After a motor vehicle accident in Alberta, there may be confusion regarding who is at fault for the accident. The accident might have been a sideswipe, rear-end or T-bone accident, but a similar issue that may face most drivers after an accident is the challenge of determining who is at fault for the accident. Even a seemingly straight forward rear-end accident might involve some form of dispute as to who is at fault for the accident.
In this blog we shed some light on how personal injury lawyers assess liability in motor vehicle accidents and we also identify steps you can take to ensure that you give your personal injury lawyer all the tools that they need to ensure that the liability determination goes in your favour. We also identify how Watchmaker Law, founded by David Sowemimo, can provide crucial support in ensuring that your interests are well protected to ensure that you obtain the compensation you deserve for your motor vehicle accident injury claim.
In determining the liability apportionment for your personal injury case, your personal injury lawyer assesses the facts of how the accident came about. Your personal injury lawyer among other things will need to review the following:
• Pictures taken at the scene of the accident;
• Traffic signals at the scene of the accident;
• Witness statements;
• Diagrams presented of the collision;
• Near-by video footage from a business or home;
• Dash cam video footage; and
• Accident reconstruction expert report.
These are just a few examples of items that could assist your personal injury lawyer and your insurance adjuster to determine who is at fault of a motor vehicle accident.
• Pictures: You should take pictures after a motor vehicle accident. Make sure it is safe to do so, then capture pictures of the final landing and resting place of the vehicles. You should also obtain the plate number of the vehicles involved, driver’s license, insurance information, and registration details of the drivers involved in the accident. The pictures of the damage may be helpful in the event that your lawyer wants to hire an accident reconstruction expert to review the damage details, more on this later in the blog.
• Traffic signals at the scene of the accident: A crucial determining factor of liability at the scene of the accident is traffic signals present at the scene of the intersection where the accident occurred. The traffic signals are there to control the flow of traffic in certain directions. Several accidents occur due to a vehicle operator not following the rules of the road or automated traffic instructions. The vast majority of liability disputes occur as a result of some conflicts as regards the traffic control present at the scene of the accident. Whether it be dispute regarding the colour of the traffic light or some misapprehension of the rules of the road. This is where a personal injury lawyer can assist you in determining the appropriate liability apportionment.
• Witness statements: In situations where there are conflicting statements as tokey facts of how an accident occurred, a statement from an independent witness can be crucial to determining liability for an accident. A good witness should be someone who is independent of the parties. I have seen helpful witness statements from pedestrians going on a walk with their dogs. A pedestrian would typically have a good view of the accident as they are standing outside the vehicle and may have a good view of the accident. Another good witness statement could come from someone who is in a vehicle that was not involved in the accident at all. But they may be well positioned in a lane that provides a good view of the collision. A less effective witness could be a passenger in one of the vehicles involved in the accident. This witness may be susceptible to allegations of bias as they would most likely give a witness statement that is favourable to the driver of the vehicle they were in at the time of the accident.
• Diagrams of the accident details: In some cases, witnesses or operators would draw out diagrams of an accident description. Prior to providing a diagram of the accident description, I suggest you speak with an experienced personal injury lawyer at Watchmaker Law first. Any relevant information provided as part of a claim investigation can easily become a piece of evidence that may be used either in the claim’s adjudication phase, mediation or a trial. So, you want to make sure of the accuracy of the diagram before committing to it.
• Near-by video footage from a business or home: A video footage from a nearby business or home can be the “smoking gun” so to speak in determining a liability apportionment of a motor vehicle accident. However, it is not always easy to obtain a video footage from a third-party business or home. Time can really be of the essence. You’d need to contact the business owner or the homeowner to obtain the relevant video. Not all business owners or homeowners will be open to providing the video to you. Expect some push backs. If you are not able to obtain the video from the business owner, simply encourage the business owner or homeowner to save the video as they may be compelled by a court to produce the video at a later date. There are legal tools that your personal injury lawyer in Alberta can use to compel a third party to release the video footage.
• Dash cam video footage: The dash cam video footage is not something that you would need to obtain from a third party- it is the easiest way to capture a live portrayal of an accident. You own the footage and you won’t need anyone’s permission to obtain the footage captured since you own the dash cam. Dash cam can save you money, time and stress, considering it provides an accurate
breakdown of how the accident happened.
• Accident Reconstruction Expert: Lastly, in cases of very serious and complex liability issues, your experienced personal injury lawyer may need to hire an accident reconstruction expert who will use proven scientific methods to determine speed, driver’s attempts to avoid the accident and driver actions that may have led to the accident in question. Accident reconstructions experts are not always necessary when determining liability for an accident but can be the deciding factor in a complex accident involving multiple parties.
In conclusion, liability determination depends on a number of factors and the actions
you take right after the accident can make a huge different to assisting your personal
injury lawyer to assist in properly represent your interests. If you have been involved in
an accident and there is a dispute as to who is at fault for the accident, call our office,
Watchmaker Law at 587-850-2899 or contact us by email.
