But Can You Prove They Were on Their Phone?
Here’s the situation: you’re hit by a distracted driver. You see them looking at their phone right before the collision, but by the time the cops arrive they’ve tucked it back into their pocket. They deny that the phone was in use when you two collided.
Can cell phone records be used to reinforce your version of what happened? Can they prove the driver was distracted at the time of the crash? You know the other driver was on their phone, but proving it is another story. The Car Crash Captain looks at what happens in a Texas accident when a distracting phone was one of the causes of the wreck.
Is there Digital Evidence After the Wreck?
Your phone records more than you think, but it’s not 100% fool proof. Despite harvesting a lot of our data, it doesn’t harvest every single action.
The phone carrier records can show calls and SMS activity. So, those records would show if texts were actively going back and forth leading up to, and at the time of the wreck. And also, if the other driver was on a phone call. But being on a call might mean hands free was being used.
Phone forensic data can potentially show app usage, screen activity, and more. But not all apps record all activity. Sometimes the phone is being used, but it just shows the app was open.
Dashcam footage and eye witnesses are going to be better evidence. Just because the phone is active doesn’t prove the driver was actively holding it or even looking at it.
Using the Phone as a Witness to the Texas Car Wreck
The phone has evidence that you need to prove your case. But there are certain steps that must be completed to ensure you can get that evidence.
If your wreck goes to trial, the phone records can be subpoenaed. That means your Richardson, Texas based lawyer from Herbert Law Group can force the phone company to turn over those records. Even if texts or calls were deleted from the phone itself, the records remain on the carrier records.
The phone itself can be forensically examined. This will reveal a whole lot more activity of what was going on at the time of the crash.
These activities can take time and resources. You can’t just ask the person to hand over their phone so you can search through the history and see what was happening at the time of the wreck.
Read about a wreck that involved phone usage and subpoenaing records.
You Need a Lawyer to Pursue Evidence
There are formal channels that are necessary to start the subpoena process. Your attorney knows how to get those started and ensure they happen in a timely manner.
The at-fault driver could potentially eliminate some of the evidence on their phone. Sometimes it’s intentional, and other times it just happens as information is overwritten as time goes on. Your attorney knows how to request that the data be preserved.
Locating potential traffic cameras and obtaining that footage isn’t something most people can just hop on over to the courthouse and do. Especially if you’re injured in a wreck, getting the right camera footage might not be your top priority.
Because Texas is a proportionate responsibility state, you want to ensure that you’re not at all responsible for this wreck. Your lawyer will know how to make that happen.
If you’ve been injured, and you know the other driver was distracted, you need a lawyer to help prove your case. You need to contact Herbert Law Group in the Dallas, Texas area.
Simply call our offices at 214-414-3808, or fill out the contact form on our site, and we’ll get started on our end to determine the best course of action.