Witnesses and Car Wrecks

Witnesses and Car Wrecks

When you are involved in a traffic collision, it can be difficult to know exactly what happened. Sometimes, another vehicle hits you out of nowhere and with no warning, and you aren’t sure whether they were speeding or not. In other situations, you might have seen the other driver texting, but you have no other proof, and it is just your word against theirs. 

In order to prove liability for a car wreck, it is essential to have evidence you can present to the insurance company of the at-fault driver or to a jury in the event your case goes to court. One highly valuable type of evidence is witness testimony. 

How Witnesses Can Help

Witnesses can describe what they saw prior to and during a crash to help clarify how and why the crash occurred. Witnesses might have noticed signs of drunk or aggressive driving. Maybe they saw a driver hit another car without even braking or run a red light. All of this helps to establish another driver’s responsibility for the losses of injured accident victims. 

Witnesses are often associated with jury trials, during which witnesses take the stand to tell their stories. However, most car accident cases are settled out of court, and witness statements can still help with insurance claims and pretrial settlement negotiations. It is important that your attorney contacts all parties who might have witnessed the crash. 

What if There are No Witnesses?

In cases where there are no witnesses to a car wreck, you can still establish liability in a number of ways. In some cases, it may be clear to the police who respond to the scene who caused the accident because of the way the vehicles are positioned or the damage to the vehicles. For example, if one car has front-end damage and the other has rear-end damage at a stop sign, it’s a pretty safe bet that the trailing car rear-ended the vehicle in front.

In some cases, the aftermath of an accident may not provide clues, and neither driver’s account can shed light on liability. In these instances, lawyers often work with accident reconstructionists or other experts in order to analyze and understand evidence in support of their theory of liability. 

If you have been involved in an accident without witnesses, you should call a lawyer as soon as you can. Evidence in support of your case can be destroyed or lost in a matter of days. For example, the other driver may get his or her vehicle repaired, making it impossible to use the damage to establish what happened. 

Seek Help from a Montgomery Car Accident Attorney You Can Trust

If you have suffered injuries in a car wreck caused by someone else, there’s a good chance that you can recover compensation for your accident-related losses. At the Law Office of Richard F. Matthews, Jr., Attorney at Law, we are committed to helping every client we take receive the full value of their claim. Contact us online or call 334-398-8408 us today to schedule your consultation.