Dash Cams As Evidence In Motor Vehicle Accidents
Often when a car wreck becomes a matter to be resolved in a court of law, the verdict in the litigation will end up being decided based on which party was able to produce the most convincing evidence to support their version of the events. This is especially true when the only witnesses to the accident were the people who are involved in it, and in cases such as these an outcome could many times have been different if one of the parties to the lawsuit had the ability to prove true facts for which there was not any evidence. A beneficial new solution to this sort of problem has appeared in the form of the dash cam.
The Development of Dash Cam Technology
Dash cams first came into widespread use in Russia where they are regularly used in nearly one million vehicles as a method to fight rampant insurance fraud and police corruption, and quickly spread to large parts of Asia and many other places in the less developed world where citizens regularly had to contend with similar problems. When they first entered use in the United States a number of years later they quickly became popular with law enforcement and commercial shipping companies who were looking for a way to provide definitive evidence to fight insurance fraud and disprove false allegations that, at the time, were often made against police officers involved in traffic stops. However, for almost a decade the size and price points of the units were such that they were not a viable option for private individuals.
Developments in the technology, particularly the development of relatively inexpensive CMOS sensors, has drastically improved quality while lowering the price of these units, leading to them being adopted by the general public. Companies like the industry leader GoPro and a variety of others now produce units ranging in price between $60 and $400 and offer a wide variety of feature sets.
The Benefits Of Dash Cams
Insurance companies in a number of European and Asian countries offer policy discounts to customers who have a dash cam in their vehicles. Insurance carriers in the United States do not generally offer this discount to policyholders; however, as dash cams develop a longer track record of being influential aids in insurance litigation and personal injury cases, Americans will, in all likelihood, be offered these benefits as well.
Even without saving you money on your car insurance premium, there are many benefits to having a dash cam, particularly in the event you are in a car wreck: a driver having video evidence of what actually occurred in a wreck can turn a situation where the negligent party’s insurance carrier would take a chance litigating a claim into one where the adjusters decide it would be more financially beneficial to settle it quickly, even at a higher rate, than spend the money to take it to court.
Having video evidence of a wreck is also a useful defense against an insurance practice called “fault shaving.” Fault shaving is a practice where an insurance company attempts to shift some of the blame for a car accident onto one or more of the victims to reduce their financial liability, and is often seen in situations where a stopped vehicle is hit from behind and forced into the car in front of it. By arguing that the middle car actually hit the front one before it was rear ended by the last car, the insurance adjuster of the car that actually caused the wreck may end up only having to pay damages to the middle car, and not both cars at the front of the wreck. (The middle driver’s insurance would then unfairly have to pay for the damages of the front car.)
Contact Us for Help
Acting quickly is always essential when a person is attempting to recover damages for an auto wreck. If you or someone you love has been injured in a car wreck, contact a representative at the office of Alan Goldfarb, P.A. in Miami online or by telephone at 305-371-3111 to discuss your potential case and learn about your options.
