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May 1, 2025
- Blog
- By Cesar Ornelas
One of the biggest issues in any car accident claim is assigning fault. Whose fault was the accident primarily, and if several people were at fault, what is their degree of fault? Insurance companies will make determinations of fault based on their investigation, and if you believe this determination is wrong, you’ll have to counter it with evidence. Witness testimony can make a big impact, and your personal injury attorney in Carlsbad can help you make the most of it.
How Can Witness Testimony Impact Your Car Accident Claim?
Witness testimony offers an independent account of what happened. Witnesses like bystanders or other drivers can often give insight into an accident’s details, like who had the right of way or whether a driver was speeding, that the drivers might not have been able to see from their vantage points. Witness testimony can strengthen a claim by corroborating a driver’s version of events or weaken it by contradicting their story. Courts and insurance adjusters value credible witness testimony, and it can often tip the scales in determining liability and compensation.
Types of Witnesses and Their Roles
There are usually two types of witnesses in a personal injury accident claim. The first will be eyewitnesses. These are people who actually saw the accident firsthand, like pedestrians or nearby drivers. They give an account of what they actually saw as the accident unfolded. Third-party witnesses are the most valuable firsthand witnesses. While passengers in a car can give witness testimony, it will never have as much weight as that of a neutral third-party who is not connected to either driver.
The second type of witness is the expert witness. An expert witness was not present at the accident, of course, but may be called in by your lawyer to analyze the evidence and give their expert opinion upon it. For example, accident reconstruction specialists are common with car accidents. They know how to look at skid marks and the damage on vehicles and, from this, reconstruct how the accident actually happened. They also give technical insights that can be very persuasive in especially complex cases.
Credibility and Reliability in Witnesses
The whole impact of a witness’s testimony depends on that witness’s credibility and reliability, and there are several aspects to this. First, both insurance companies and courts are going to assess whether they believe a witness is truly impartial. If a witness is a relative or friend of one of the drivers, their testimony may not be seen as entirely unbiased, though that does not mean their testimony can’t be useful.
Another thing the courts will assess is whether a witness actually saw what they claimed that they saw. Unfortunately, it isn’t completely unheard of for people to claim they have seen an accident just because they want to be part of the moment and feel valuable. If they did not really see the accident, this will usually become evident through inconsistency in their testimony and changing details. Your lawyer will evaluate every witness carefully to make sure they are credible in this sense.
Finally, some people are just more reliable than others. A witness who realized that this was very serious and immediately wrote down details, like what they saw, the weather, and the time, is going to be able to give more convincing testimony than a witness who is just relying on a vague memory.
How Witness Testimony Is Presented
For the initial insurance claim, witnesses may be asked to provide written statements or to give a recorded interview in which they will be asked questions. If the case is contentious or if it goes to trial, they may be asked to give actual sworn depositions. In a deposition, a witness makes a sworn statement before going into a courtroom, and it’s common for these statements to be closely evaluated in comparison to what the witness says once they get into the courtroom.
Finally, of course, a witness might end up testifying in person in the courtroom and answering questions from attorneys on both sides. The way a witness delivers their testimony will do a lot to make it persuasive. Your attorney knows how to prepare a witness to ensure their statement is concise and relevant.
Challenging or Weakening an Opposing Claim
Witness testimony can help your case a great deal. It can also hurt your claim, and if the other driver brings witnesses that contradict your story, it can be hard to sort out who is telling the truth. This is one of the reasons a third-party witness is so important and why it’s important to contact all witnesses as soon as possible.
One of the key roles of your personal injury attorney in Carlsbad is to work this issue from both sides. On your side, they will interview witnesses and only request that they give testimony if they are credible and reliable. On the other side, they will carefully read or listen to the testimony of all witnesses for the other driver and note inconsistencies, vagueness, or anything else that could be used to show that that witness is not reliable.
Limitations and Challenges
Witness testimony is very powerful, but it certainly does have limitations. It’s common for a witness to have only seen part of an accident. If they’re missing key details, such as what exactly a driver was doing prior to the collision, their testimony might not be much help. Witnesses may also have focused on just one thing and not really be able to speak to anything else. For example, a pedestrian in the area might have noticed a car speeding but did not notice whether the traffic light had changed.
Another issue is that human memory changes and fades over time. This is one of the reasons California only allows you two years to bring a lawsuit for a personal injury claim. The reality is that after two years, memories become very poor, and it may be impossible to get to the truth.
Bias is always a possible limitation with witnesses, too. Say that the other driver claims you were doing something on your phone before the accident. It can be hard to prove a negative: in other words, it may be difficult to prove you were not doing that. If the only witness you have to your behavior before the accident is one of your friends who was with you in the car, the other side may try to challenge that testimony on the basis of bias.
Finally, sometimes a witnesses testimony simply contradicts obvious evidence, like footage from a dash cam or other video. If that happens, their testimony is usually disregarded entirely. This sometimes happens, as human memory is fluid and easy to influence. This is why witness testimony is usually just one piece of evidence your lawyer will use.
Your Personal Injury Lawyer in Carlsbad
Witness testimony is very helpful, but to make the most of it, you need the help of an experienced lawyer who knows how to find witnesses, assess their credibility, properly prepare them to testify, and use them as part of a dynamic strategy for proving your case. If you’ve been in a car accident, contact Cesar Ornelas Law in Carlsbad, CA right away to set up a consultation. We also serve clients in Texas and New Mexico.
