5 Pieces of Evidence to Support Your Distracted Driving Accident Claim

Michael Waks

3 years ago

Distracted drivers are responsible for over 3,000 traffic fatalities—and many more injuries—every year. Put another way, those who take their eyes off the road, their hands off the wheel, or their focus off the traffic put both themselves and people around them at risk of serious injury and even death.

Thankfully, if you were struck by a motorist who was not paying attention, you’re probably entitled to compensation. In order to recover it, though, you’re going to have to prove that the other driver is, in fact, liable for your injuries. Let’s take a look at the kinds of evidence that may help you do so:

1. Photographs of the Scene

Accident reconstruction experts may be able to piece together what happened in the seconds leading up to the collision by scrutinizing images of the scene. The orientation of each vehicle that was involved—not to mention the location of any skid marks or broken glass—can reveal a lot about the circumstances surrounding the crash.

2. Eyewitness Testimony

Other motorists, their passengers, and/or any pedestrians who were in the vicinity may have seen the opposing party nodding off or driving erratically prior to the wreck. Should this be the case, their testimony could bolster your claim by corroborating the version of events in your own statement.

3. Black Box Data That Points to Distracted Driving

There’s a good chance the vehicle that struck you was outfitted with an event data recorder. Also called “black boxes,” these devices record all kinds of variables, many of which can illuminate what happened in the moments before a crash. For example, if the data shows the motorist didn’t even attempt to avoid the collision, you may be able to argue that he or she had fallen asleep behind the wheel.

4. Dashcam Footage

If your vehicle is equipped with a dashcam, copy the footage from the accident right away, and store it on a secure drive. There’s also a chance that the vehicles that were in the vicinity at the time had cameras that were recording the scene. Your legal team will want to reach out to the owners of any such footage as soon as possible, so you they can obtain the recordings before they’re overwritten.

5. The Police Report

Officers who responded to the scene should have included their impressions of all the motorists who were involved in their official report. And if they had reason to believe any of the drivers had nodded off—or if they procured a confession stating as much—they should have included it in their report.

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Michael Waks

Michael Waks is an aggressive advocate for people who have suffered because of someone else’s actions. Michael decided to become a personal injury lawyer when, while clerking at a legal defense firm during law school, he witnessed and was infuriated by asbestos manufacturers spending millions to avoid taking responsibility for the egregious injuries they caused. Immediately after passing the bar, Michael opened his own firm in Long Beach, CA to help the victims of personal injury accidents get every benefit owed them under the law.