Unless you’ve been hiding from any and all media, you’ll have heard about the case of a minor car accident that occurred on the side of Highway 401 and turned into an internet sensation. A GTA man caused uproar recently after he posted a video on Youtube that was recorded by his dashcam – a digital camera mounted on the dashboard of his car.
The dashcam recorded an accident that occurred after Mississauga student Herman Sham stopped his Subaru on the shoulder of the busy highway during rush hour behind another vehicle owned by Ajax resident Raguruban Yogarajah. The Acura owned by Raguruban rolled back and hit the Subaru, after which both drivers – unwisely – got out of their cars to discuss the accident.
Herman has said in published reports that he posted the video as a warning to other drivers to be careful, and of the value of a dashcam in recording the truth of an accident. He claimed the other driver had attempted a scam, and he wanted to prove his version of the events. The incident quickly turned into an online media circus when Youtube viewers tracked down the alleged offender’s license plate number and began harassing him. To complicate matters, the alleged scammer has now been charged with fraud as police indicate he originally claimed to them that it had been his car, in fact, which had been rear ended. The video does establish that it was the car in front that rolled back to cause the collision.
As the bizarre incident plays out in court, it may make you consider the value of installing a dashcam in your own vehicle – especially if you travel on some of the GTA’s many congested and accident prone roads.
A Dashcam Can Prove of Value in Court
While there’s no absolute guarantee that a judge will accept any evidence, in general, along with photographs and witness testimony, video evidence is considered of value in proving the facts of a case. It may be your only evidence in a hit and run case, for example, and insurance scams are becoming common in the GTA.
- They’re affordable and readily available online, with many models in the $40-70 range
- They routinely include a date and time stamp
- Some models also include GPS coordinates to fix your location
It all sounds simple
Just set up the camera, and your interests are protected. However, there are some important points you should consider:
- You’ll have to keep the camera running all the time as you’re driving to get the full value – video that starts after an accident has occurred is measurably less valuable, although it may record any dispute between the drivers after the fact.
- Here’s the most important:
- What do you see? How clear is the video? What is legible? Do you see the face of the other driver?
- Do you see the license plate?
- It can only record what occurs at the front end of your car – an obvious limitation.
The more detail there is, the more readily the video will be accepted, since those details are quite difficult to edit unless you’re very skilled and possess specialized equipment and software. Edits and changes to video are generally easy to detect.
A dashcam may or may not help your case; whether you decide to install one or not, legal representation ensures your rights are taken into account in the case of a motor vehicle accident.
Whether you’ve been hit or your car is considered at fault, you need the expert advice we can give you to help negotiate your way through the process and work towards the best possible outcome.
Get the Legal Representation You Need
Know your rights. Contact the car accident lawyers at Petrillo Law today by calling (905) 949-9433. We look forward to hearing from you.
We are located at 2600 Skymark Ave., Unit 1, Suite 201, Mississauga, Ontario, L4W 5B2
Leave a Reply