There’s Hidden Evidence Inside Your Vehicle
For a long time, proving liability in a car wreck came down to eyewitnesses, police reports, and photographs. Gradually, technology improved, and about 20 years ago everyone started to carry a device that could record pictures, video, and all sorts of data. Now, tech has progressed even more, and we’re constantly being monitored by our phones, our vehicles, and a whole slew of other cameras scattered around the greater DFW metroplex.
If you drive a newer vehicle, your car likely knows more about the crash than anyone involved and any witnesses. Your vehicle and your phone know how fast you were traveling, whether or not you hit the brakes, how much the steering wheel moved, and if the collision warning systems spouted off an alarm before impact.
So why are cases getting harder to prove? It’s because unless you know how to access all of that data, it’s hard to get your hands on it. The Car Crash Captain explores this and looks into how insurance companies are quick to gather up that data and start building a case against you even if you are the victim and the other driver is completely at fault.
Vehicles Are Now Rolling Data Recorders
Most of this isn’t new. Event Data Recorders (the vehicle’s “black box”) have been around for years. These devices aren’t hidden and you’ve likely seen it if you popped the hood on your vehicle. They even link up to the 16-pin port that’s usually located under the steering wheel in most cars, and in case of a wreck, they record:
- Speed
- Brake application (when and how hard)
- Steering inputs
- Seat belt use
- Air bag deployment
- Vehicle Dynamics (how the vehicle moved before, during, and after the wreck)
Some newer vehicles collect even more data; Teslas have a ton of cameras and can record all sorts of visual data.
Twenty years ago, crash investigation relied largely on things like skid marks, damage, and eyewitnesses. Today, they start with a hard drive.
Technology Can Create More Questions than it Answers
When you give a statement about what happened, your statement won’t be the entire truth. That’s not because you are lying or trying to make things look better than they actually are. Instead, it’s because your eyes, ears, and brain aren’t going to register every exact little detail.
So, after the wreck, you likely won’t know if you applied the brakes or the automatic braking system did. You won’t realize if you pulled on the wheel, or the lane assist did. You might even forget if adaptive cruise control or other driver assistance features were enacted.
Did the driver fail? Did technology fail? Did they both fail?
You give a statement stating, “… and at that point I slammed on the brakes.” However, when the EDR is analyzed, it shows the driver didn’t hit the brakes, but the automatic braking system did. Now we have questions. Are you lying? Are you remembering incorrectly? Is the EDR wrong? Did you hit the brakes at the same time as the technology?
All this is doing is creating arguments, and the insurance companies love this. They love when ambiguity is created, and they can try to reduce your payout because of these discrepancies.
The Insurance Company Knows More than You
They weren’t even there, and their experts can analyze what happened far faster than you or any eyewitnesses can explain it.
Vehicle telematics can send information instantly – no need to plug in the EDR and extract that data. Many new vehicles are connected, and with the proper channels all your information (including things like when every part was manufactured, when you purchased the vehicle, and service history) are easily gathered.
What about the data that supports your claim? The data that proves you were the victim and not the at-fault driver? If nobody requests it, that information can just disappear quietly, forever “ruining” your settlement.
The most important witness to your crash likely isn’t another driver. It’s the tiny computer acting as a vehicle data recorder sitting under your dashboard that has essential information on it. And that critical information can be overwritten, lost, or never retrieved if you aren’t careful.
Herbert Law Group Knows How to Extract Data
Car wreck cases used to be about what people remembered. Increasingly, though, it’s now about what the vehicle recorded. All the evidence is there, but you need an expert that can preserve it and knows how to use it.
Herbert Law Group knows exactly what to do.
We’re on your side as you push back against insurance companies that are determined to reduce their payout. We’ll fight for you, maximize your compensation, and help you find justice after a wreck has caused you financial, physical, and emotional hardships.
But first, we need to know what happened. Give our offices a call at 214-414-3808 and let’s have a free conversation to determine how we can help. No time for a call right now? Then contact us through our website, and we’ll connect on your schedule.