The job of a trucking company defense attorney is minimize the amount that trucking companies have to pay out after accidents. To accomplish this, these attorneys have developed many strategies over the years to shift blame from their clients to—well, anyone else. One tactic is to deflect fault is to suggest some vehicle not involved in the wreck was really to blame for it. Attorney circles infamously refer to this as "The Mystery Car Defense." What is the "Mystery Car Defense?"

Answer: The "Mystery Car Defense," also called the "phantom car" or "miss and run" defense, is when defense attorneys assert that a serious truck accident was actually caused by a vehicle that left the scene and cannot be identified.

To be clear, "Mystery Car" isn't a formal affirmative defense that's recognized by courts. It's just a tactic defense attorneys use to muddy the waters and introduce doubt to a jury. However, like any real defense, it must be overcome or it can negatively affect your case, so let's take a closer look at how it works and how truck accident victims can overcome it.

How Does the "Mystery Car Defense" Work?

In the "Mystery Car Defense," the attorney working on behalf of the truck driver and/or his employer argues that another vehicle (one which conveniently can't be identified, or sometimes even described) took some action that forced the trucker to act unsafely.

Example: A truck driver swerves accidentally into your highway lane, sideswipes your car, and injures you. When investigators ask the driver how he lost control, he says he swerved to avoid another car that cut him off. Unfortunately, the alleged at-fault party drove off into the sunset and nobody got a description or license plate. With the instigator in the wind and no clues to find them, the trucker and his employer will argue there's nobody to pin the blame on.

This strategy can sometimes be persuasive to a jury because it taps into a common experience many people share—the feeling that the roads are full of careless or aggressive drivers who weave through traffic or make sudden moves without warning. Moreover, most people are aware that many crashes are caused by people who drive away afterward. If the defense can portray the truck accident that way, a jury might feel more sympathetic toward the trucker—and less likely to find him at fault.

Odd as it may sound, the goal might also not necessarily be to win at trial. All the defense really needs to do is stir up doubt—ideally in the jury, but if the victim and their attorney sense the winds changing against them they may also start to doubt the strength of their case. At that point they may just agree to settle the case for far less than it's worth. That's still a win for many defense attorneys and their corporate clients.

So if it's so easy to just blame a car or driver nobody can find, why doesn't every defense attorney do it every time? Because an experienced attorney can dismantle it with relative ease.

How Do I Beat the "Mystery Car Defense?"

In a word: Evidence. Clear and abundant evidence is the most crucial element of pretty much all litigation.

To defeat a "Mystery Car Defense," the main focus would be on finding evidence that the truck driver was actually negligent despite his claims of just being a victim of circumstances. Here are a few main sources of evidence attorneys will go for while investigating a truck accident:

• Data from the truck: An attorney might gather data from the truck’s electronic logging device (ELD) or black box, which records speed, braking, and steering inputs before the crash. If those monitoring devices show the driver was speeding, failed to brake in time, or made unsafe maneuvers, it undermines the story that the crash was unavoidable or caused by a third party. Footage from the truck's dashcam or a camera monitoring the cab might also shed some light on what the trucker was up to just before the crash.
  Of course, neither the trucker nor his employer will simply hand these important sources of evidence over. If they contain potentially-damning information, why cooperate if they don't have to? Attorneys who want to see information from the truck's recording devices typically have to get a court order that makes the trucking company cooperate.
• Data from the driver: Attorneys will also look into the driver himself after a crash to see if he was a) doing what he was supposed to do and b) fit to be at the wheel in the first place. The driver's cell phone may show evidence of distraction, like text message and call logs, open or paused videos, or internet browsing history. Again, getting a hold of the device would probably require a court order.
  The investigation might also include looking into the driver's traffic and health histories. If he has a record of traffic infractions, that could be a sign that the crash is another example of his recklessness. Likewise, if he has medical records with serious health risks or substance abuse that could incapacitate him at the wheel, then he shouldn't have been allowed to hit the road at all.
• Data from the scene: The site of an accident may not look like much of anything to the untrained eye, but an attorney often works with forensic experts and accident reconstruction specialists who know better. They can analyze the crash scene, assess speeds and angles from vehicle damage, and measure tire skid marks to show how the collision really happened—without any need for a phantom car.

Those are some of the ways an attorney would gather evidence to show their client's side of the story is true. On top of that, though, they would highlight how the defense can produce exactly zero proof of the Mystery Car. Even if they may understand the idea of someone driving like a jerk, juries are pretty skeptical of defenses that rely on invisible culprits. If there's no eyewitness testimony, video footage, or physical evidence like paint transfer or debris, they're being asked to accept the entire premise on faith—and that's a big ask.

The attorney might also emphasize that the Mystery Car is simply a convenient excuse that can’t be verified and that the truck driver, who is trained and held to a higher safety standard, still had a duty to drive safely. It may not be intuitive, but in many cases it's actually safer for the truck to take an expected hit than it is to steer away or brake and invite unknown risks.

By focusing on the facts, the evidence, and the law, the plaintiff’s attorney works to dismantle the Mystery Car defense and keep the jury focused on the party who was truly at fault.

Even a Weak Defense Can Ruin a Case Without the Right Help

If reading all this makes you feel like the "Mystery Car Defense" is pretty weak, you're right. However, weak and strong defenses alike are only beaten back by properly investigating a crash and gathering appropriate evidence. Only inexperienced attorneys think they can ignore something like "Mystery Car" without putting in the work to refute it. Even seemingly absurd defenses can ruin a commercial truck accident case if they aren't discredited before a jury, but knowing where to find evidence and what to do with it is often beyond the skillset of the average truck accident victim.

The Texas attorneys at Grossman Law Offices have been helping truck accident victims for decades and have overcome all manner of trucking company excuses, including blaming Mystery Cars. If you were hurt or lost a loved one in a crash with an 18-wheeler and want to speak to an attorney about your situation, contact Grossman Law Offices any time for a free and confidential consultation.