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Interviewing Eyewitnesses in Personal Injury Cases
People involved in a car crash often have differing accounts of the event and who was at fault. Even if you have visible injuries, the other driver or their insurance company may find ways to twist what really happened, claiming that the accident was your fault. To make matters worse, there may not be video footage of your crash, making it hard to establish and defend your version of events.
In situations like this, having a witness testify to what they saw can really help. Below, we break down eyewitness testimony in personal injury cases, the insights it can provide, what complicates matters, and why you need an attorney firm like Kanner & Pintaluga to fight in your corner.
What Eyewitnesses Add to Your Case
Individuals who witnessed your accident but weren’t directly involved may be able to provide critical details about what happened, confirming your sequence of events. This can bolster the validity of your claim with juries, insurers, adjusters, and other parties when they determine fault and damages. The right witness testimony can help you get the compensation you deserve.
Types of eyewitnesses in an auto accident case may include:
- Other drivers or motorcyclists
- Passengers
- Pedestrians
- Emergency responders (e.g., police officers, paramedics, firefighters)
- Bystanders (e.g., nearby residents or workers)
Eyewitnesses are particularly valuable when liability is in dispute. By recounting what they observed and experienced from their perspective, they can help establish a broader context of the accident and the behavior of both drivers prior to the car crash.
Here are some insights that interviewing eyewitnesses in accident claims might provide:
- Physical descriptions: Eyewitnesses can give descriptions of the drivers or pedestrians involved in an accident, including their appearance, clothing, behavior, and any distinguishing features about them or their vehicle. This can be especially useful if the other driver was behaving negligently prior to the crash — for example, if they were looking at their phone. The descriptions can also be vital if you’re involved in a hit-and-run accident, where it’s difficult to confirm the identity of the at-fault driver.
- Emotional impact: They can describe the emotional impact of an event, including the reactions of individuals involved and bystanders. This can help corroborate your account of the incident to insurers, resulting in comprehensive compensation that covers both your quantifiable damages and your pain and suffering.
- Critical details: Eyewitnesses may recall information that’s crucial for an investigation, but that others might have overlooked. These details can include a sensory experience of the accident — for example, sights, sounds, and smells — that you may have missed due to being injured and/or in shock.
- Timeline: They can also help establish the chronological order of events, providing a reconstructed timeline of what really happened and identifying any gaps or inconsistencies in the other driver’s account.
- Interpretation: Similarly to emotional impact, eyewitnesses offer their own interpretation of the event, which can shed light on the severity of the incident. This can help defend victims against the at-fault driver and their insurance company’s attempts to defuse the seriousness of the accident and its aftermath.
Complications with Eyewitnesses
Eyewitness testimony in personal injury cases isn’t always accurate or reliable, and it can be cross-examined and challenged in court. Human memory is sometimes fallible, and perception biases may influence how a person recalls an event.
The trauma of witnessing an accident can result in altered details or confusion regarding the timeline of events, while time and stress (whether related to the accident or otherwise) can deteriorate their ability to accurately remember. There’s also the issue of memory reconstruction, in which an eyewitness’s memories change as a result of questioning or discussion.
These issues could hinder rather than help your claim. The at-fault party can use unreliable testimony with distortions and inconsistencies against you, weakening your case’s chances of success. That’s why you should consult with a legal professional like Kanner & Pintaluga as soon as possible after an auto accident. Our team can find credible witnesses and safeguard their testimony. As seasoned negotiators and trial attorneys, we’ve helped prepare eyewitnesses to testify accurately and without bias, increasing their credibility with insurance companies and the courts. This improves your chances of securing the ideal case outcome.
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How We Find and Reach Witnesses
Finding the right witnesses can help us build a strong case after an auto accident that wasn’t your fault. We use proven and ethical strategies to identify other drivers, passengers, pedestrians, bystanders, and other individuals who may have witnessed what happened during the incident.
Once identified, our team will interview witnesses and ensure they feel comfortable sharing their account of the events. As a result, we can gather crucial information to support your personal injury claim.
When involved in an accident, it’s important that you gather names and contact details of witnesses at the scene (if it’s safe to do so). This can help law firms like ours quickly reach witnesses and start gathering evidence before memories fade.
How Lawyers Interview Eyewitnesses in Injury Cases
When interviewing witnesses in accident claims, our team will ask neutral and open-ended questions to get the clearest and most unbiased account of the event possible, reducing the likelihood of inconsistencies and biases. We’ll then verify each witness’s credibility before deciding whether to utilize their testimony in your claim.
Some of the questions we might ask witnesses include:
- What happened before the accident?
- Can you talk us through the events and what you saw?
- What happened after the accident?
- Who else witnessed the event?
- Can you tell us about anything that seemed unusual at the time?
- Is there anything important that you want to tell us?
It’s crucial to ensure witnesses will be more of a help than a hindrance. In some cases, no eyewitness may be better than an unreliable one. However, it’s also important that the other driver and their insurance company don’t try to twist a witness’s account of events and make it seem like they are untrustworthy.
Our auto accident attorneys have experience strategizing proactive measures against the at-fault party’s attempts to discredit witnesses and your claim. We’ll work hard and fast to maximize your chances of success on your behalf.
Statements, Recordings, and Checking Consistency Against Other Evidence
Keeping accurate records of what witnesses say is critical after an auto accident. Our team will collect written statements and affidavits or make audio or video recordings, depending on the circumstances. We’ll then store all this evidence in a safe place in case we need it to support your claim.
If necessary, we may interview a key witness a second or even a third time to ensure we have an accurate account of what happened.
Witness accounts are always stronger when they match other pieces of evidence, such as photos of the accident scene and security camera footage. Our team will take time to compare everything a witness says with all other available information, which can help us identify any mistakes or inconsistencies in their testimony. This is a painstaking process, but we believe it’s the only way to prevent the other driver and their insurance company from using a witness’s words against you.
Building a Case With Eyewitness Testimony
Getting accurate and reliable eyewitness statements is just one facet of an investigation for a personal injury claim. Other types of evidence can also help you receive maximum compensation after an auto accident, including:
- Police reports
- Medical records showing the injuries you sustained
- Photos and videos of the incident and the resulting accident scene
- Receipts for car repairs, medical bills, and other expenses
In addition, an accident reconstruction and eyewitnesses together can be a good way to verify what happened during the incident.
Collecting all this evidence can be exhausting, especially if you’re dealing with the shock of being involved in a serious accident. Working with a personal injury lawyer makes your life easier during this difficult time and ensures that nothing is overlooked.
Another thing to note is that personal injury laws can vary from state to state, making it hard to know how your claim will be handled and how much compensation you might receive. There may also be different laws or rules regarding eyewitness testimony, depending on where your accident took place.
Kanner & Pintaluga operates in 18 different states, and our regional attorney teams have knowledge of local personal injury laws and procedures. This provides peace of mind that your claim will be handled properly and increases the chances of a fair compensation settlement for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Hire an Accident Witness Statement Attorney Who Will Fight For You
Eyewitness testimony in personal injury cases can be hit or miss, so it’s important to work with a lawyer who knows how to ask the right questions, gather evidence, and understand how injury cases work.
By constructing a compelling narrative that bolsters your credibility, we can increase the likelihood of you obtaining maximum compensation. Our team will pursue what you deserve so you can focus on getting over your auto accident.
Call (800) 586-5555 today to talk one-on-one with an experienced car accident lawyer about your case with no cost or obligation on your part.
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The team at Kanner & Pintaluga understand how frustrating being involved in a car crash can be. Losing your transportation, having to take time off work to recover, being unable to pay bills due to lost wages and dealing with the pain and suffering of serious injuries can significantly decrease your peace of mind and quality of life. Call today for a free consultation.