Successfully obtaining financial compensation after a car accident hinges on the ability to prove liability and fault. If you’ve been injured in a car accident – or you’ve lost a loved one as a result of an accident – black box investigations can mean the difference between justice being served and a lifetime of financial strains.
Capable of being installed in almost any vehicle, black boxes analysis can prove vital in personal injury and wrongful death claims. How can a black box expert investigation help a car accident claim? An expert black box investigator can gather the data from the other driver’s black box and analyze that data for invaluable information that proves fault beyond a shadow of a doubt. That information can then be used by a car accident lawyer to litigate effectively in court.
What Is a Black Box?
Event data recorders, or black boxes – are devices installed in vehicles to record technical information about both the car’s functions and the occupant’s activity for brief periods of time. Depending on the settings of the box, these devices record data for an average of 20 seconds before, during, and after a collision.
Black boxes have been used in aircraft crash investigations for years. Now, they are becoming increasingly common components of personal injury and wrongful death claims brought forth by car accident victims. Consumer Reports spotlights the fact that by 2005, 64 percent of all new models of GM cars included a black box (or EDR) system in the vehicle.
Why Black Boxes Are Important to Your Cause
In a nutshell, they color in your story, provide hard evidence and indisputable data, and prevent your case from becoming your word against theirs. The black box’s measure of the collision’s impact can be used to support your claims of injury severity and often results in higher settlement offers.
By providing verifiable data that is hard – or impossible – to debate, black boxes provide car accident lawyers with tangible proof of fault. Black boxes are especially helpful in cases where injured-related memory loss is a roadblock to personal accounts of the event.
What a Black Box Can Prove
When it comes to proving liability, black boxes can illuminate data that can paint a clearer picture of the moments leading up – and immediately following – a car accident. In fact, insurance companies have caught on to the value of this information and many companies are now offering drivers a reduced rate for their willingness to install the device in their vehicle.
Information a Black Box Can Provide:
- Driver speed
- Sudden accelerations immediately preceding an accident (or immediately after – in case of hit and run accidents)
- Braking actions before, during, and immediately after an accident.
- Airbag activity
- And more.
The information provided by black boxes is so valuable that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been using the devices to support their crash investigation programs for years and has strongly advocated for their standardization.
Victims looking to utilize black box data to support their claims are advised to act quickly. The more time that passes between the accident and your request for black box data, the more likely it is that the evidence will be destroyed.
How a Car Accident Lawyer Can Help
While black boxes are incredibly helpful, accessing their data is complicated. There is no federal law mandating their installation in vehicles. Nor are they regulated, and installation, settings, and details can vary from one vehicle to the next. Furthermore, an individual cannot simply pull out the device and upload its information. A black box investigation expert is required for retrieval, analysis, and testimony in court. Additionally, the Driver Privacy Act of 2015 outlines several criteria for the retrieval and usage of black box data in court litigations. A car accident attorney will understand these regulations and be well-versed in working within their parameters.
Fighting for deserved compensation after a car accident can feel daunting and overwhelming for those facing multiple injuries, coping with the loss of a loved one, and struggling to shoulder financial costs after losing a job as a result of physical and emotional distress.
How can a black box expert investigation help a car accident claim? If you’ve been injured in a car crash – or have lost a loved one as a result – you deserve justice, and a black box expert investigation can give you the ability to prove fault and win your case.
A car accident lawyer at the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine will dedicate themselves to fighting for justice for your family. As part of that dedication, the team will consult with black box experts to prove fault, establish liability, and build a successful case. Call (954) 525-0050 for a risk-free, no-obligation consultation today. If you decide to work with the Law Offices Anidjar & Levine, we understand the financial strains you’re facing and work on a contingency-fee-basis — we collect nothing until you win your case.
