It’s never a good thing if you are involved in a car accident, but if you are, the hope is it will be easy to determine who was at fault. Hopefully, the at fault driver takes responsibility for their actions and you can move forward with your car accident claims.

Unfortunately, there are many car accident cases in Texas where liability is disputed. In other words, the people involved in the car accident do not agree with who is at fault. Sometimes the car accident truly is hard to determine fault. Other times the at fault driver is just not telling the truth!

Regardless, if you are in a position where it has not been determined who is at fault for your accident, here are several ways to help you prove you are not at fault for your car accident…….

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• 1. POLICE OFFICER COMES TO THE SCENE AND PUTS THE AT FAULT DRIVER, AT FAULT!

If a Police Officer comes to the car accident scene and puts the appropriate driver at fault, MOST OF THE TIME this is enough evidence to conclude who was at fault for the car accident. That said, auto insurance companies do not always side with the Police. Sometimes they will believe their insured’s story instead. Other times there is evidence that arises that goes against the Police Officer’s narrative.

Regardless, if you are either in a position where the insurance company is not agreeing with the Police Officer or there never was a Police Officer and the insurance company is not agreeing with your story, here are the next couple steps to take to help you prove you are not at fault for your car accident…….

• 2. THERE IS VIDEO AND/OR AUDIO EVIDENCE THAT PROVES WHO IS AT FAULT!

One of the hardest pieces of evidence to refute is video evidence of the car accident. Was there someone nearby that caught the accident on their phone? Was there a business or residential building that caught the accident on one of their cameras? Maybe you have an audio recording of the other driver admitting fault or the Police Officer’s Body Worn Camera picked something up no one realized at the time. It is important you or a Law Firm pursue these options ASAP.

• 3. THERE IS A CREDIBLE WITNESS OR WITNESSES THAT PROVES WHO IS AT FAULT!

Any witness at all is absolutely helpful but a credible witness is even better. For example, I worked on a case where we had a witness who worked for the District Court’s office who saw the accident out oh her window. She left her office, came out to the accident scene, and gave the car accident victim the license plate of the vehicle who caused the accident and fled the scene. The insurance company considered her credible because of where she worked and so her statement was enough to help the accident victim with his case. It is important you check your surroundings ASAP to determine if anyone saw the car accident. If the witness cannot stay, you can always get their information.

• 4. THE PROPERTY DAMAGE CAN HELP YOU PROVE WHO IS AT FAULT!

This approach is most of the time harder to use as evidence than the others but it is still an option. One of the main reasons it is difficult to use Property Damage as a way to prove who is at fault is because there are similar crash facts that can result in the same type of damage. For example, someone may have rear ended you from behind but they end up telling the insurance company you reversed back into them. In addition, someone may have merged into your lane but they end up telling the insurance company that you merged into theirs. That said, if you hire an Accident Reconstructionist they may be able to give a more credible expert opinion, but this is not an inexpensive route. Most Law Firms will only hire Accident Reconstructionist’s if there is enough value on the case.

• 5. ASK THE INSURANCE COMPANY FOR A NUISANCE OFFER!

If all else fails, you can always contact the insurance company and request a nuisance offer on your claim. Insurance companies will often times extend nuisance offers to avoid any Litigation down the road but the offer will definitely be less than what the value of your case is.

In closing, It is always best to receive a free consultation from a Lawyer or one of our Car Accident Experts. It’s free. What do you have to lose? Good Lawyers will be able to breakdown your case for you and give you a general idea of how the process will go, what you’re entitled to and what they may be able to do better than you can on your own. Answer 5 Questions on our website to see if you have a case and a Car Accident Expert will contact you with the best steps forward.