Getting into a car accident can be very scary and stressful. You can’t predict when car accidents will happen and they can happen at the most inconvenient times. When an accident occurs, most of the time one person will be clearly at fault and their insurance company will pay the other person a settlement to compensate them for expenses and damages that were caused by their client. However, sometimes accidents happen and it may not be clear or the parties may not agree on who was at fault and caused the accident.
In order for insurance companies to determine liability and settlement amounts, they will need to know who was at fault. If the police are called to the scene of the accident, one way to do this would be to ask for a copy of the police report. The officer at the scene will make a report that includes his opinion about what happened and sometimes even an illustration of the accident. This report will also include information about whether or not any citations were issued for violation of traffic laws that may have resulted in the accident.
If a police report was not made, it may be a little harder and you may need to do more of an investigation to prove that you are not at fault. It may be a good idea to hire an attorney to help you obtain all of the information that you will need to prove that you were not at fault. This information may include pictures of the vehicles and the scene of the accident and any testimony from witnesses that were present. Witnesses may include other drivers that may have seen the accident and stopped to help as well as other passengers that were in the vehicle. In addition, an attorney may be able to get additional evidence such as surveillance footage from any security cameras on nearby businesses that may have captured the accident or footage from traffic cameras on stop lights.
Proving that you were not at fault in a car accident is extremely important to make sure that you get the compensation that you deserve. Whether it be on your own or with the help of an attorney, obtaining any proof that you can will be helpful to convince insurance adjusters that you were not at fault and that they should offer you a settlement.
If you have questions about a family law case contact a personal injury attorney like the ones at Brandy Austin Law Firm, PLLC.