Can Footage From a Dashcam Win a Lawsuit?

You were driving, and you've just had a crash. It was minor, you're fine, the other driver’s fine, and you both got out of your cars to, well… to point fingers at each other. You say they ran the red light; they say you did, there’s shouting; it's a whole thing. What makes this situation more difficult is that there are no (eye) witnesses around and no security cameras, so it's really your word against theirs.

And both of you sound convincing, so now what?

Would it be any different if you had a dashcam? Don't judges and juries roll their eyes at those things? Surely that can't win a lawsuit, right?

Let's see.

What Makes Dashcam Footage Useful

Can you remember what you ate for lunch 4 days ago? Or what your friend said to you at dinner last week?

You can sort of remember something, but the details are too blurry, and it's the same with car accidents. You can kind of remember what happened a few days after, but details get lost, and in this situation, it's the details that can make or break your case. A dashcam doesn't have issues with memory, though.

Basically, it records EVERYTHING, and that recording stays the same.

Dashcam footage can be useful because it sometimes shows the small stuff people don't even notice, like the exact moment a driver hits the brakes.

It also catches the time when the light changed from yellow to red, or whether a car was driving too close to you on the highway. Another big plus for the dashcam is how it handles statements from the witnesses. Witnesses usually mean well, but they can get some details wrong, so it's helpful when you have a video to go back to and check the facts.

Say you had an accident that involved a truck, and you hired a lawyer from a law firm that's known to handle (and win) these types of cases, such as Rosenfeld Injury Law. The company that owns the truck is outright lying, but if Rosenfeld's truck accident team has the footage that shows what truly happened, you're golden.

Keep in mind that video alone usually isn't enough to win a case.

It's a big part of evidence in general, but for the most part, you'll need something other than just dashcam footage (e.g., witness statements, electronic logging data, maintenance logs, an accident reconstruction report) to win.

When Courts Decide Whether Dashcam Footage Can Be Used

To the average Joe, bringing a dashcam video to court seems like a slam dunk , but judges don't feel the same way.

Here's what they want to know first.

Is the Footage Unedited?

A judge has to know that the video shows what actually happened – it needs to be the raw footage, not the cleaned-up/edited version. If the clip was trimmed or if someone changed the name of the file, the other side will say the footage was tampered with, and the entire piece of evidence might get thrown out.

Courts want to see the original file, the metadata, and the timestamps to see whether all of these match up.

The edited version may still be used, sure – for example, to point towards a specific part of the clip – but the submitted evidence MUST be the raw footage.

Where Did the Recording Come From?

You can't just plop it down and say, "Here's my video."

The court will want to know who recorded it and whether there's a chance that someone could have messed with it. If some files are missing or if the court sees copied versions instead of originals, that's a red flag. On the other hand, if you can clearly explain how you saved and stored the video, then your evidence can't be easily attacked.

Privacy Rules

Privacy laws change constantly. New laws get added, and existing ones get updated.

And depending on which state (which jurisdiction) you live in, these laws might be completely different . This basically means that your dashcam footage might be solid evidence in one state, while it might cause you trouble in another because someone got recorded without consent, or they weren't blurred out.

It's (usually) fair game to record on a public road because nobody in their right mind expects privacy there. With that being said, if your camera captures audio of someone inside another car or if the accident happened on private property, there could be some issues.

Some state laws say that whoever is recorded has to explicitly agree to it, at least when it comes to audio. That sounds like a bit much, but privacy laws can rarely kill your whole case.

Worst-case scenario, the judge will allow the video but block the sound, or they'll warn the jury about how to think of the footage before it's played.

Conclusion

In short, dashcam footage alone can't win your case.

But it can definitely be a big help, especially if nobody messed around with it. It doesn't show everything, and there might be some issues with it, but generally, it's a very welcome addition to the evidence.

Just remember that this footage, as helpful as it is, is only a factor. Your lawyer will need more