Your car accident lawyer may use video footage, reconstructions of the accident, witness accounts, and other evidence to prove who hit who in a car accident. Available evidence varies from one accident to the next. Your attorney should use all available evidence to argue, without a doubt, that someone else hit your car and caused your accident.

Types of Evidence That May Show Who Hit Who in a Car Accident

When you attempt to prove who hit who in a car accident, you’re simply trying to prove how the accident happened. There are several possible ways to prove this, including:

Video Footage of the Accident

Video will not capture most accidents. However, when a camera does capture a collision, the footage provides valuable evidence.

It is difficult to dispute video evidence, which may come from:

• A driver’s dash camera, a technology that has become more common in the age of ridesharing
• Traffic cameras, which are present in many intersections
• Cellphone cameras
• Businesses’ security cameras

The clarity of footage and the angle of cameras are two factors that can affect the quality of video evidence. Nevertheless, even poor-quality footage may show who hit who in your car accident.

Witness Testimony

Witnesses who saw your accident may provide testimony to the responding officer. This testimony may include which motorist hit who. Your lawyer can obtain even more detailed testimony from witnesses to use in your claim or lawsuit. If your lawyer cannot contact witnesses for any reason, they may simply use a police report that contains the witness testimony.

Witness accounts can be convincing because there is no obvious reason for a witness to be untruthful. Unlike those involved in the accident, a witness generally has no financial stake in the outcome of a claim or lawsuit therefore, their testimony may be considered trustworthy.

Reconstructions of the Collision

Your attorney may hire an expert or use in-house resources to reconstruct your accident. The reconstruction may be a physical exhibit, though a digital rendering may be more likely.

These reconstructions may provide a hyper-realistic imitation of the collision and may use:

• Witness accounts
• A police report
• Photographs of the accident scene
• Your own testimony
• The laws of motor vehicle accident dynamics

Like any investigation, your lawyer may put together an account of how your accident happened using a variety of evidence. The reconstruction of your accident may be the clearest possible depiction of what the evidence says.

Statements From Those Involved in the Car Accident

You and other motorists involved in the car accident may have given statements following the collision. It is generally a law enforcement officer’s responsibility to investigate how the accident happened, and they’ll usually ask motorists and witnesses for their version of the car accident.

If there is an official record of a liable motorist admitting to hitting your vehicle, your attorney will track that record down. Perhaps more than any other type of evidence, an admission of liability can help you get the compensation you deserve.

How Do You Get Evidence Related to a Car Accident?

You can leave this process to your lawyer. If you hire a lawyer, they will seek evidence to build your claim or lawsuit. They should gather and organize evidence, too.

If you hire an experienced car accident lawyer, they will:

• Know how to document the accident scene: If you retain their services soon after your accident, the scene may still be worth documenting. Even if the accident scene is no longer useful by the time you hire your lawyer, the attorney can document the collision in other ways.
• Gather evidence as quickly as possible: Your lawyer’s job is to get as much useful evidence as possible. Certain evidence may become unavailable once a certain amount of time passes, such as video footage that a business owner erases after a few days. Therefore, an attorney will work as quickly as possible to document your car accident.
• Get any evidence in liable parties’ possession: In some cases, liable parties will have evidence that is useful to the plaintiff in this case, you. An attorney can file a letter of spoliation, which demands that liable parties preserve such evidence. Your lawyer can then gain possession of the evidence to use in your case.

Car accident attorneys frequently represent car accident victims. The process of identifying and gathering evidence should be familiar, and a lawyer can document your accident more quickly than you can.

How Does Someone Determine Fault for a Car Accident?

If someone hits your vehicle, they are likely at fault for the accident. However, your lawyer will determine if the at-fault motorist was negligent in causing your accident. Negligence is typically the standard for liability in car accident cases, and negligence appears when someone acts unreasonably.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) cites impaired driving and speeding as two primary causes of serious accidents.

Other negligent behaviors that may cause a car accident include:

• Knowingly driving an unsafe vehicle
• Changing lanes without checking blind spots
• Tailgating
• Running red lights, yield signs, and stop signs
• Driving too fast for weather or road conditions
• Failing to yield the right of way
• Weaving in and out of traffic

Motorists must exercise caution at all times. Whenever a motorist fails to act reasonably, and they cause a collision, they’re typically at fault for resulting damages.

Are Motorists Always at Fault for Car Accidents?

Motorists are not always the negligent party in a car accident case.

Other potentially negligent parties include:

• Motor vehicle manufacturers: Those who produce dangerous vehicles or fail to issue timely recall warnings may be liable for resulting accidents. If a defect caused your car accident, those who made a defective motor vehicle or component might owe you compensation.
• Mechanics: If a mechanic made an error that led to your accident or failed to spot a potential defect or problem, they can have liability for a subsequent car accident.
• Municipalities: Cities can be liable for dangerous road conditions. Potholes, uneven driving surfaces, work crews in dangerous positions, and traffic light outages are some of the hazards a municipality can be liable for.
• Pedestrians or workers: If a pedestrian, worker, or other non-motorist did something to cause your accident, they can be liable. For example, a pedestrian who crosses the street illegally may be responsible when a driver swerves and crashes to avoid striking the pedestrian.

Each car accident involves unique details. A lawyer will review the details of your collision to determine liability.

Potential Threats to a Successful Auto Insurance Claim

Motor vehicle owners pay monthly premiums believing their insurer will provide promised coverage when an accident happens, as they paid their premiums. Yet, when car accidents happen, insurance companies sometimes refuse to pay the compensation a policyholder deserves.

An insurer may use several tactics to avoid paying you fairly for your damages, including:

• Claiming you caused the accident: In states where one’s fault affects insurance coverage, an insurer may avoid having to pay for certain covered losses by claiming you caused the accident. A capable attorney will fight such claims.
• Claiming that have exaggerated or fabricated your injuries: An insurance company may refuse to pay for certain medical treatments it claims are unnecessary.
• Extending a lowball offer: Once you agree to accept an insurance settlement, it absolves the insurer of financial responsibility. Therefore, an insurance company may issue a quick, low settlement offer hoping you will accept. If you do accept, the lowball offer can allow the insurer to pay far less than they should have.

Other bad-faith insurance tactics include stalling, lying about your policy details, and using your words out of context to deny your claim.

Another issue is coverage limits. Even if insurers act in good faith, a policy may only entitle you to a certain amount of coverage, especially if a driver only carries the minimum required policy. Limits on coverage can prevent you from getting the money you need for accident-related losses.

The Benefits of Filing a Car Accident Lawsuit

A car accident lawsuit may be a way around the headaches of the insurance claims process. Your attorney may sue the insurance company to get the money you deserve. You might get money for a broader range of damages with a lawsuit.

When Should I Hire a Lawyer After a Car Accident?

There is much to consider after a car accident, so contact an attorney as soon as possible. A lawyer will help you decide whether to file an insurance claim or lawsuit and will help with other aspects of the post-accident process, including:

Protecting Your Rights

From the moment that you hire them, your lawyer will keep you safe from insurance companies and others who want your case to fail.

These parties generally have a financial interest in your claim or lawsuit and may try to:

• Have you admit fault for the accident
• Destroy evidence that can help your case
• Make false statements
• Harm your case in other ways

Your lawyer will lead all case-related communications. If an insurance company, a person involved in your accident, or another lawyer wants to contact you, they’ll have to contact your attorney first.

Investigating Your Accident

Your lawyer will launch a rapid investigation of your car accident.

During this process, your lawyer may:

• Interview witnesses and record their accounts of the collision
• Gather evidence such as video footage, photographs of the accident scene, and the police report for your accident
• Hire an expert to digitally reconstruct your collision
• Document the damages resulting from your accident
• Gather all relevant information and determine who is liable for your collision

This is a key stage in any car accident case, and your lawyer may use their in-house investigator to help them get all available evidence and documentation.

Negotiating a Settlement

Car accident lawyers generally aim to settle their clients’ cases. Settling is typically the most efficient way to get money for the client, and you do not have to settle for any less compensation than you deserve.

However, there is no guarantee that settlement talks will be successful. If your lawyer puts forth a comprehensive argument but receives no fair offer, they should weigh their other legal options.

Taking Your Case to Court

When you are searching for a lawyer to handle your car accident case, see if a law firm publishes its case results. Do those results include judgments that the firm has won in a courtroom setting?

Knowing that a lawyer will take your case to trial if necessary is important. A law firm with impressive trial results is clearly willing to take clients’ cases to court when necessary. Though there are expenses and risks involved with taking a car accident case to court, the potential reward can be great.

Can I Afford a Lawyer After a Car Accident?

Yes. There is a car accident lawyer serving your area that requires no upfront fees or costs.

Contingency fees are standard practice in car accident cases, which means that you:

• Don’t pay an attorney’s fee up front
• Don’t pay for any case-related expenses
• Give your lawyer a portion of your winnings (if they win your case), but owe the lawyer nothing if they don’t get the money you deserve

This client-friendly fee structure is one that most car accident firms use, and it allows anyone to hire an attorney after a car accident.

Call Trusted Car Accident Lawyers Today for a Free Consultation

Car accident law firms also offer free consultations, where you can find out more about the firm and whether they’ll handle your case. Reach out for help and more information today.

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