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How to Investigate Your Texas Motor Vehicle Accident

Plain and simple, all motor vehicle accident cases involving bodily injuries must be investigated. Sometimes these investigations can be successfully conducted by the injured party however, the investigation needs to be done professionally. In cases where the cause of the wreck is disputable or the injuries are going to be disputed, it is absolutely imperative that a complete and thorough investigation be conducted. What about other cases? In instances where one driver readily admits he or she is the one responsible for the accident, there still needs to be an investigation to support the injury and compensation aspect of the claim. Insurance companies can even pay for your car to be repaired and then later contest the cause of the accident if they don't agree with the value of the claim being asserted by the injured party. Insurance companies can also contest whether or not you appeared to be in pain at the scene of the accident. By the time you learn that the accident facts are being disputed, all of the cars involved have long been repaired and all of the witnesses have since forgotten the details of the accident they witnessed.

How To Conduct An Investigation

It depends on whether you hire an attorney or decide to go about it by yourself. At the Anderson Law Firm, we employ an in-house investigator who conducts each claim's investigation. Here are some of the things we do to ensure that our clients' cases are positioned for successful results:

Document the damage to the vehicles: All vehicles involved in a car wreck need to be photographed. Depending on the impact, sometimes this requires photos taken from every angle, including the underside of the vehicle. If a car is at a body shop or auto pound, it is important to take pictures before it is repaired or taken apart for scraps. If any blood is found in the car or if the airbags have been deployed, pictures of these features are also helpful.

Document the injury: Many of our clients have suffered broken bones, received stitches, undergone surgery, sustained bruising or have somehow suffered an injury which is clearly visible. It is extremely important to begin taking photographs of the injury immediately after the accident and every few days, weeks or months as the injury heals. You will always generally remember that you were in pain, but the memory of the details of what you went through will fade with time. Pictures will help you recall the recovery period. More importantly, photos will help the insurance company and ultimately, the jury to understand the situation that the at-fault driver put you in and the full extent of your injuries.

Scene Investigation: Many times the accident scene provides many clues to solving the question of "Who was at fault?" All sorts of accident factors can be photographed or gathered at the scene if the investigation is done soon enough after the accident. We document factors such as skid marks, debris on the road, damaged items like signs or guardrails, speed limit signs, the pattern and timing of traffic control devices (stop lights), lighting, weather, curves in the road, obstructions and anything else that might shed light on the cause of the accident.

Obtain and Analyze the Accident Report: In Texas, the investigating police officer often fills out what is called a Texas Police Officer's Crash Report. These reports can provide all sorts of useful information for the claims process. Our firm obtains the accident report immediately after signing a contract with an accident victim. These reports provide names of witnesses, preliminary insurance information for the at-fault party, the investigating officer's opinion as to fault and injuries, diagrams of the scene, citations given, property damage and injury observation. Click here for our Analysis of a Police Report.

Witness Interviews: This is probably the most import part of an investigation if liability (responsibility) is in dispute. Witnesses can provide objective and credible testimonies explaining not only who was at fault, but also the speed of the involved vehicles, the severity of the crash and their observations of the involved drivers after the accident. Great care must be used when approaching a witness, as there are usually limited chances to interview witnesses before they grow tired of being involved (or hassled).

All witnesses have unique perspectives and a seasoned investigator knows how to ask the right questions before a witness becomes weary of helping out. Even a "hostile" witness can sometimes offer some sort of favorable testimony if he or she is approached in the correct manner.

Verify Coverage: It is extremely important to verify that whoever caused the wreck has valid liability insurance in place. That is part of our job if you hire our firm to represent you. Unfortunately, it is entirely possible that the other driver had expired insurance, but was able to present you or the investigating Police Officer with an insurance card which appeared to show some sort of valid insurance. How is this possible? While forged cards do exist, the most common way for drivers to fake having insurance is for the person to buy a six month policy, but only make the first month's payment to the insurance company. Consequently, for five more months, his or her insurance card allows them to appear to have insurance, but in reality that driver is just one of the many uninsured drivers on the road. Sometimes it takes insurance companies a few days to complete their investigation into whether or not there was insurance in place.

Other useful links:

If you feel like hiring an experienced personal injury attorney to help you with your case, please give us a call. We will promptly begin the investigation to make sure the evidence in your case is protected. Please call us at 817-294-1900 or Contact Us Online.