ACCIDENT SCENE WITNESSES ARE IMPORTANT AND SHOULD COOPERATE
Many of the injury cases our lawyers work on involve a dispute about how the accident happened. For example, which car ran the red light? What did our client trip on? Who was in the intersection first? Sometimes one of the parties misremembers. But sometimes they just lie because they don’t want to admit they were at fault, or they are concerned that their insurance rate will go up.
In these situations, witnesses can be very important. Unfortunately, our Minnesota accident attorneys sometimes come across people who “don’t want to get involved.” They think it will be an inconvenience to take time to talk to a lawyer or investigator. Also, they don’t want to risk being called into court as a witness to say what they saw.
WITNESS HELP FOR INJURY CASE
The consequence to our clients, of course, can be significant. When someone is injured in an accident, there are often significant medical bills not covered by their own insurance. In many cases, there is also missed time from work, and other losses. If a witness refuses to cooperate, our client may not be compensated.
If the witness won’t help, it is like being a victim a second time. It saddens us when an accident witness puts the minor inconvenience they might experience ahead of a potentially significant need for help by an injured person. The injury victim’s life has been altered because of the accident. Even if the only question is who pays for the vehicle damage, you should cooperate and say what you saw.
If you are a witness to an accident, please stay and tell the police what you saw. Also, give your name and number to the police and the parties involved, and cooperate in the process to resolve any disputes. It really doesn’t take much time. These cases rarely go to court, and you will be helping people in a moment of need. Plus, of course, you would want people to do the same for you if you were in that situation.