Texting while driving is a negligent decision. The average individual readily acknowledges that the use of a mobile device while in control of the vehicle is unsafe. Texting while driving is also a wrongful act, as state law prohibits manually using devices while driving.
Despite people’s awareness of how dangerous it can be to text while driving, quite a few people still reach for their phones while in traffic. Some of those drivers cause crashes with serious consequences for the other parties involved. Drivers who know that they did something unsafe often try to deny their actions.
What evidence can help an injured motorist prove that someone else texted while driving before colliding into them?
Mobile phone records
Some people may delete the text message they just composed or even uninstall apps on their devices. They think that police officers may believe them if they do that and then deny texting while driving. Other people go so far as to hide or dispose of a mobile phone to counterclaims of distraction while driving. It is possible for both lawyers involved in personal injury lawsuits and police officers investigating car crashes to request phone records. Data records from service providers and companies that run different apps can prove someone used their phone immediately prior to a crash.
Camera footage
There have never been more cameras focused on traffic. Many busy streets and intersections have traffic cameras installed. Police officers may be able to access the footage recorded by those cameras and some cases. Other times, private cameras might capture footage of a crash. Someone may have had their phone out for personal purposes immediately prior to the wreck. Either of the drivers or someone nearby in traffic might have a dashboard camera that captured the collision or the moments leading up to it. There might even be security cameras at businesses or residences that captured footage of the road or a nearby intersection. Video footage can show someone looking down at their lap or attempting to drive with a phone in their hands.
Witness statements
Technically, witness testimony is not the most credible form of evidence, but it can be useful in some cases. Pedestrians near the scene of a crash and other drivers in traffic may have noticed someone texting while driving prior to a wreck. While a police officer is unlikely to take the word of one driver that the other had their phone in their hands, statements by witnesses could corroborate their allegations and lead to a favorable outcome to the investigation process.
Gathering appropriate evidence about the likely cause of a motor vehicle collision can help people pursue compensation after collisions. Those who know how to gather evidence can more easily preserve the proof that another driver did something unsafe before causing them harm.
