knows the truck needs extra room. Coming at a light too fast to stop is a choice a jury can weigh.

Don't count on a ticket camera. Texas banned red-light enforcement cameras in 2019, so no city camera is snapping photos of trucks that run the light. Other cameras may have caught it, which comes up below.

And if the signal was dark, for example after a storm knocked out power, Texas law requires every driver to treat the intersection as if it had a stop sign.

The signal's own records

Every traffic signal runs on a timing plan. The plan sets how long the yellow lasts, whether there's a short all-red pause when every direction shows red, and how the cycle changes between rush hour and late night. Many newer signal systems also log when each light changed. Whether that log exists for your intersection, and how long it's kept, depends on the equipment.

Inside Austin, the City runs most traffic signals. On some state highways and frontage roads, TxDOT may be the agency. Either way, the records can be requested, and sooner is better, because some logs aren't kept long.

Timing records do the most work when they're lined up against the truck's speed. With both in hand, an engineer who reconstructs crashes can work out where the truck was when its light turned red and whether it could have stopped in time. At intersections with turn arrows, different lanes see different colors at the same moment, so the timing plan also shows which light each direction was facing when the crash happened.

What the truck recorded

A modern 18-wheeler can carry more recorded data than most cars on the road.

The engine's computer

Many heavy-truck engines save a short record when the truck slows suddenly: speed, braking, throttle, and sometimes cruise control, second by second around the event. That record can show whether the driver braked before the stop line or rolled through at speed. It can also be written over if the truck goes back into service and has another hard stop. Pulling the data takes the right equipment, and it should be done carefully, with both sides on notice, so nobody can later claim it was altered.

Cameras in the cab

Many fleets mount a camera facing the road, and some add one facing the driver. A hard brake or an impact usually tells the system to save a clip. A forward-facing camera may show the signal itself as the truck approached. A driver-facing camera may show where the driver was looking. How long the company keeps those clips depends on its own settings, which is one more reason to ask early.

GPS tracking and the electronic log

Fleet tracking software often reports a truck's location and speed back to the company as it drives. That's separate from the electronic logging device that federal rules require in most interstate trucks. The electronic log records the date, time, location, engine hours, and miles whenever the driver changes duty status, plus an automatic entry about once an hour while the truck is moving. It won't show the truck's speed at the light. It can show how long the driver had been on duty and whether the schedule was tight. Federal rules require the carrier to keep those logs for at least six months.

Records the trucking company has to keep

Federal rules put paperwork duties on trucking companies, and that paperwork can explain why a truck didn't stop.

After any crash where someone dies, the company must test the truck driver for alcohol and drugs. It must also test after a crash where the driver gets a ticket for a moving violation and someone needed medical treatment away from the scene, or a vehicle had to be towed. The windows are short: eight hours for the alcohol test and 32 hours for the drug test. If the alcohol test doesn't happen within two hours, the company has to write down why. A missing test, or a late one with a thin excuse, is worth asking about.

A truck that couldn't stop in time may have had a brake problem. Air brakes that are worn or out of adjustment need more distance to stop. Carriers must keep maintenance records for a year, and for six months after a truck leaves their control. Drivers also report defects they find when they inspect the truck. If the brakes were flagged and nobody fixed them, that's a different case from a driver who simply ran the light.

The company also keeps a qualification file on each driver, with the license, driving record, and past violations. Dispatch records and delivery schedules can show whether the driver was running late. Those records matter most when the question is whether the company shares the blame, which when a company is liable for its driver's wreck covers in detail.

Evidence from the intersection

The truck isn't the only witness.

Video

Gas stations, restaurants, apartment buildings, and doorbell cameras face a lot of Austin intersections, especially along the I-35 and US 183 frontage roads, Ben White, and Parmer Lane. Dashcams in other cars count too. Most of these systems record over themselves within days or weeks. Go back to the intersection, note every camera that points at the road, and ask the business or homeowner to save the footage from the time of the crash.

People

The most useful witness is often a driver who stopped at the same red light the truck went through. That person saw the light in their own windshield and watched the truck roll past. Ask every witness what color their own light was, not only what they think the truck did. Get names and phone numbers before people leave the scene.

The crash report

The Texas peace officer's crash report, the CR-3, lets the officer mark contributing factors for each vehicle, including disregarding a traffic signal. In a truck crash, the report should also identify the carrier. The officer's opinion isn't binding, and the officer usually arrived after the light had cycled many times. How to read your Texas police report explains each field and what to question.

The truck's markings

Photograph the USDOT number on the cab door. It identifies the carrier, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's public database shows that carrier's inspection and crash history. The truck accident page has a longer checklist for the scene.

Why the first week matters

Trucking companies and their insurers often start investigating within hours of a serious crash. Meanwhile the truck gets repaired and goes back on the road, which can overwrite engine data. Cameras loop. Signal logs roll over.

A preservation letter is written notice to the trucking company and its insurer that a claim is coming and that they must keep the evidence intact: the truck, the engine data, the camera footage, the logs, the test results, the maintenance file. Texas courts can sanction a party that destroys evidence after it knew or should have known a claim was likely. In the most serious cases, usually when evidence was destroyed on purpose, a judge can tell the jury it may presume the missing evidence would have hurt that party. Having the evidence still beats arguing about why it's gone. Records held by the City or TxDOT come through a public information request, or by subpoena once a lawsuit is filed.

Signals rarely malfunction, but it happens. If the evidence points to a signal problem instead of the driver, a claim against a government agency follows its own rules, and the notice deadlines are short. Texas lets a city charter set its own notice period (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 101.101(b)), and the City of Austin requires written notice within 45 days.

When the trucking company points at you

Expect the other side to look for your share of the fault. You pulled out on a fresh green without looking. You were speeding. You were sitting in the truck's blind spot. Texas uses modified comparative fault: if a jury finds you more than 50 percent responsible, you recover nothing (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.001). Below that line, your recovery shrinks by your share of the fault. The Texas 51 percent bar explained walks through the math.

The same evidence that tests the truck's story tests yours. Your car may have its own crash data showing you were stopped or moving slowly, so photograph it and think twice before releasing it for salvage. Keep everything on your phone. Deleting texts or apps after a crash looks worse than whatever was there.

The general deadline to file an injury lawsuit in Texas is two years from the crash (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003). The practical deadline for signal logs, engine data, and video is much shorter.

Your first few days

1. Write down what you saw: the color of your light, when it changed, where the truck came from, and anything the driver said.
2. Photograph the truck's USDOT number, the trailer, and the intersection.
3. List every camera near the intersection, and ask each owner to save the footage.
4. Get the crash report number and check what the officer marked.
5. Photograph your own car before it's repaired or released for salvage.
6. Hold off on a recorded statement to the trucking company's insurer. What not to say to an adjuster explains why.

Preservation letters to a trucking company, records requests for the signal, and a careful download of the truck's engine data are work a lawyer can start right away. Anselmo handles truck accident cases on a contingency fee, so the attorney's fee comes out of a recovery rather than being paid up front.

A red-light truck case turns on which light the truck was facing and when. Anselmo can go over what you remember on a free intake call and help sort out which records to request first. Bring the crash report number and any photos of the truck's markings.