Picture this: you’re coasting down a busy Long Island road like the Southern State Parkway or LIE when another car suddenly cuts into your lane and causes you to rear-end them. The other driver insists that you were responsible for the crash. You recall things differently.

But thankfully, this time, it isn’t just your word against theirs. Because you have the whole collision recorded on your dashcam.

Now that dashcams are legal in all 50 states, and tens of millions of Americans have begun using the devices, more drivers have the ability to capture what happens immediately before, during, and after a car accident. And when questions of fault come up, capturing footage of the actual collision on camera can seem like the ultimate piece of evidence.

But will such a recording always work in your favor? It’s true that dashcams can deliver insight into how a crash transpired, but just because your accident was caught on camera doesn’t necessarily mean your personal injury claim will be an open-and-shut case. Depending on what the footage captures (or misses), it could strengthen your retelling of events, raise new questions, or even uncover evidence that works against you.

So, before you hand your dashcam footage over to your insurance company, here’s what every New York driver should know. 

After many car accidents, the drivers involved tend to tell very different stories. One person might claim they had a green light while the other insists they sped through a red. Or, someone may deny swerving out of their lane, tailgating, failing to yield, or slamming on their brakes out of nowhere.

And without any objective, third-party input, such as independent witness accounts or surveillance footage, figuring out exactly what happened can get complicated. That’s where dashcams can be very valuable.

Depending on its position and field of view, your camera could capture key details, such as another vehicle running a stop sign, suddenly entering your lane, or engaging in other negligent behavior.

That’s why the devices have come to play an increasingly significant role in New York car accident litigation. Take a 2024 case, Aponte v. Uber Technologies, Inc., as one example.

In this case, the plaintiff suing was Megan Aponte, a passenger in a vehicle operating on the Uber platform when it was involved in a car accident with a limousine. The Uber, which was being driven by a defendant named Chowdhury, was “traveling at a slow speed in the leftmost lane, marked as left turn only, when a limousine made a sudden left turn from the right lane and struck it,” per Justia.

While the plaintiff didn’t dispute how the accident transpired, she argued that the Uber driver had a duty to evade the impact and that, by failing to avoid the accident, he contributed to her injuries.

Chowdhury ultimately submitted dashcam footage of the crash in support of his motion for summary judgment, and the New York Appellate Division, First Department, affirmed the dismissal of the complaint and all cross-claims against him.

According to the New York State Law Reporting Bureau, “There is no evidence that the driver, who had the right-of-way, had the time to react to the limousine coming into his lane or that he was at fault in the happening of the accident because, as the video demonstrates and the parties agree, he had at most two seconds between the limousine entering his lane and the impact. The fact that the plaintiff might have observed the limousine in the right lane at some point prior to the accident is of no consequence.”

This case is a prime example of how video can provide something that memories and competing accounts of events cannot: an independent record of at least part of a crash. However, the words “at least part” are particularly important. 

Remember that a camera can only record what falls within its field of view. So, if you have a front-facing dashcam, it might clearly capture what happened directly ahead of your car while missing something occurring behind you or beside you. And depending on the accident, this means your device could miss another driver’s actions leading up to a crash, a pedestrian outside the frame, hazardous road conditions, or other contributing circumstances.

And even footage that seems clear can sometimes leave room for varying interpretations. That’s why attorneys generally evaluate dashcam footage alongside other pieces of evidence, such as police reports, photographs, witness statements, vehicle damage, medical records, and any other surveillance video from the area.

When put together, these pieces can provide a more well-rounded picture than just one camera angle alone.

The same principle applies when dealing with insurance companies. Even though an adjuster might consider dashcam footage while investigating your claim, don’t just assume they’ll watch the recording and automatically interpret it the exact same way you did. They may argue the footage is inconclusive, focus on details you personally deem unimportant or irrelevant, or use other evidence to challenge your recollection of events.

So, again, dashcam footage should be treated as one piece of a larger puzzle as opposed to automatic proof of fault. And before handing a recording over to your insurance company, it’s wise to have a personal injury attorney review what it does (and doesn’t) show. 

Finally, it’s important to note that the same camera recording another driver’s mistakes may also record yours.

Imagine that your footage catches another vehicle entering your lane without signaling. However, it also reveals you were traveling above the speed limit, potentially preventing you from braking safely. Or, you were traveling slowly and actually did have enough time to react differently before impact.

These details are now even more significant under New York’s recent auto tort reform legislation, which shifted the state to a modified comparative fault standard. Under this system, if you’re found to be more responsible for a crash (or over 50% at fault) than the driver you’re suing, then you cannot recover any damages.

To put it simply: your actions leading up to an accident matter more than ever. This is another reason why it’s advised to have an attorney look at your case and any dashcam recordings before drawing conclusions about what it could prove in your personal injury claim. 

If your dashcam captured a crash, your first instinct might be to send it to your insurance company or even post it online to share what happened. Before doing either of those things, take these precautions.

First, make sure you preserve the original footage. Some dashcams automatically use “loop recording,” or begin overwriting older recordings once storage becomes full. So, make sure you save the file containing footage of your collision as soon as possible.

Then, keep an unedited copy that you avoid cropping, trimming, filtering, or adding captions to. Even seemingly innocent edits used every day on social media could raise questions later about whether the footage was altered.

It’s smart to save any other footage your dashcam captured immediately before and after the moment of impact, too, since those surrounding minutes can help provide some additional context into how the accident transpired.

Last but not least, always have a personal injury attorney review the footage before you start providing statements or evidence to insurance companies. 

When a car accident is caught on camera, it’s easy to believe the footage speaks for itself. But even video evidence doesn’t exist in a vacuum.

What might’ve happened in the moments leading up to the crash? Did something occur outside the camera’s view? And could anything be interpreted differently by an insurance adjuster? At Langella & Langella, we’ll examine the full picture and help you determine what the footage means for your case.

Contact us today for a Free Consultation at (631) 348-9500.