When you’re involved in a car accident, you want to use every piece of evidence available to you to strengthen your claim. A solid personal injury case can help you recover fair and full compensation for your medical expenses, lost wages, and other accident-related expenses. Dashcams, once only an option for police and luxury cars, are now affordable and widely accessible. Find out how a dashcam could affect your car accident case.
Ready to start building a personal injury claim against the person who caused your car accident? We’re here to fight for you. Call Hodges Trial Lawyers at 256-539-3110 to schedule a consultation now.
The Type of Footage is Important
Make sure you’re familiar with the type of footage your dashcam captures. While a front or rear camera may be helpful, a setup with both cameras is the best option. Ideally, your camera will be able to get clear shots of what’s happening in front of your car, behind your car, and in some of the peripheral areas. When choosing a dashcam, consider common types of car accidents and whether or not the dashcam you’re considering will protect you in those types of crashes.
Preserving Important Footage
You should also take immediate steps to save important video footage after a crash. Every dashcam is different, so take some time to get familiar with how your model backs up footage. It may store it in the cloud indefinitely, keep it in the cloud for a set period of time before deleting it, keep it on the device itself until it is overwritten by newer footage, or keep it on the device for a set period of time.
If you don’t know this, you could unintentionally lose important footage and give away your best piece of evidence. As soon as possible after a crash, make physical and cloud-based backups.
How Footage May Be Used
Footage can be extremely helpful as you build your personal injury claim. You and the other driver both have your own versions of what happened, and the dashcam is essentially a neutral third party. Footage from before, during, and after the crash can be very helpful. If there are discrepancies between the stories, the police officer at the site of the accident may use your footage to discover what actually happened.
If this leads to a citation, that could benefit your personal injury claim. For example, if you get into a crash driving on I-565 toward the Huntsville Museum of Art, you may be lucky enough to catch the other driver swerving in and out of traffic behind you before rear-ending you. That would show that they were driving recklessly prior to causing a crash.
Remember that footage can also hurt you. If it catches you swerving, driving unsafely, or talking on the phone while driving, you could also get cited. That’s just one reason it’s so important to prioritize safe driving at all times.
Utilizing Dashcam Evidence for Your Claim
Wondering if your dashcam footage could strengthen your personal injury claim? As soon as possible after a crash, connect with a Huntsville personal injury attorney. They can make the appropriate backups and use other types of evidence to craft a compelling case on your behalf.
If the other party has a dashcam, you may still be able to use it to strengthen your case. However, you’ll need to notify your attorney quickly, so they do not have time to delete it. Your attorney can demand or subpoena the footage, then use it to build your personal injury claim.
The footage is useful both during negotiations and in court. Most cases settle out of court, and solid dashcam footage can make a satisfactory settlement even more likely. If you have ironclad proof of the insurance company’s client driving negligently, they may settle quickly to protect themselves from further financial losses.
Discuss Your Legal Options with Hodges Trial Lawyers
Whether your case settles or goes to court, you deserve an attorney committed to representing you in both arenas. The team at Hodges Trial Lawyers brings substantial personal injury experience to the table, so you can be confident that your claim is in good hands with us. Schedule a consultation with our team now by calling us at 256-539-3110 or contacting us online.
