7 Reasons Your Car Accident Lawyer Needs Witness Statements
The role of witness statements is invaluable and often understated. Witnesses offer insight into the accident’s accounts. Their recollections can help support your compensation claim that you are not at fault following an incident. Here are seven top reasons why witness statements are important after a car accident and why you need them:
1. They Show Your Innocence
Car accident victims need to prove their innocence beyond any doubt to justify the compensation they claim for incurred damages. Witness statements can reduce or eliminate all doubt, effectively freeing you from fault for the accident. Insurance companies will assign blame to the accident victim to cast doubt to reduce or deny payments on a claim.
Gathering witness statements can provide significant evidence of inconsistencies of the at-fault driver. If you are innocent, impartial witness statements will demonstrate it, helping the jury discredit the at-fault driver’s versions of events. You should call your car accident attorney immediately after an accident to start collecting and vetting witness statements.
2. They Preserve the Faces
Courts treat car accident compensation claims with the same scrutiny as felonies and other serious cases, so facts are essential. The outcome of your case is entirely dependent on the facts. Some incidents have transparent facts, like CCTV camera records, but may not have captured the entire incident. The victim may also suffer a head injury, or the accident may happen too fast to understand what happened.
Witness statements can preserve the evidence, capturing what neither driver saw. Some witnesses post scenes of the accident in real-time, providing recorded evidence juries can review when issuing a verdict. Written or recorded evidence from at-scene witnesses can also persuade the at-fault driver to make compensation without going to court.
3. They Confirm the Facts
Car accident cases have two types of witnesses; at-scene witnesses and expert witnesses. At-scene witnesses will give accounts of what they saw and provide recorded photos/videos they took from their vantage point. Expert witnesses are knowledgeable professionals providing insights into what transpired and helping to recreate the accident scene.
Expert witnesses analyze car position, tire marks, visible damages, and other diagnostics and forensics. The experts provide objective opinions on how the accident occurred, and their statements also confirm the facts proving your innocence. Your car accident lawyer will help you find reputable expert witnesses relevant to the case if necessary.
4. They Could Prove Negligence
Car accident attorneys focus on proving innocence or negligence and establishing who’s at fault. Proving your innocence tips the case in your favor but proving negligence is even better, and witness statements can help. A witness may have seen the at-fault driver speeding, overlapping, running the red light, or texting just before the accident.
If you can prove the other driver’s negligence, the court will assign them a bigger portion of the fault. The court will also force the insurance companies to compensate your claim. Recorded statements like photos and videos offer more substantial evidence, but written reports are just as crucial. The at-fault party will find it difficult to prevail in the case if witness statements prove negligence.
5. They Validate Your Injuries
Car accident compensation claims often involve seeking compensation for bodily injuries. The victim must validate all damages for which they want payment, including providing hospital bills and evidence of missed wages. Witness statements can provide details on whether you could move around and the nature of injuries and pain sustained.
At-scene witness statements could discredit exaggerations from the other driver if they were walking freely and comfortably after the accident. The jury will consider all accounts to identify inconsistencies before declaring fault and compensation terms. Witness statements also sift lies and doubts used by the at-fault driver and insurance companies.
6. They Offer Neutral Perspective
Compensation claims without witness statements boil down to your word against the at-fault driver. There’s no clear way to tell who’s right. Other evidence like recordings and reports from at-scene police officers offer crucial insights into what transpired. A witness account is also neutral since they have no vested interest in the case’s outcome.
Your accounts are motivated by the need to get compensation. The at-fault driver is trying to avoid paying for the claim. Such self-interests produce bias, so courts use witness statements to get neutral sentiments. If the witness statements confirm your accounts, the jury will find it easier to approve your claim.
7. They Help Settle Cases
Your lawyer can help gather detailed and persuasive statements from credible witnesses, enough to tip the case in your favor. Some witness statements carry so much weight the at-fault driver will be more than glad to settle without a trial. Settling outside the court is less straining for all parties involved, so you should always collect and examine statements.
A witness statement proves your innocence and reveals inconsistencies in at-fault driver’s accounts. It may also offer recorded proof of negligence, injury suffered, and more. Having credible witness statements supporting your story can provide enough facts, making it unlikely for the at-fault driver to win. Courts also use statements when reviewing cases and evidence.
Working With a Car Accident Lawyer
A witness can be anyone who stopped to offer help after a crash. Other witnesses include pedestrians and bicyclists, business owners, workers, customers, drivers, passengers, or people living nearby. An expert witness, such as an engineer, crash specialist, or other professional, also plays a huge role if the case goes to trial. Not all statements will win you a case.
Car accident victims should gather statements from credible at-scene witnesses, including digital recordings of the incident. The priority is to get medical assistance, so working with a lawyer can help vet witnesses and their statements. In some cases, the at-fault party will settle without trial if the witness accounts offer irrefutable proof of negligence.
At Ping an Attorney, we connect clients with experienced lawyers ready to offer free consultancy. Most attorneys use a no-win-no-pay framework to help you get the compensation you deserve without worrying about affording lawyer services. If you believe you are not at fault, you should be receiving payment for all injuries and damages suffered.