Eyewitness Testimony and Your Claim
Third party eyewitnesses and their statements about the events that led up to your car accident may be crucial for a successful recovery. That said, it is often difficult to obtain that statement or to get an eyewitness to testify on the record on your behalf. However, at Joshi & Patel, our car accident lawyers are prepared to assist you in obtaining eyewitness statements in order to strengthen your case.
Our legal team offers a free, no obligation consultation to discuss your claim and legal options to help you build a successful case to maximize your compensation. Eyewitness testimony may be essential to this process.
Potential Eyewitnesses to an Accident
An eyewitness is anyone who was present and witnessed the car accident.
Typically, the most credible car accident eyewitnesses are third parties who saw the events that led up to the accident and the accident itself. This includes:
- Residents in homes nearby
- Other drivers or passengers in other vehicles not involved in the car accident
- Customers of businesses nearby
- Pedestrians nearby
Eyewitnesses who saw the events that led to the car accident may be able to provide crucial testimony. For example, they may have witnessed the at-fault driver’s negligence or distraction that caused the car accident.
Personal Passenger Testimony
While anyone who witnessed an accident or was involved my testify or provide a statement, passengers in your vehicle may be biased on your behalf. The insurance company will be privy to this and will emphasize this bias when arguing against your claim since this eyewitness would likely benefit from a successful case. Our experienced car accident attorneys can advise you regarding which eyewitness accounts will be most beneficial to use in your case.
Obtaining Eyewitness Testimonies
The quickest way of obtaining statements from eyewitnesses is to do so at the scene of the accident. If you are able to and it is safe, speak with other drivers, pedestrians, residents, business owners or anyone in the area who witnessed the car accident. Be sure to ask for their contact information and whether they would be willing to provide a statement about what they witnessed. Ask them to detail what they witnessed.
However, circumstances may not allow for obtaining the eyewitness accounts such as serious injuries that resulted in you being taken from the scene in an ambulance, or you perhaps lost consciousness. Whatever the reason, if you were unable to obtain contact information while at the scene, our car accident attorneys may be able to assist you in gathering critical eyewitnesses information.
If you or a loved one has been involved in a car accident speak with an experienced car accident attorney at Joshi & Patel.
At Joshi & Patel we offer a free case evaluation, no obligation consultation. Once it has been determined that you have a case, we will work for you on a contingent fee basis. In other words, you don’t pay your personal injury attorney fees up-front. Instead, you sign an agreement to pay us a percentage of your settlement amount. You pay us absolutely nothing unless you recover.
**Many of our blog articles discuss the law. All information provided about the law is very general in nature and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Every situation is different, and should be analyzed by a lawyer who can provide individualized advice based on the facts involved in your unique situation, and a consideration of all of the nuances of the statutes and case law that apply at the time.