If you’ve been involved in a collision with a driver who was distracted, you might feel confident that you’re owed compensation from them. If the driver was texting, talking on the phone, eating or drinking, or doing anything to divert their full attention from the road, you may be eligible to seek compensation from them.
Unfortunately, the other driver might not be willing to admit that he or she was distracted. The at-fault driver might try to avoid responsibility for the crash and may even attempt to blame you for the crash.
If you were involved in a car accident that may have been caused by a distracted driver, turn to the attorneys of Herrman & Herrman, P.L.L.C., for help. For decades, our firm has fought to protect the rights of injured accident victims in south Texas. Our attorneys aggressively pursue financial compensation for our clients from at-fault parties and their insurance companies.
We have offices in Brownsville, Corpus Christi, McAllen, and San Antonio, along with a bilingual Spanish– and English-speaking staff to assist you. Call or contact our firm today for a free initial case evaluation to learn more about the process of pursuing a distracted driving accident claim in Brownsville. We’ll put our experience to work for you.
Analyze the Scene of the Accident
In some instances, the other driver in a car accident will admit he or she was distracted or will make statements that strongly suggest that inattention was a contributing factor to the accident.
However, the driver might not admit that he or she was distracted. If this is the case, your lawyer might need to investigate the accident and seek evidence to proves the other driver was distracted. When you contact Herrman & Herrman, P.L.L.C., from the scene of a serious car accident, we can dispatch our Accident Investigative Team to begin gathering and preserving critical evidence from the scene of the crash.
Analyzing the scene of a distracted driving accident usually begins with taking photos and videos of the accident. When taking photos of the other driver’s vehicle, you may capture something that indicates the driver may have been distracted at the time of the accident, such as half-eaten food drinks on the passenger seat.
Investigating a crash scene can also involve talking to bystanders who witnessed the crash. An eyewitness may have seen the other driver talking on a cell phone or grooming themselves in the mirror in the moments leading up to the collision.
Nearby surveillance or traffic cameras might have recorded the accident and captured images of the driver engaging in distracted driving behaviors. Traffic camera footage may be recorded over after a period of time. That makes it important to seek the help of an attorney as soon as possible before evidence is lost.
List of Evidence to Gather to Prove Distracted Driving
Fortunately, you can collect many pieces of evidence at the accident scene and afterward to help prove that the other driver was distracted and that their distraction caused the accident. At Herrman & Herrman, P.L.L.C., our distracted driving accident attorneys will seek evidence such as:
- Accident scene photos—Photos may reveal evidence inside the other driver’s vehicle that indicates the driver was distracted. Photos showing the lack of skid marks on the road may indicate that the other driver was distracted and therefore did not attempt to brake or avoid the collision.
- Police accident reports—The report of the law enforcement officer’s investigation may indicate that the other driver may have been distracted at the time of the crash. The investigating officer may offer an opinion that the accident was caused by the driver being distracted. An officer’s determination of the cause of the accident often serves as persuasive evidence given the training and experience of law enforcement officers in traffic accident investigation.
- Surveillance camera—Traffic cam or dashcam footage may provide concrete video evidence that the other driver was not paying attention in the moments before the crash.
- Eyewitnesses statements—Bystanders may testify to seeing the other driver on a cell phone or engaged in other distracting activity prior to the accident.
- Phone records—Phone records can show when text messages and calls were sent and received. Our attorneys can subpoena a driver’s phone records. If the driver sent or received a message or call in the moments prior to the accident, it strongly indicates that their attention may not have been on the road when the crash occurred.
- Cell phone data—Data from the phone itself can show when the phone’s screen was turned on and what apps were being used.
- Social media posts—The timestamps on a driver’s social media posts may show that the driver was active on social media in the moments before a crash and may have been distracted by using a phone.
- Vehicle data—Newer vehicles have “black box” data recorders that collect detailed information about the vehicle’s operation, including acceleration, braking, and steering inputs. We can download and analyze this information as part of a thorough distracted accident investigation.
In some instances, we may hire accident reconstruction experts to testify as to how the evidence adds up to show that the other driver was distracted prior to the collision and how their distracted behavior caused the accident.
Contact a Distracted Driving Lawyer Today
If you’ve been injured in a car accident in Brownsville that may have been caused by a distracted driver, you have legal rights and options to seek financial compensation for your losses. Contact Herrman & Herrman, P.L.L.C., or call us at (361) 882-4357 today for a free, no-obligation consultation with an experienced distracted driving lawyer. We’ll help you move past this painful chapter and regain control of your life.
