Can dash cam footage be used as evidence in a car accident case
Nobody wants to get involved in a car accident, but the number of people injured or even killed in car accidents is still substantial. That is because many accidents happened because of a driver’s negligence.
What Is Negligence?
Negligence in car accident cases means failure to take proper care while driving. To avoid injuring others, a driver must pay full attention to every pedestrian, vehicle, and other motorist encountered on the road. When a driver causes a car accident due to a careless manner, such as speeding, running a right light or failing to yield, etc, the driver may face a monetary penalty and even felony.
Dash cam footage can be a perfect way to provide evidence to prove your innocence in the case of a car accident. The accident happened so fast that you may not even see how it happened. This will put you into a disadvantageous situation when describing the accident and may potentially make you lose the case. A dash cam, on the other hand, can help you catch it and show you how it all happened. The dash cam footage can be conclusive proof to determine who is at the fault in the accident. In fact, many top insurers in the United States are now accepting dash cam footage as critical proof in insurance claims. You may also show your dashcam evidence to the police to help them investigate the accident.
Many dash cams nowadays either come with built-in GPS or are compatible with external GPS. The GPS can provide more detailed information about the accident, such as the location and your driving speed when the accident happened, etc. If you were strictly following traffic rules when accidents happen, this information will be very helpful to clear your fault in the accident. However, it is also important to know dash cam evidence can also be used against you. For example, sometimes, even if the dash cam footage may show that the other driver is mostly at fault, it can also expose your driving mistakes, such as failing to make a full stop at the stop sign or driving slightly faster than the speed limit. All of this can reduce the total award you can get from the insurance claim. Therefore, for the sake of your own good, Acumen strongly recommends every driver to be extra cautious when driving.
