At-Fault Drivers Lie, A Dashcam Doesn’t

If you were injured in a car crash, and another driver was clearly at fault, the at-fault driver’s insurance company should compensate you for your economic and non-economic damages. If the at-fault driver lies to their insurance company about how the accident occurred, however, the claims process can quickly digress into a “he said, she said” situation. If the crash occurred at high speed on a highway, and there are no easily identifiable witnesses, recovering compensation for your injuries and property damage could turn into a serious uphill battle – unless you have an excellent attorney and a dashcam that recorded the entire accident. On this week’s episode of Lawyer Podcast, attorney Paul Reed explains that while people frequently lie to avoid accountability for their actions, a dashcam always tells the truth.

At-Fault Drivers Lie

While there are people who immediately take responsibility when they cause an accident, a shocking percentage of drivers leave out or manipulate key facts when reporting the details of a collision, and some people tell outright lies in an attempt to avoid liability. One reason that drivers lie is because they do not have liability insurance. Although it is illegal to operate a vehicle without insurance, it does happen and when a driver is driving uninsured, at least the reason for lying about a crash makes sense. Amazingly though, people also lie when they do have sufficient liability coverage, as one of Paul’s clients recently learned.

The client was driving eastbound on I-4, in the middle lane, near Tampa. An SUV traveling in the same lane, behind the client, decided to pass the client’s vehicle. Unbeknownst to the driver of the SUV, there was a third vehicle traveling in the far-left lane, directly in the SUV’s blind spot. As the driver of the SUV began to move into the far-left lane to pass, something finally alerted the driver to the presence of the third vehicle. Clearly startled, the SUV driver jerked the wheel back toward the middle lane as they were passing the client’s vehicle. The sudden over-correction resulted in the SUV sideswiping the client’s vehicle while traveling around 50–60 m.p.h. Instead of stopping, the driver of the SUV kept driving. At this point, it likely sounds like a clear case of negligence on the part of the driver of the SUV, but the driver left the scene of the accident.

Paul’s client pulled over immediately and called the police to report the accident. Fortunately, the client was able to get the license plate number off the SUV, which allowed the team at Reed & Reed to identify the registered owner of the SUV as well as their insurance company. Upon making contact with the insurance adjuster, Paul learned that the driver of the SUV reported the crash as a hit-and-run to both the police and to their insurance company but reported that they were the victim and another vehicle fled the scene. Essentially, both drivers reported that they were the victim of a sideswipe hit-and-run accident that occurred on I-4.

The Dashcam Tells the Truth

We may never understand why the driver of the SUV chose to flee the scene of the accident and lie to both the police and to their insurance company, potentially subjecting them to prosecution for three felony offenses in the State of Florida. What we do know is that they were lying. How do we know that with certainty? Because the client had dashcams in both the front and rear of their vehicle that clearly and unequivocally show what happened and who was at fault.

It turns out that not only did the driver of the SUV fail to stop at the scene of the collision, but they also fabricated a story to explain what happened to their vehicle. An investigation by the team at Reed & Reed determined that following the crash, the SUV driver exited I-4 at the next exit, then re-entered the interstate heading westbound, the opposite direction. A full 10 minutes after the collision, the SUV driver called the police and reported a crash; however, in their version of events, someone tried to pass them and sideswiped them while they were traveling westbound on I-4. The driver had more than sufficient liability coverage but chose not to take responsibility for the crash.

Had Paul’s client not had dashcams in their vehicle, proving liability would have been considerably more difficult. People can (and do) lie. Video that jurors can watch with their own eyes, however, can catch people in those lies and uncover the truth.

If you have questions or concerns about a car accident or the role dashcam evidence may play in a personal injury case, contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at Reed & Reed.