If you’ve been in a car accident, you do have the right to bring a claim to recover damages against the other driver if their negligence is what caused the accident. But to do this, you will need to provide evidence. Your car wreck injury attorney in San Antonio can help you at every step.
What Evidence Do You Need to Prove Fault in a Car Accident?
You need to prove four separate things in order to bring a successful claim. You’ll need specific types of evidence for each of these four elements.
Proving a Duty of Care
The first thing you have to prove is that the person who caused the accident had a duty of care towards you. In a lot of car accidents, this is pretty straightforward. In fact, there may not be anything that you actually have to prove, because every person who chooses to drive has a duty of care to do certain things on the road. They must obey all rules, never drive distracted or impaired, and drive appropriately for the weather conditions.
Things can be a bit trickier if you’re bringing a claim against a different party than the driver. For example, if you were hit by a commercial vehicle and are bringing a claim against the company that owns the vehicle and hired the driver, you will need to show that the company had a duty of care towards you even though they were not present. Depending on your situation, your lawyer will be able to tell you what evidence you need to prove duty of care. Check out this site to learn more about how to connect with an experienced car wreck attorney.
Proving Breach of the Duty of Care
The next thing you must prove is that the person responsible for the accident breached their duty of care towards you. You might not need much evidence to prove that another driver had a duty of care towards you, but you will need a lot of evidence to prove that they breached it. If they ran a red light, for instance, you will need to be able to show this through witness testimony, video or photographic evidence, or even by their own admission. Other helpful types of evidence here can include the “black boxes” that are found inside modern vehicles, as well as the opinions of accident reconstruction experts who can take a look at the scene and give a professional opinion about what happened and who did what.
Causation
The third element you must prove is that it was specifically the breach of care which caused the accident. Again, an accident reconstruction experts testimony will be valuable here, as well as any witness testimony or photographic or video evidence. Your lawyer will have a network of such expert witnesses to turn to.
Damages
Finally, you must show precisely what damages you actually incurred because of the accident in question. These damages have to be linked to the accident itself. Medical bills and records are common evidence here, though you might also use something like a journal or testimony from friends and family to help show what you’ve really suffered.
Evidence is key in these situations, so talk to a lawyer quickly to find out what you’ll need.
