How Dashboard Camera Footage Can Support Your Car Accident Claim

Tampa is rapidly becoming one of the more dangerous cities in Florida in which to drive. Due to more cars on the road and a deteriorating infrastructure, car accidents are occurring more and more often across the state. Fortunately, accident victims who were not at fault for their collisions are often able to recover compensation for their losses from the negligent party who did cause the crash. Footage from dashboard cameras has become an increasingly common way for injured parties to help establish what happened during a particular accident and who was responsible for their injuries. Read on to learn more about how dashboard cameras can support your car accident claim.

What Do Dashcams Record? 

Dashboard cameras, or dashcams as they are commonly referred to, are video cameras that are mounted on a vehicle’s dashboard and that, when active and functioning properly, capture video and audio footage of the road while a person is driving. Dashcams usually start recording as soon as a vehicle starts, as they are almost always hardwired directly into the electrical system. Recordings are saved on an SD card and can be reviewed later on. They show the view from the road in front of the driver and in some cases, can also record the view from the back of the car and even of the interior. It’s important to remember that dashcams have limited storage capacity, which means that older recordings can get overwritten if a driver fails to save them property.

Is Dashcam Footage Admissible as Evidence? 

In Florida, dashcams can only be installed where they don’t block a driver’s view. As long as a driver complies with this rule, notifies any passengers that the device is recording, and refrains from recording private conversations, the footage of public roads from a dashcam can usually be used as evidence in a personal injury case. Such footage acts as an objective and reliable witness, as it records important details that can help explain how an accident occurred. Important information that can be gleaned from these recordings include:

• Road perspective;
• Weather and traffic conditions;
• Location of traffic signs;
• Traffic light status in real-time;
• The speed at which the motorists were driving;
• Whether anyone witnessed the accident; and
• The other driver’s actions leading up to the crash.

These details can help paint a picture of what occurred prior to, during, and immediately after an accident, which in turn, can play a critical role in establishing fault.

Is Dashcam Footage Credible? 

Dashcam footage will only help strengthen a personal injury claim if it is deemed credible, which means that:

• The date and time information on the video file has been verified;
• The owner avoided making any edits to the footage; and
• The owner can affirm the accuracy of the video through firsthand accounts.

When a court decides that dashcam footage is credible, it can be used as strong evidence of fault in a personal injury case.

Contact Our Tampa Auto Accident Legal Team Today 

Dashcam footage can have a significant impact on the outcome of a car accident case. To learn more about how to best use such recordings in your own case, please reach out to the experienced Tampa auto accident lawyers at Anderson & Anderson today.

Sources:

 cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/features/should-i-get-dashcam

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0300-0399/0316/Sections/0316.2004.html