Car Accident

[Breaking]

A while back, I had been driving to school and had made a left turn to try to get onto the street the school was located on.

Anyhow, it ended with a considerably minor accident, but the other party is sueing my insurance and such. At this point, my insurance law office is wondering if I had texted or was on the phone at the time.

I'm pretty sure I wasn't on the phone, but what legal procedings could occur if it was the case?

Also, how likely is it that they will give a court order to see text messages sent and received?

This is for the state of Texas.

Edited September 9, 2011 by Breaking

[pam]

I know that many states have cracked down and instituted laws regarding text messaging while driving.

I don't know Texas laws, but I can see how an investigation would include seeing if there was phone activity at the time of the accident.

And to be frank, I hope more states follow this path. Texting while driving is dangerous.

[Gwen]

We got sued over a left hand turn accident. It was the other person's fault but being we were turning left the insurance company (and law) didn't care. The other person didn't have insurance and decided to go to a crack pot dr and claim injuries. In our case the insurance company "handled" the suit (aka settled and raised our rates). That's life I guess.

Why are they jumping to the assumption that you were on the phone? Did someone make that claim as a witness? Is the insurance company just out to avoid taking care of what you pay them to do? By the way you comment on it I'm assuming it's against the law there to be on the phone while you drive. If you weren't on the phone then you have nothing to worry about. Have you checked your phone records to see if there was something you have forgotten. Should at least know what they will find if they do ask for them.

Sorry there is no actual advise in there. lol Do you need to consider getting your own lawyer?

[Breaking]

We got sued over a left hand turn accident. It was the other person's fault but being we were turning left the insurance company (and law) didn't care. The other person didn't have insurance and decided to go to a crack pot dr and claim injuries. In our case the insurance company "handled" the suit (aka settled and raised our rates). That's life I guess.

Why are they jumping to the assumption that you were on the phone? Did someone make that claim as a witness? Is the insurance company just out to avoid taking care of what you pay them to do? By the way you comment on it I'm assuming it's against the law there to be on the phone while you drive. If you weren't on the phone then you have nothing to worry about. Have you checked your phone records to see if there was something you have forgotten. Should at least know what they will find if they do ask for them.

Sorry there is no actual advise in there. lol Do you need to consider getting your own lawyer?

I don't know if its illegal; that's why I posted on here.

And the reason why I post this is because I don't 100% know if it was on the phone or not. My driving habits have changed ALOT since the accident occured. It'll almost be a year and a half ago.

[john doe]

I'm not a lawyer but if I was I would advise you not to admit anything, even if you're unsure of it. Deny it, and if they want to make an issue of it, force them to get a subpoena for your phone records. Establishing that you were on the phone at the exact time of an accident is hard to prove unless there are multiple witnesses stating that they saw you on the phone at the time. Even timestamps on phone records can be found unreliable unless you implicated yourself through texts or calls at the time.

[Breaking]

I'm curious on how this would all go down:

If they did get a subpoena, would it only be for the short time frame that the accident occured?

The other party is claiming I did; though he is claiming that the pictures that were taken were right after the accident are NOT pictures of my car and that I drove a completely different vehicle at the time so... I don't know how creditable he is. I'm hoping my insurance got his side of the story on tape after what had happened before he changed his story in the last few months.

[Just_A_Guy]

I am not licensed in Texas; and where I am licensed I don't do personal injury. Let me give a couple of suggestions, though:

--Check your insurance policy to see if they're supposed to hire a lawyer for you. If so, check to see whether the lawyer represents you and not the insurance company. If the insurance policy is supposed to get you a lawyer, demand that they do so ASAP. If not, you need to go talk to one--again, ASAP.

--Once a formal lawsuit has been filed (and not before), the plaintiff can subpoena whatever they think is relevant. If the defendant thinks something the plaintiff has subpoenaed is irrelevant, the defendant files a "motion to quash" and everyone goes to a hearing where the judge decides whether the subpoenaed material is relevant or not.

[Blocky]

I was rear ended last year in California. They asked if I was on a phone. I wasn't. It was a routine question.

[Breaking]

@ Blocky: The issue is that he's sueing me. You being rear ended by someone else seems like it might be a little different(?)

@Just_A_Guy:

Thanks for the heads up. I honestly don't know if I have a lawyer that is specificly for me or just the insurance. They have asked to get my testimony recorded since I'm going to be on my mission during that time.

Also, reason I ask this is because some of the words from the text messages from the day before/after might put me in a bad light. Wouldn't you think that within 30 minutes of the time period of the accident would be sufficient?

Edited September 9, 2011 by Breaking

[john doe]

I would imagine they don't give two hoots about your language, they want to know if you were distracted by texting or talking on the phone at the time of the accident.

[Blocky]

@ Blocky: The issue is that he's sueing me. You being rear ended by someone else seems like it might be a little different(?)

I was just suggesting that perhaps it was a routine question. Do you think you being on the phone will change the outcome of you being sued? That you will be handles more harshly or are you more concerned with what they will find on your phone? Best of luck, I know it is an incredibly stressful situation to be in. Remember that this is only a 'thing' and doesn't need to saturate to other parts of you life. I hope it's all over with as quickly as possible.

[Gwen]

Also, reason I ask this is because some of the words from the text messages from the day before/after might put me in a bad light. Wouldn't you think that within 30 minutes of the time period of the accident would be sufficient?

And the truth comes out. I wondered from the beginning if it was more a concern for what would be found on the phone than anything else.

So now I wonder..... are you just afraid of looking less than lovely or worried information will come out that might delay your mission?

If I had to guess I would say only the time of the accident is relevant. All they need to know is if a text was being sent at the time or if you were on a call. (Which isn't solid evidence. In our case my husband's phone would show he was on the phone at the time of our accident but it was me in the passenger seat who was using his phone. All phone records show is that it was being used not by who or where they were sitting.) The only way I can see the information 30 min or more before the accident being important is if you admitted to being distracted by emotional stress or something that was from a phone call you received/made while driving.

[Breaking]

Its 'less than lovely'.

Also, my insurance is supplying me a lawyer (just_a_guy's comment).

I'm just wondering how likely it is since I COMPLETELY talked crap about the guy after, and had a HUGE fight with a friend the day before (not as much on the day before).

Would the content be shown or only the actual times of texts being sent and received?

Also, does calling for times of sent and received text messages require a subpoena? I know that for content it does, but does times matter?

^^ This is what I'm really curious about.