How Can An Attorney Prove Another Driver Was On Their Phone When An Accident Occurred?
Posted on: 27 January 2016
Showing that another party is at fault for your accident will help you recover money for your medical expenses and lost wages. However, if you are able to show the other party was negligent, you may also be able to recoup punitive damages. One of the ways a party can be negligent is by talking or texting on their cell phone. However, proving they were on their phone can be challenging. Here are three ways an attorney can help to prove the other driver was on their phone and that contributed to the accident in which you were injured.
Talking to Witnesses
If anyone witnessed the accident, they may be able to provide information about what they saw. It is not always easy to prove that another driver was on their cell phone at the time an accident occurred. However, if you have multiple witnesses who saw the driver on the phone, and those witnesses come forward and testify, it can help prove your case.
As such, if you are involved in an accident, and you believe the phone was the cause, be sure to get witness contact information at the scene. This includes the witnesses' full name, address and phone number. If you are injured and unable to collect this information at the scene, ask the responding officers to complete an accident report, complete with witness information. Then, provide the information to your car crash attorney. They can get statements from the witnesses and determine what they may have seen.
Subpoenaing Their Phone Records
If you saw the other driver on their phone at the time of impact, but there are no witnesses, proving they were on their phone can be challenging. However, one of the tools that a car crash attorney can use is subpoenaing the other driver's phone records. If they were on a phone call, the phone records will show this. If they were texting leading up to the accident, the phone records will show this. The records will show who they were texting or talking to and pinpoint the approximate location that these calls and texts were taking place at based on the cell towers nearby.
However, subpoenaing records does have it's limitations. Many people own smartphones and may be on a social networking site, music playing site or a website that gives them directions. This type of information may not show up on subpoenas. If you do not have an attorney, you will have to go through the courts to obtain a subpoena for this information.
Deposing the Driver
The last way an attorney can work to prove the other driver was using their phone when the car accident that injured you occurred is to depose the other driver. Having the other driver take a deposition means they have to answer questions from your attorney while they are under oath. While under oath, they cannot lie under penalty of perjury. If it comes out that they lied under oath, they can be subject to fines and imprisonment.
Because of this, many drivers are much more willing to state the truth under oath than they are to the insurance company. If your attorney can get them to admit they were on the phone, or using it in the moments leading up to the accident, they can prove that the other driver was negligent and you should be entitled to punitive damages for those actions.
Anyone who operates a car has the responsibility to pay attention to the road. Talking, texting or playing on a cell phone while they are driving is considered negligence because they are failing to act responsibly. If this causes a car accident that injures you, you are entitled to everything you would be for a personal injury case, including lost wages and medical expenses, as well as punitive damages and pain and suffering. A car crash attorney, like one at The Jaklitsch Law Group, can help to prove that the other driver was on the phone, helping you to win more money in a settlement.
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