September 28, 2021

What Should I Do if the At-Fault Driver is Lying About a Car Accident?

rear end accident

While you might believe you are a safe driver, if you are involved in a car accident, your actions might be questioned by the other motorist. It’s quite common that in witness statements, the at-fault driver is lying about a car accident. Unless there is evidence proving fault, you might end up being blamed for the accident. That could make your claim unpaid and leave you owing for repair costs and paying any medical costs that are not covered.

In many cases, the at-fault driver does not want to accept liability for the accident. Their insurer will do its best to avoid paying out a claim. If that happens to you, the following can help you set matters right.

Retain a Lawyer

Even if you think the case will come out in your favor, you need to get legal representation right away. Most personal injury law firms will take on a case without requiring you to pay a retainer, but it helps to have some good evidence in your favor. This will also help your lawyer.

Discovering liability seldom occurs right away, and it usually takes up to a month for one or both insurers to reach an agreement on assigning fault. Your lawyer can help a great deal at this point by taking all calls from insurers and their adjustors and scheduling depositions. When you retain a lawyer, all communications must go through them and the law firm. If an insurer or a representative calls you, they cannot continue the conversation after you state that a lawyer is representing you. All they can ask after that is how to contact your lawyer.

Gather Evidence

You need evidence to overturn a liability decision that goes against you. Witnesses are excellent sources and could corroborate your side of the accident. If your vehicle is one of the newer models with advanced cameras and sensors, you might have a recording of the event that proves the other driver caused the accident.

If you are lucky, you might have a very clear recording of the other driver crossing the center line and striking your vehicle. If the accident happens in view of a traffic camera, its contents could become an excellent source of evidence in your favor. An onboard computer might have evidence of your direction of travel, speed, and any inputs you might have made immediately prior to the accident.

Virtually anything that helps to corroborate your version of events while casting doubt on the lying at-fault driver could help you.

Challenge the Police Report if the Driver is Lying About a Car Accident

You have the right to challenge a police report, especially when it contains false information. A police report generally has no actual value in a court other than to show what each party might have told the police officer. If you were injured and at the emergency room while the other driver gave their side of the story, you might not even get a chance to provide your side. That means the police report would reflect only what the other driver says and likely would contain falsehoods.

While a police report has no probative value in a court proceeding, auto insurers generally base much of their liability decisions on what that report says. So when it contains one or more lies that put the fault on you, demanding to amend the police report to provide your side of the story is very important. The responding police officer should enable you to do that and include your changes in the official report.

Contest

When an insurer pins the fault on you for an accident that was caused by someone else, you need to challenge any decisions that insurer has made against you. All states have mechanisms in place for disputing insurer decisions and forcing at least a review of the case. That can slow down any final decisions that might work against you.

You also need to work with your lawyer to build a strong case and file a complaint against the offending driver. When you retain a lawyer and file a case, the opposing insurer knows you are serious and might have good reason for challenging the liability decision. The stronger the case that you present, the better your chances of holding the lying driver liable for the accident that they caused.

When a driver causes an accident and lies about it, they might wind up making you pay for damages and injuries that you did not cause. An experienced lawyer can help you correct any falsehoods and ensure that both insurers at least consider your side of the story. Filing a lawsuit and backing it with solid evidence can encourage the other insurer to change its decision and pay your accident claim instead of fighting you in court and running up costs even more.

Norristown Car Accident Lawyers at Anthony C. Gagliano III, P.C. can Protect You Against the At-Fault Driver’s Lies

In many cases, the at-fault driver will try not to accept blame for a car accident. They will likely do whatever they can to put the blame on the other driver. You may discover that the at-fault driver is telling lies about you and what happened, but our Norristown car accident lawyers at Anthony C. Gagliano III, P.C. can help. Contact us online or call us at 267-861-7100 to schedule a free consultation today. We are located in Philadelphia, and we serve clients throughout Montgomery County, Delaware County, and Norristown, Pennsylvania.