When The Other Driver Lies in a Motor Vehicle Accident
After a long day at work, you are headed home on I-95, about to exit when another driver comes out of nowhere. Attempting to force his way over because he apparently was about to miss his exit, he cuts you off, forcing you off the road and onto the shoulder, causing both property damage to your car as well as personal injuries. The other driver loses control of his car and also ends up running off the road and onto the shoulder, skidding to a stop not too far from your vehicle. After you stop for a minute to catch your breath and let the shock subside, you get out of the car to check on the other driver and exchange insurance information. As you are required to under Florida law, the two of you also call the police and wait for an officer to arrive to complete an accident report. An eyewitness to the motor vehicle accident stops her car to wait for the police to arrive so that she can give a statement about what she saw.
While you are waiting, the other driver tells you: “I am so sorry; I did not even see you there.” Feeling relieved that he seems to recognize that this was his fault, you go back to your car to wait for the police to arrive. When the officer arrives on scene to take your statements, the other driver totally changes his story and blames you for the entire accident, telling the police officer that he had his blinker on and you sped up so he would not be able to make it over in time. Nevertheless, after taking both your statement and that of the eye witness who was behind the two of you, the police officer gives the other driver a ticket for reckless driving.
Another driver not being forthright and truthful with police as to the circumstances of a Florida motor vehicle accident is more common than most people would think. Someone who caused an accident is often fearful of the consequences, such as receiving a ticket and points on his or her license or increased insurance premiums. Thankfully, even if the other side tells a highly fictionalized account of what occurred to the police officer who completes the accident report, there are things that can assist you in proving what actually happened. An experienced attorney can prove your case other ways. Through eyewitness testimony, expert witness opinions and testimony, and even through the right presentations of the physical evidence itself, an experienced Florida personal injury attorney can prove your case regardless of whether the motorist who was at fault lies or tells the truth about what occurred during the accident.
People Often Change Their Tune in a Motor Vehicle Accident
In the scenario above, the other driver may not realize an accident has real consequences until the police officer shows up to investigate the accident. You may be surprised how often the other motorist involved in a Florida motor vehicle accident, the one who was negligent and actually caused the crash, will suddenly change his or her story when the police arrive. He will tell the police whatever version makes the accident seem like it was your fault instead of his own.
Ways to Prove the Other Person’s Negligence
Despite this, there are many different ways that an experienced attorney can prove what actually took place during a motor vehicle accident in which someone is injured or suffered property damage, regardless of what one driver or a witness may have said to the police officer who first showed up on the scene of the accident.
The first is simply putting the driver who is stretching the truth under oath as well as obtaining sworn testimony from eye witnesses. Putting someone under oath can have an interesting effect on what the person says. Often, our attorneys find that the real story then comes out, no matter what was said to the police officer, because he or she then realizes that the potential penalties associated with lying in an official court proceeding can be much worse than getting a traffic ticket or seeing insurance premiums increase. In addition, obtaining the testimony of any eyewitnesses to the incident is also an easy means to counter whatever false story the other motorist told the police officer.
Expert witnesses, particularly those in accident reconstruction, can also help prove what actually occurred during the accident, and in particular how the other driver was at fault. An accident reconstruction expert can use the tire treads and skid marks to recreate what exactly occurred for the jury. By measuring how far each vehicle skidded, its final resting place, the weather when the accident took place, the damage that each vehicle sustained as a result of the impact, and a number of other data points, a good accident reconstruction expert can provide a surprisingly vivid, and more importantly, accurate account of what actually took place.
Contact the Experienced Attorneys of Schwed, Adams & McGinley
If you have been injured in a Florida motor vehicle accident, you should retain an experienced Florida personal injury attorney as soon as possible after the incident in which you were injured to assist you in receiving maximum compensation for your injuries suffered as a result of someone else’s negligence. At Schwed, Adams & McGinley, P.A. our experienced personal injury attorneys have more than 150 years of combined legal practice representing victims of all types of motor vehicle accidents and other incidents involving personal injuries in Florida. We have faced this exact scenario before: a motorist who was negligent and injured our client attempts to change the story and make it seem like our client was negligent and caused the accident. We have tried-and-true experts in accident reconstruction and other fields who can help a jury to see who was at fault. If you, a family member or a loved one has been injured in a Florida motor vehicle accident, contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at Schwed, Adams & McGinley, P.A. today at 877-694-6079 or contact@schwedlawfirm.com for a free consultation.