Albany Car Accident Lawyer: Passenger Testimony in a Case

One of the more awkward positions to find yourself in is when you get into an accident with passengers in your vehicle. It’s hard to imagine that one of your friends or family members would want to sue you for damages sustained in the crash. It’s also a bit strange to call on these passengers to testify in your own car accident lawsuit.

Our Albany car accident lawyer knows exactly what you’re going through. Over the years, we have helped hundreds, maybe thousands of people get through their car accident lawsuits. Our goal is always to work hard to ensure that our clients receive the compensation they deserve.

Here, we will discuss when it makes sense to have your passengers testify on your behalf in your personal injury lawsuit. Our accident attorneys in Albany will need to thoroughly review your case to determine whether it’s a good idea to have your passengers testify in your case.

If there’s a chance that their testimony can hurt you, we may want to reconsider having them play a role in your case. We also need to be mindful of the fact that, if your passengers were injured in the crash, they may need to file their own claim against you. It all depends on who was at fault in the accident.

We suggest that you read this article so you can understand what can happen if you have passengers in the car with you at the time of your accident. If you still have questions about your own case after reading this article, feel free to contact our office directly.

The Police Will Collect Contact Information from Both Drivers and Their Passengers

When the police come out to the accident scene, they will conduct a thorough investigation of the crash. Part of their investigation will be getting contact information from anyone who witnessed the accident. The cops will also ask each witness to make a statement about what they saw. When your Albany car accident lawyer reviews the police report, they’ll get a better idea of whether your passengers can help your case.

If their statement to the police made it look as if you were at fault, the last thing your Albany accident attorney will want to do is put them on the stand. In fact, they can only hope that the defendant’s attorney doesn’t call on them to testify on behalf of the other driver.

Your Albany Car Accident Lawyer Can Certainly Interview Your Passengers

Before your Albany car accident lawyer makes any final decisions, they will need to do two things. First, they’ll need to read the statements your passengers made to the police. They will also need to check to see if they made any statements to either of the insurance carriers involved in the accident claim.

The second thing your Albany accident attorneys will do is meet with your passengers. Once they meet with them face to face, they’ll have a much better idea of whether they will help (or hurt) your case.

personal injury attorney in Albany

Your Passenger’s Testimony Will Be Taken with a Grain of Salt

It’s important to remember that anything your passengers say will be taken with a grain of salt. Nine times out of ten, the passengers in your car are either your family or friends. The chance that they would lie or embellish the truth to help you win your lawsuit is too high.

Even if they are not the kind of person who would normally stretch the truth, you never know what they’ll do when it comes to you winning your lawsuit. This is why your Albany car accident lawyer will be careful about whether they put them on the stand.

If they think this could be opening the door to difficult questions on the part of the defendant’s lawyer, they may want to hold off. Since your passengers’ testimony will be given little weight, it may be better to play it safe.

Your Accident Attorney in Albany Will Decide Whether It’s a Good Idea to Have Your Passengers Testify

When you first meet with an accident attorney in Albany, they’re going to ask you to tell them your story. They will also review any documentation you have regarding the accident. The point of offering new clients a free, initial consultation is to let our Albany car accident lawyers know whether their case is worth pursuing. It also gives you a chance to decide if you want to retain our services.

This early in the case, there will be little discussion as to trial strategy. For example, your accident attorney in Albany is not going to decide who testifies until they are confident a trial is imminent. This doesn’t mean that your lawyer won’t be thinking about this stuff. It just means that you don’t have to make a decision about strategies at trial this early in the process.

We suggest that you contact our office and schedule a date and time to come in for your free, initial consultation. Take the time to sit down with someone who has handled dozens of cases just like yours. Your Albany car accident lawyer will review the witness statements in the final police report. This will help them determine if you should call any of the passengers to testify.

This will be a frightening and exhausting process. You just need to trust that your attorney knows what they are doing and will only ask your passengers to testify if they think it will help your case. If they think the benefits of having your friend or relative testify are stronger than the risks, they will likely call upon the passengers to help.

Since the consultation is free, and since we don’t charge any of our clients anything upfront, you have nothing to lose.

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