The Importance of Car Accident Witnesses

Nothing is worse than getting involved in a car accident, especially when it isn’t your fault.  Your safety should certainly be your top priority so ensuring that you have not been injured or that any others have not been injured should be a concern.  However, another major concern that you should have when you are involved in an accident is locating and identifying car accident witnesses.

While this may not be something that you think about at first, it certainly should be.  If you need to file a personal injury claim with the assistance of an attorney, or if you want to make sure that your claim with the other driver’s insurance company goes through, these car accident witnesses may be the deciding factor in your claims.  In fact, these witnesses could be the only way that you will be able to prove who the responsible party in the accident is.  It is a hard truth that without witnesses, there may be little to no chance of making any kind of recovery.  This means that you could be stuck with the costs associated with your medical bills, lost wages, and auto repair bills.

The one thing that you will need more than anything when involved in an accident that is not your fault is a record of the accident.  As soon as possible after you have secured your vehicle and contacted the police or ambulance if required, immediately take the opportunity to look around you and see if there have been any witnesses to your car accident.  Many witnesses will often stop to make sure that the individuals involved in the accident are alright, and this will be your opportunity to get their information.  Don’t wait for the police to arrive in order to get this information.  If the car accident witnesses see that everyone is fine physically, they will not wait around to give their statement to the police.

If you see that there has been a witness to your accident, approach them as soon as possible.  When you do, do your best to get as much information, including contact information, from them as possible.  Gathering this information from the car accident witnesses is vital.  You will want to make sure that you get this information from them in order to contact them later on if there are any issues in regards to your claims.  Don’t just ask for the first and last names, but also their middle names.  Try and get their phone numbers or email addresses, and even their physical addresses if they are willing.

If you also have the time with the witness, and something available to write with, try to make notes regarding what the witness says that they witnessed about the accident.  If you can’t write the information down then, do your best to commit the witnesses’ remarks to memory then write them down or record them on your smart phone as soon as you get the opportunity.

Yes, these car accident witnesses may be interviewed again in the future, especially if there is any questions regarding the insurance claim, or if you feel it necessary to file a personal injury suit.  While these interviews may be thorough, the fact is that a person’s testimony is much more accurate at the time of the incident, rather than weeks or even months later.  That is why taking notes about they say at the time of the accident is so important.