How Do I Handle A Florida Auto Accident With No Witnesses?
Brian O Sutter
Traffic Accidents
Every accident in Florida tells a story, but not all of these stories have a lot of eye witnesses to back them up. When its one motorist’s word against another, or a motorist’s word against that of their insurance company, things can get complicated and fast. The result? Motorists not getting the compensation they deserve to make repairs or heal properly after an accident in Florida has occurred. When an accident occurs in an area where many eyewitnesses are present, their story can be backed up quite easily. Witness statements can be provided to law enforcement and insurance companies, showing that there is real proof that the accident occurred as a person claims. It’s a highly valuable piece of evidence that any motorist benefits from – but what happens when there’s no one around to see what really happened? There are things that motorists can do to prove their own stories with or without witnesses prepared to give a statement.
Whether you’ve been in a solo accident or it’s just you and another involved motorist on the scene, your first call should always be to the authorities. You want your story as fresh as possible to be provided to a police report. In the absence of outside witnesses, your police report will be the most reliable eyewitness account to provide to your insurance provider. While you’re providing a report to the police, it’s important to not apologize or admit any sort of fault, but to simply state the facts as they happened.
Once a police report has been given, it’s time to collect your own photographic evidence. Without eyewitness accounts, it’s these photographs that will be relied upon to tell your story. If you’ve been injured and you’re taken to a hospital, you may not be able to collect evidence straight away. After you’ve been released you may collect your photos of the accident scene then, or you can ask a friend or loved one to collect evidence for you while you’re still recovering.
As you take photos, make sure to completely cover the scene of the accident. Any curves in the roadway, weather conditions, skid marks, or any other contributing factors should be included in your photographs. Photos of your injuries and damages to the vehicles are valuable as well.
Organization of your evidence is crucial. In the heat of the moment, you may take photographs only to forget the exact details once you get home. Make small notes on photographs to keep them organized, and formulate more intricate descriptions using these notes later. Photos should be backed up on a separate device or memory card so you can rest assured they don’t get lost for any reason.
Before calling to file your claim with an insurance provider, your first call should be to your Florida auto accident attorney. There are a number of “wrong” things one could say while filing their claim, and insurance providers will jump on each and every one. Insurance providers look after their bottom line first, even if that means low-balling or outright denying a valid claim. Your auto accident attorney can walk you through the process and ensure you won’t provide any statements you can’t take back later.
If you’ve been in an accident in Florida and you’re having trouble telling your accident story without any eye witnesses, we can help. Contact us at AllInjuriesLawFirm.com today to see how we can help you get the claim you need to recover and recover quickly.