Ep. 87 - The $200 Safety Part Trucking Companies Delete From Semis || After the Crash Podcast

Collision-avoidance technology costs the manufacturer $97–$200 per truck—and it's marked up over 600% and sold as an option that buyers routinely delete. Meanwhile, more than 5,000 people are killed and 100,000 seriously injured in large-truck crashes every year. Most of those crashes were preventable. In this episode of After the Crash, David Craig, one of only four attorneys in Indiana Board-Certified in Truck Accident Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, sits down with trial attorney J. Kent Emison of Langdon & Emison to talk about what really happens after a truck crash, and what most families never find out. Kent has handled catastrophic truck, product liability, and wrongful death cases across the country, and he brings deep technical knowledge about the safety systems that should be on these trucks. ✔️ A government study tracked over 3 million miles and 6,000 automatic emergency braking activations, and found zero crashes resulting from those events ✔️ Paccar published data in 2003 showing one second of warning could prevent 90% of rear-end truck accidents, yet two-thirds of trucks on the road today still lack these systems ✔️ The manufacturer's cost to add collision mitigation technology is between $97 and $200 per truck, yet it's marked up over 600% and sold as an optional add-on that buyers routinely delete ✔️ Trucking companies deploy rapid response teams to crash scenes, sometimes before injured victims have been removed ✔️ Ghost drivers, predatory freight brokers, and the economics that push small carriers to cut corners ✔️ Reflective tape, underride guards, load shifts, and maintenance failures, the hidden causes that vanish if you don't investigate immediately One detail from this episode is hard to shake. Kent describes a situation where a truck company showed up at the scene before the investigating officer was finished, while the injured victim was still in the hospital. The truck company was actively working to shape the report. That's not a rare exception. It's a documented pattern. 👉 Key takeaway: The crash is just the beginning. What happens in the hours and days after determines whether the full truth ever comes out. — 00:00 – Welcome & Why Evidence Disappears Fast 00:53 – Introducing J. Kent Emison of Langdon & Emison 02:17 – Is $750K or $1 Million Enough After a Catastrophic Truck Wreck? 04:09 – The Real Scale: 5,000+ Deaths & 100,000+ Injuries Per Year 07:26 – Looking Beyond the Driver: Tires, Brakes & Hidden Causes 10:25 – Rapid Response Teams: How Trucking Companies Get to the Scene First 13:03 – How Truck Companies Shape the Official Crash Report 15:31 – Construction Zone Crashes on I-70: The Most Complicated Cases 17:32 – Collision Mitigation Systems: 6,000 Activations, Zero Crashes 23:50 – Why Two-Thirds of Trucks Still Don't Have This Technology 35:52 – Who Gets Sued: Manufacturers, Dealers & Companies That Delete Safety Features 43:31 – Ghost Drivers, Freight Brokers & the Race to the Bottom 48:43 – Underride Guards, Reflective Tape & Maintenance Failures 54:07 – Final Advice: Get a Good Attorney Involved Immediately — If you or someone you know has been involved in a truck crash, don't wait. Visit https://ckflaw.com or call 1-800-ASK-DAVID. Download Semitruck Wreck for FREE: https://www.ckflaw.com/truck-accident... Follow Us on Socials: Website: https://www.ckflaw.com Facebook:   / ckflaw   LinkedIn:   / craig-kelley-&-faultless-attorneys-at-law   Contact Us: Email: [email protected] Phone: 1-800-ASK-DAVID #TruckAccident #TruckingSafety #CollisionMitigation #SemiTruckCrash #TruckAccidentLawyer #WrongfulDeath #AfterTheCrash #DavidCraig #CraigKelleyFaultless #TruckingAccountability