So you’ve been in a car accident – Now what? Your car was totaled. The other guy’s car slammed into your driver’s door and shoved your car into the barrier wall. Both your legs were broken and your neck and back were injured from the impact. You’ve been in and out of the hospital for the past 2 months and haven’t been able to work. You had to quit your softball team for the season and really don’t know if you’ll ever be able to play again. On top of all of it, you have to keep dealing with your insurance company and the other guy’s company keeps pressuring you to ‘settle’ your claim.
You may think you have a pretty solid case against the other driver. But you’ll need to have the evidence to prove that the other guy was at fault, that you were injured and suffered damage, and that you are entitled to be compensated. A Lexington personal injury lawyer from Gary C. Johnson, Attorneys at Law, P.S.C. can help you figure out your next steps.
Who Has to Prove What Happened?
If you want to get money from someone for hurting you, you have to prove that the law required the person to act differently than he did and that the action he took caused you damage. Then it becomes a question of putting a dollar value on your damage. You need to have credible information that you can provide to show things happened the way you say they happened and to legitimize your claim for compensation.
What Types of Evidence can You Use as Proof?
As you think about the types of evidence you may need to prove your claim there are 3 relevant time periods. There may be evidence that could help you reconstruct the events leading up to the accident and indicate the other guy was responsible. Evidence from the accident can help to prove both fault and damage. And evidence of your life in the days, weeks, months following the accident will be important to establish the extent of your injuries and the justification for compensation.
- Evidence leading up to the accident – Did you observe the other driver before the accident? Did anyone else see the driver before the accident? Was any risky or unsafe behavior observed? Where had the driver been before the accident? Was the driver impaired at the time of the accident? Were there other witnesses? Did the accident occur in a place that had a camera or video? The police may gather a lot of this information during their investigation of the accident. Witness statements can be especially helpful when trying to establish how the crash happened.
- Evidence at the accident scene – A few pictures can be worth thousands of words. Visual evidence can help to show the positioning of the vehicles at impact and establish the likelihood of how things happened. Visual evidence of you right after your injuries will support that they are caused by the accident. It will be important to make sure that witness contact information is obtained. Again, police will often gather a lot of this but there can be a lot going on and you don’t want to lose critical information that a witness might have.
- Evidence of your life after the accident – If you take an ambulance ride to the hospital it is a good indication that your injuries were serious. Medical records will help establish the extent of your injuries and your progress toward recovery. You should also keep track of other changes you have to make in your life because of the accident. Are there some things you can no longer do? Can you still do things but it’s uncomfortable or painful? Are there things you had planned to do and now your plans must change? Consistent, detailed documentation is more likely to be credible for purposes of valuing your claim.
Sometimes you will need to create evidence by having an ‘expert’ review certain information that is known and provide an opinion based on expertise that is considered reliable.
When you are injured in a car accident by someone else, the goal of the law is to try and make you as whole again as possible. Having an experienced car accident attorney such as Gary C. Johnson on your team will help you provide as much credible information as possible showing how the accident happened and the extent of your injuries – giving you the best opportunity of being fully compensated.