In addition to being dangerous and potentially causing severe injuries, car accidents can be a real logistical drag. You have to take your car in to either get repaired or get told that “it’s done for” and you need to replace it. You’ll have to figure out how you’re going to get to and from where you need to go while you wait to get a new car, and if you are hurt, you will have to heed your doctor’s advice and go through physical recovery. On top of all that, you may be thinking about going to court to get justice and damages from whoever wronged you. Of course, if you want to be successful in court, you need to prove that the defendant wronged you, and for that, you will need evidence to support your assertions, so you will need to compile and gather a great deal of information as well.
All those things can feel like a lot to manage – because it is. Luckily, our lawyers can help you out with some of these things, like gathering evidence to support your claim. The main way that you gather evidence is by contacting relevant parties and compiling information. You may even be able to obtain some things that can be used as evidence right after a car crash happens.
For a free case review, call Legal Care New Jersey’s New Jersey car accident attorneys at the number (732) 838-9769.
Ways to Get Evidence to Support a Car Accident Claim in New Jersey
Whether you are dealing with an insurance company or preparing to go to court, you are going to need evidence to back up claims after a car accident. There are some rules about what evidence you can and cannot bring into court, and some of the most important rules involve ensuring that evidence is obtained legally. The best way to make sure that evidence is collected the right way is to have our New Jersey car accident lawyers handle it. However, there are some things you may be able to do to get evidence to support your claim.
Right After the Accident
You can actually start getting evidence to support your lawsuit right after the collision happens. Once you make sure that you have been checked out by first responders, are not being taken to a hospital, and can stick around, you should be able to start gathering some evidence and information about your future claim. Take as many photos and videos of the accident and the surrounding area as you can. Our attorneys can examine them and use them either as evidence or to support your claims. Additionally, you should talk to anyone who saw the accident take place and record their statement. They may be able to serve as witnesses at trial. Finally, be sure to obtain the name, license plate number, insurance information, and vehicle model of anyone involved in the crash, as that can help our lawyers determine whom to sue and provide extra information for your claim.
Contacting Other Parties
Another important part of gathering evidence before trial is getting in touch with parties that could have information to support your case. This includes the medical center that treated you, witnesses whose statements you weren’t able to record, car companies, insurance providers, and many other parties. You will even be able to get some information from opposing counsel through a process called “discovery,” where attorneys on opposing sides of a case share information.
Tracking down these parties can be tedious, and they may not be as cooperative with you as they would with a legal professional, so it is best to let our attorneys handle it.
What Kinds of Evidence Can Be Used to Support Car Accident Claims in New Jersey?
A lot of things are allowed to be used as evidence. The general rule in law is that anything that has any tendency to make a fact more or less likely to be true can be used as evidence. While that is an enormous scope, there are many rules and restrictions that limit it.
For example, evidence that is not relevant cannot be let into a case. For example, if a sober individual hits you with their car and it is well-established that they were not impaired or otherwise intoxicated when the accident took place, you can’t introduce evidence that they are a recovering drug user because it is not relevant to the claim at hand. Moreover, such evidence may unfairly prejudice the jury to think of the defendant differently, which is another reason that evidence is often barred from court.
Additionally, “hearsay” is not allowed in legal disputes under most circumstances. Hearsay refers to statements made out of court, which is then admitted into evidence to prove what the statement said is true. One of the main reasons that hearsay is not allowed is because it is difficult to tell whether the statement is true or not if the person who said it is not present where the jury can read their facial expressions and listen to their tone of voice – and where the other side’s lawyers can cross examine them about the statements. There are, however, a lot of exceptions to the hearsay rule, so our attorneys can examine any potential hearsay issues and determine whether that evidence can be used or not.
Keep in mind that most of this will apply to what can be used as evidence in a legal setting. If you are gathering evidence to present to an insurance company, the rules may be different, as the insurance company is not a court of law. Of course, our attorneys can be effective in either situation and seek out enough evidence to support your claim.
Start Working with Our New Jersey Car Accident Attorneys Today
Chat with our Union City, NJ car accident attorneys by contacting Legal Care New Jersey by calling (732) 838-9769.
