How A Dashcam Could Impact Your Accident Claim

How A Dashcam Could Impact Your Accident Claim

In recent years, you may have noticed that dashcams (short for dashboard cameras) are growing increasingly popular. There is no shortage of dashcam videos online, and the devices themselves are becoming a more prominent fixture in electronic stores. Maybe you’re thinking about getting one for yourself, or maybe you already have one and are trying to convince a loved one to follow your lead. 

At Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Attorneys, we understand the appeal of dashcams. In motor vehicle accident claims, proving fault is key, and video footage from the point of view of the windshield can make for powerful evidence, especially when memory falls short. In this blog, we’ll explain why dashcam footage can strengthen your case, when it can be particularly useful, and why it may not always be the game changer that you’re hoping for.

Why Memory Often Isn’t Enough After A Crash

While there is plenty of science behind this claim, you are probably familiar with the simple idea: Memory is not perfect. 

You may have experienced it yourself or witnessed it in others. When we recall information, we reconstruct our past using fragmented sensory details. 

Traumatic experiences often only make this process more vulnerable to error. Here are three key reasons why: 

1. Memory loss is a common side effect of traumatic events 
2. Your brain may dissociate during intense experiences 
3. You may endure a brain injury, which can compromise your memory 

Let’s break these three subjects down. 

Memory loss 

While memory lapses can happen to anyone, there are three kinds of heightened memory loss: Post-traumatic amnesia, retrograde amnesia, and anterograde amnesia. 

Post-traumatic amnesia

This kind of amnesia can often follow a period of unconsciousness after an injury. After regaining consciousness, you may realize that you cannot put together the events of the day. That being said, post-traumatic amnesia can still happen if you never lose consciousness. 

Anterograde amnesia

This kind of amnesia is characterized by an inability to create new memories after an incident. This can be especially difficult for car accident victims and their loved ones, as it can compromise the journey to recovery.

Retrograde amnesia

This kind of amnesia is characterized by an inability to remember events that happened before a traumatic incident. While functioning in the present and creating new memories may come easily, you may struggle or be unable to remember the details leading up to your accident.

Dissociation

Your brain may try to protect itself from traumatic experiences by mentally separating you from the experience, known as dissociation. This can disrupt how you process and store memories about the incident. 

Traumatic brain injuries 

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are far more common than many people realize. While it’s understandable to focus on pain points and visible wounds, one of the many symptoms of these “invisible injuries” is memory loss.

Why Dashcams Can Be A Worthy Safety Measure

While no technology is without flaw, dashcam footage can be a powerful remedy during the confusion and anxiety that surround a crash. Determining fault in a crash can be a significant challenge, even if a case seems cut and dry. Although many forms of evidence can support a claim, it’s a lot harder for insurance companies to cast doubt on unedited, timestamped video footage.

When memory falls short, a dashcam can pick up the slack.

When and Why Dashcams Can Be Helpful 

While dashcams functionally provide a helpful service to drivers, there are certain situations where dashcam footage can be especially helpful.

Evidence Without Bias

Everyone brings some sort of bias with them into an accident claim. Video footage has no bias.

Accident Reconstruction

Putting together the events leading up to, during, and after an accident becomes all the easier with unedited, timestamped dashcam footage.

Hit & Run Drivers 

“Did anyone get a look at the license plate?” This is a hopeful question that often leads to disappointment. A dashcam, however, positioned correctly, can capture the license plate, make, and model of a car in a hit-and-run accident. This can give accident victims a greater chance at justice. If, however, the fleeing driver cannot be identified, you may be able to utilize your own uninsured motorist coverage.

Multi-Vehicle Accidents 

An accident with two drivers involved can be complicated enough, but when multiple vehicles are involved, confusion tends to multiply. Even if a dashcam cannot capture the complete, pre-accident trajectory of all the vehicles, the timestamps can convey the speed of the other cars, the moment of impact(s), and key decisions made by the other drivers. The blame game can be especially headache-inducing in multi-vehicle accidents. Dashcam footage can cut through the noise in a significant way. 

Shutting Down Insurance Accusations

The insurance company will likely look for any evidence that can support their efforts to reduce or dismiss your settlement offer. Video footage can show you prioritizing safe driving, the timeline that led to the crash, and showcase the conditions surrounding the crash zone before and during the crash. Unaltered video footage can make it significantly harder for the insurance company to push back.

What If Your Dashcam Footage Falls Short?

Plenty of well-lit, crystal-clear dashcam videos can be found online, but that doesn’t mean all footage turns out that way. What feels like the correct angle to set one up at may yield substandard footage, or maybe the lighting of the surrounding environment is too poor to capture details. Basically, your dashcam footage may not be everything you hoped for. However, even imperfect footage can capture some key details:

• The time and location of the accident
• The conditions of the road
• What the weather was like at the time
• The movement of your vehicle

A dashcam can be a powerful tool, even when certain footage feels like a letdown. 

Why Dashcam Footage May Hurt Your Claim 

For how life-changing and expensive car accidents can be, it might seem confusing to suggest that authentic video footage would ever harm a case. Here’s why dashcam footage isn’t always the sure-fire case closer that some think it is. 

It can reveal (partial) fault

Even if you already suspect you were at fault to some degree, the blame that the insurance company assigns you may still surprise you in some way. Plenty of defensive drivers have moments when their good habits slip, and dashcam footage could show you exceeding the speed limit, looking at your phone, or generally disobeying traffic law.

In certain states, if you hold a certain percentage of the blame for an accident, you are unable to collect compensation.

It can call your injury into question

The insurance company will likely be looking for any reason to claim that your accident injuries aren’t as bad as you say they are. 

If your dashcam captures footage of you walking around the scene, dismissing an EMT, or making decisions that suggest that you are not injured, the insurance company will likely seize on this. 

This can be incredibly frustrating due to the simple fact that adrenaline is likely racing through your system, masking pain. You may not feel the “full pain” of your injuries until hours or even days later, so the insurance company’s scrutiny can feel misplaced.

It can capture car passengers saying something

While a witness to an accident can provide valuable perspective, the same might not be said for the person in your passenger’s seat. While you may make it a priority to stick to the facts and not run the risk of admitting fault in an accident, your passenger may not act accordingly.

Maybe your dashcam picks up your passenger saying, “This is what happens when you speed.” They may be saying that about the car that hit you, but the insurance company could interpret it otherwise. Maybe your passenger uses humor as a coping mechanism and makes an off-color joke that casts the both of you in a bad light.

Could My Footage Be Dismissed? 

Dashcam footage can be a powerful piece of evidence because it provides unedited video of the events that transpired. That being said, it will need to be proven that the video has not been edited at all. Edits can invalidate the evidence.

If My Footage Might Hurt My Case, Can I Withhold It?

Determining whether or not to voluntarily showcase dashcam footage is a conversation that benefits from an attorney’s insight. However, if your footage is requested by subpoena or during the discovery process, you cannot withhold it. Any edits or tampering can compromise the footage’s credibility and harm your case overall.

Best Practices for Using a Dashcam 

While there can be a certain “set it and forget it” component to dashcams, it is important for that setup to be done securely. Be careful to note that the camera is not blocking your view, as there are state and federal rules surrounding windshield obstructions.

While the variety of dashcams available present a variety of recording methods, one of the more popular ones is loop recording. Let’s say you have your dashcam set up on a three-minute loop, with footage stored on a microSD card. Once that storage is filled, the dashcam WILL begin to overwrite old footage. This is just one of the reasons why it can be crucial to store footage in a safe location, especially if it contains footage of your accident.

Should You Use Dashcam Footage in Your Claim? 

When seeking compensation after an accident, any form of evidence that shows promise can be encouraging. Dashcams can provide a sense of security when driving around, a feeling of relief amidst the stress of an accident, and compelling evidence to support one’s story.

While there is significant promise and potential in dashcams, insurance adjusters spend all week looking through claims. They more than likely have more experience challenging claims than you have making them. As such, reaching out to an experienced personal injury attorney can be a valuable step forward in your journey to recovery. They can look through any footage your dashcam may have gathered and  point out how an insurance company might interpret it.

Have You Been In An Accident? Contact A Car Accident Lawyer Today

Recovering from a car accident can come with plenty of challenges. There’s a lot of pressure on supporting evidence to tell a compelling and accurate story, and dashcams can make meaningful strides. Reliable video footage often holds up better than human memory, especially memory affected by trauma.

That being said, the story dashcam footage tells won’t always paint a flawless picture of the driver who captured it. An experienced car accident attorney can take a detailed look at your case and the footage, giving you feedback on how much it could help or hurt your cause.