Driver-side investigation scope in Georgia truck accident cases

A driver-side investigation in a Georgia truck case asks what this person was doing before the crash, what their history shows, and what they have said. Some of it comes from the carrier. Much of it does not, including personal phones, prior employers, state licensing records, and the driver’s own statements. Those sources need their own requests, and several of them run on short clocks.

Where each record lives

Record	Who holds it	How to reach it
Driver qualification file	Carrier	Document request
State driving record	Licensing agencies	Certified request or subpoena
Prior employer history	Prior employers, and the carrier's § 391.53 file	Request both
Drug and alcohol tests	Carrier, laboratories, agencies	Request, order, or consent
Duty records	Carrier, ELD provider	Request, with a letter to the provider
Personal phone	Wireless carrier, the driver	Subpoena, request, or order
Personal camera or tablet	The driver	Preservation letter, then request
Criminal or traffic case file	Court, prosecutor, police	Public record request
Medical records	Examiner, doctors	Consent or court order

Licensing history across states

A driver may have been licensed in more than one state, and a current record may not show everything. Under § 391.23, a carrier asks each licensing authority where the driver held a license in the prior three years, and the application under § 391.21 lists accidents and violations for that period. So compare the application with the records. An omitted accident, or a state that does not appear on the application, can start a line of questions for both driver and carrier.

The Commercial Driver’s License Information System links state records for commercial drivers. Ask the licensing agency what it can certify for a civil case, and request the underlying record from each state where the driver held a license.

Clearinghouse: the two dates and a practical limit

The Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse records violations by commercial drivers. Carrier queries are required under § 382.701, and they are not new. The November 18, 2024 date concerns state licensing agencies and the withholding or downgrading of licenses for prohibited drivers, explained at drug and alcohol testing.

Access runs through consent rules in § 382.703, so do not assume that a subpoena to the database is the easy route. Start with the carrier’s query records, which it must keep for three years under § 382.701(e). A request for driver consent or a court order can follow if needed. Check for what the carrier was told about this driver, on what date, and what it did next.

What the driver has said

Statements can be the best evidence in the case, and they are spread across several places.

Statement	Where it appears	Note
To police at the scene	Report, body camera	Get the video, not only the summary
To the carrier	Accident report, dispatch messages	Work product may be claimed
To an insurer	Claim file	Protection may be claimed
To medical staff	Hospital chart	Privacy rules apply
In traffic court	Plea and record	The type of plea matters
On social media	Public posts	Save what is public, and do not contact a represented party

Under § 24-8-801(d)(2), a party’s own statement offered against that party is not excluded as hearsay. A statement by an agent or employee concerning a matter within the scope of employment, made during that relationship, can be offered against the employer. Timing matters, since a statement made after the driver left the job may not qualify against the carrier.

A guilty plea to a traffic charge can be used differently from a nolo plea. Holt v. Grinnell, 212 Ga. App. 520 (1994), treated a nolo plea as unusable for any purpose. A driver who faces criminal charges may also refuse to answer questions, which can delay the deposition.

The driver’s body and health

Under § 9-11-35, when a party’s physical or mental condition is in controversy, a court may order an examination. So a driver whose fitness is at issue can be examined on proper showing. That is a harder request than asking for records, and it needs a reason tied to the crash, such as a suspected medical event or fatigue.

Medical certification and any variance sit in the qualification file. Under § 391.41, a driver must not operate unless medically certified. The examiner’s long form may have answers about conditions and medications that can be compared with treatment records.

Personal devices and rolling storage

A personal dash camera or phone can overwrite or be replaced. Send a letter to the driver, through counsel if known, naming each device. Ask for phone records from the wireless carrier as well, and fix the crash time before reading them, as distracted driving explains. How long a provider keeps content or data varies, so ask the provider directly and early.

Tying it to a claim

Finding	Claim against the driver	Claim against the carrier
Phone use before impact	Negligence, § 40-6-241	Negligent supervision, if the carrier knew
Omitted prior crash	Credibility	Negligent hiring, if the carrier should have found it
Hours violation	§ 395.3 and fatigue proof	Permitting a violation
Failed test	Impairment proof	Retention and testing process
Lapsed certificate	Medical proof, if relevant	§ 391.15 and hiring duties

The finding has to connect to the crash. Parker v. R & L Carriers, 253 Ga. App. 628 (2002), failed because “the alleged violation of the regulation was not the proximate cause of the accident”. The driver may have other work, too, and that can affect both duty hours and who else is responsible. The driver’s fault is also the base for the carrier’s vicarious liability, under motor carrier liability.

While those records are being gathered, the two years for injury claims in § 9-3-33 keep running. The findings then go to the division of fault under § 51-12-33.

Sources

• 49 C.F.R. § 382.701
• 49 C.F.R. § 382.703
• 49 C.F.R. § 391.21
• 49 C.F.R. § 391.23
• 49 C.F.R. § 391.41
• Official Code of Georgia Annotated, November 2022 public release: §§ 9-3-33, 9-11-35, 24-8-801, 40-6-241, 51-12-33
• Holt v. Grinnell, 212 Ga. App. 520
• Parker v. R & L Carriers, 253 Ga. App. 628

This page was last reviewed in November 2026 for general information. Laws and court decisions can change after that date. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.