Attorneys’ Take on How Social Media Can Affect Your Car Accident Case
Social media posts are evidence in a car accident case, which is why it’s best to avoid posting while you’re pursuing an insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit. Our car accident lawyers can help you manage your social media usage during your case as well as explore using others’ use of social media as evidence in your favor.
What You Post on Social Media Can Affect Your Claim or Suit
We’ve gotten so used to documenting our lives that we forget that’s what social media is—documentation. After a collision, insurance adjusters, attorneys, and liable parties can scour your posts to check up on you as part of their investigation.
The main reason social media evidence is used in a car accident case is to verify injuries. Even something as simple as documenting an outing with friends following the crash could be used as evidence that you aren’t as injured as you say. Your activities, hobbies, and comings and goings could be scrutinized.
Legal Implications for You
If the other parties decide to use your online activity as evidence, they can jeopardize your ability to pursue damages for injuries and car accident losses. That could mean a reduction in your compensation or even an outright denial of your insurance claim by an adjuster.
What Others Post on Social Media Also Affects Your Claim or Suit 
Social media impact goes both ways. The other parties in your case are also accountable for what they post online, and our personal injury lawyers can look through their accounts for evidence.
We can also check their posts leading up to the crash to help identify negligence, place them at the scene, and recreate the accident.
Posts by Friends, Family, and Others Matter Too
The social media impact isn’t limited just to the people directly involved in an accident. People in contact with you or the other party can post in ways that affect the case. As invasive as it sounds, adjusters and investigators will check your friends and family’s accounts to see if what they present lines up with your story.
Witnesses to the crash also may have recorded video, taken photos, or posted about the crash as it was happening or afterward. This is evidence as well.
Legal Implications for You
The posts made by others can either help or hurt you. Friends and family could risk your access to damages by, for example, tagging you in a photo at the roller rink, even if you came on crutches and just sat on the sidelines to chat.
Witnesses’ posts could provide another view of the crash, which is sometimes vital in proving negligence in a car accident case, but they could also offer opinions that aren’t accurate and damage your case. Get the contact information from witnesses, either directly, through a police report, or with the help of our legal team. That way, we can determine what they saw and posted.
Online evidence from the other party involved could help us highlight their role in your accident, refute attempts to place more blame on you, and call into question their version of events.
How a Lawyer Can Help with the Social Media Impact on Your Case
If you’re worried about how social media will affect your case, either through your online activity or someone else’s, you can talk to a fort lauderdale car accident lawyer from our firm. We can offer our attorney insights into social media usage based on years of experience handling car collision claims and lawsuits.
Moreover, social media management is just one facet of the legal representation we provide. We can also help you:
- Avoid other common missteps that threaten your damages.
- Gather additional evidence of both negligence and your losses.
- Advise you of your rights as an accident victim.
- Draft a comprehensive strategy for resolving your case.
- Act in accordance with the statute of limitations.
Florida Statutes § 95.11(4)(a) generally allows two years for personal injury, but a car accident case against a municipality requires earlier notice according to Florida Statutes § 768.28(6)(a)(1). We can determine which statutes affect your case timeline.
Some of Our Advice for Online Behavior During a Case
- You can set your accounts to private but stay wary, as your profile information could still be subpoenaed in a lawsuit.
- Don’t add any new friends or connections following the crash, since they could be connected to the other party in your case.
- The best defense is not to post anything on your accounts either immediately after the crash or while your claim or suit is ongoing.
- If possible, ask friends and family to pause their social media usage as it relates to you, including tagging you in any content.
- Don’t delete anything either, as this could arouse suspicion that you destroyed evidence.
Get Personalized Attorney Insights into Social Media and Your Car Accident Case
Call the Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato today for a free car accident case review: (954) 633-8270. Our auto accident attorneys can guide you through what to do and not do on social media following a collision. Don’t risk losing out on damages because of something posted online. Check with us today!
