Drunk and disorderly driver turned in front of me.

What happens in the case if DOT or the officer responding doesn’t request that? Is the driver to take it upon himself to go get a drug screening someplace? I’m just curious.

 

Not true. The truck driver isn’t at fault, being suspected at fault, or ticketed.

I got hit in a CMV and didn’t submit a sample, either. The offender, in my situation, was ticketed. I wasn’t at fault, no sample. Both vehicles towed.

To the OP, as others have stated, make sure you have every single detail documented. That means every mark on the pavement, Google Earth images of the intersection with details laid out, every piece of relevant paperwork, etc. I have a file with all my accident’s paperwork, video and pics at the time of accident showing all the details, e-mail exchanges with his insurance company saved, witness info, and so forth.

 

Post-Accident Summary:
A federal drug and alcohol test is required if a fatality occurred regardless of whether or not a citation was issued. If the driver was issued a citation AND the vehicle was towed, or an individual was taken to a hospital a federal drug and alcohol test is required.

 

You got something even better than that: an open container in the cupholder!

 

Save ALL of it, make a file, back it up, KEEP IT.

 

Was it towed due to damage, or because the driver fled?

 

Many years ago, I clipped a minivan which had run a red light... my light was green for several seconds before the driver came hurtling out from behind a line of panel trucks to my left. Good thing I was looking that way and my reflexes are fast: I hit my brakes and only clipped the right rear corner of the minivan, sending it into a 360* spin which flattened two of its balding tires. Not only did the driver have a suspended license, but the van was full of kids. This all happened in Gary, Indiana, a block or two south of a truck stop where I intended to stay the night. There was no way I or anybody else---Super Trucker included---could've foreseen this idiot running the red light against traffic flow. Like the driver, the first cop to respond was black, and a second "undercover cop" also stepped forth from the all-black crowd to back my claim that my light was green when I entered the intersection. It was a weird situation, and the vibe from the crowd wasn't a good one either, even though the collision was entirely the other driver's fault.

Here's the rub: the cop wrote up the report (which I did not see until later) in such a way that it opened the door to "interpretation" by scumbag attorneys. The cop wrote that "Driver of Vehicle #1 states..." or that "Driver of vehicle #2 states..." So it devolved from a clear-cut case against the idiot with a suspended license to a ridiculous attempt to extort money from the trucking company, complete with letters from some shyster attorney demanding money... part-time lawyer, full-time pimp, I reckon. I wound up writing a letter to the governor of Indiana at the time (late '90s), and THAT put paid to any further efforts to extort money. I even received a final letter from the pimp---er, I mean attorney---who said he was no longer representing his client. My whole point in relating this story (only collision I ever had in a truck, and thankfully at the fairly low speed of 20-25 m.p.h.) is to let the OP know that stupid BS can STILL happen even when you think the incident or case is closed. Do as the other truckers suggested and protect yourself the best you can... just in case the need arises, courtesy of shyster scumbag attorneys.

The scumbag attorneys out there don't give a #### about truck drivers, all they see are dollar signs whenever a truck is involved in a collision, and they WILL twist things around and push flat-out lies if there's any hope of extorting money from a trucking company or truck driver. Good thing the OP had a dash cam, that will help, but every scrap of evidence related to that collision should be carefully preserved and safeguarded, as it may come in handy later. Before my ridiculous experience with the shyster attorney from Gary, Indiana, had anybody told me that some crackerhead with a suspended license would try to sue ME or my company AFTER running a red light and putting the minivan in a position to be struck by my rig, I would've laughed... but the letters were no joke, and I took serious steps to see the "case" didn't get out of hand. Thankfully, I had collected every possible scrap of evidence before the need arose, including the pics I took on scene, and I included copies of that evidence with my letter to the governor's office.

 

Every picture tells a story, and if you listen to the last 45 seconds of this song, you will never forget it.