If the Police Officer Gave Me the Traffic Ticket After an Auto Accident, Do I Still Have a Personal Injury Case?
The typical car or truck accident in Jacksonville, Florida is not witnessed by a Jacksonville Sheriff's Office officer or any other law enforcement officer. However, after the accident, someone will call 911, and an officer will respond to the accident. By that time, the cars involved in the accident have probably moved, witnesses may have left the scene and an outside observer would have a difficult time figuring out how the accident occurred. The police officer who arrives at the scene will look at the vehicles, talk to whoever is available and give a traffic ticket to one (or possibly both) of the drivers.
As personal injury and wrongful death lawyers, it is not uncommon for us to speak with a client who received a ticket after the accident but was not really at fault for the accident. In such cases, the officer shows up after the accident and makes a judgment as to who was at fault based on limited or faulty information. In some cases, our client was severely injured in the accident and was unable to give his/her side of the story to the police officer or was already transported to a hospital while the other driver was not injured and was able to give his/her side of the story. In that case, the police officer only had one side of the story and issued a traffic citation based on incomplete or misleading information.
As a result, if you have been in an accident in which you were injured and the Jacksonville or other police officer gave you the traffic ticket, this does not necessarily mean the accident was your fault and you do not have a case. Your personal injury or wrongful death law firm can thoroughly investigate the accident, take pictures, interview witnesses, retain an expert accident reconstructionist and do other things to determine how the accident occurred and who was at fault.
Additionally, if your personal injury or wrongful death case goes to trial, the fact that the officer gave you or your loved one a ticket after the crash is not relevant, and it is not admissible for the jury. In fact, unless the responding officer actually observed the accident, he/she is very limited in what he/she can testify to at a trial.
If you have been injured in an accident and received a traffic citation or a loved one was killed in an accident and the other driver was not given a traffic ticket, you still may have a case. Feel free to contact us to discuss your case and your rights to pursue a claim for compensation, regardless of who received the traffic citation.
