Alejandro Figueroa | April 20, 2022 | Motorcycle Accidents
You have probably heard the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. When it comes to the video from a motorcycle helmet camera, a video might be worth thousands of dollars in injury compensation.
Florida’s no-fault insurance system does not apply to motorcycles. Your only path to recovering compensation after a motorcycle accident requires you to prove driver negligence. And you will have a much easier time proving negligence if you have a video of your accident.
Learn why all motorcycle riders should consider wearing a helmet camera and how you can use the footage you capture.
Motorcycle Helmet Cameras
Advances in camera and battery technologies have put helmet-mounted cameras within reach of most motorcycle riders. Lower-end cameras can cost as little as $50, while high-end cameras rarely cost more than $400.
Helmet-mounted cameras use compact lenses and record on digital media. This makes these cameras lightweight yet packed with features like image stabilization that ensures a smooth video.
Capturing an Accident
While you can use your motorcycle helmet camera to document and share your rides, the real value of the camera comes during an accident. Motorcycles have a much higher risk of an accident than passenger vehicles.
Though motorcycles only make up about 3% of the registered vehicles in the U.S., about 11% of traffic accidents involve motorcycles, meaning motorcyclists get into accidents at almost four times the expected rate.
Proving fault for these accidents can often devolve into accusations and counter-accusations that can confuse and mislead a jury. Video evidence of the crash can help resolve questions about what happened during the accident.
The Admissibility of Helmet Camera Video
A judge will usually allow you to show a helmet camera video to a jury if you can authenticate the video. This means you must provide some documentation, like a timestamp, that proves when the video was taken. You must also rebut any implication by the at-fault driver that you edited or manipulated the video.
While a jury will usually see video footage of the crash, a judge might prevent the jury from hearing any statements made afterward. These statements often constitute inadmissible hearsay. As a result, a jury might not hear a video of your conversation with an eyewitness after the accident.
How Can You Use Helmet Camera Video in Your Personal Injury Case?
Helmet camera video can serve many purposes in your injury case, including:
Settling Your Case
Faced with video evidence of a crash, the at-fault driver’s liability insurer may work harder to settle your case. Insurers do not like to pay claims. But they like losing court cases even less. Rather than taking a big loss in court, the insurer will likely settle your case to stop you from showing the video to a jury.
Rebutting Comparative Fault
Florida law uses pure comparative fault to allocate damages after a motorcycle accident. Each party who contributed to the cause of the accident gets assigned a percentage of the fault.
A party only bears liability for their share of the fault. For example, if you get assigned 40% of the fault, you can only recover 60% of your damages from the other driver.
If you have a video of the accident, you may be able to show that you did nothing to cause the accident. This allows you to argue that you bear 0% of the fault and can recover 100% of your damages.
Providing Your Version of Events
About 80% of motorcycle accidents involve an injury or death. Worse yet, many of these catastrophic injuries can leave you with no memory of the accident.
A video can describe the accident when you cannot. This allows your injury lawyer to introduce your version of the crash when you cannot testify about what happened.
Contact Our Motorcycle Accident Law Firm in Tampa, FL
IIf you’ve been involved in a motorcycle accident in Tampa, FL, and need legal help, contact our Tampa motorcycle accident lawyers at Catania & Catania Injury Lawyers to schedule a free consultation. A lawyer will help you gather evidence, including helmet camera footage, to prove negligence and maximize the compensation you are entitled to receive.
Catania & Catania Injury Lawyers
Bank of America Plaza
101 E Kennedy Blvd #2400
Tampa, FL 33602
(813) 222-8656
We also provide legal assistance throughout the Tampa Bay Area including Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, and Bradenton.
