How Fault Is Determined When You Have Crash Video

Attorney Answer

A video helps, but it rarely decides fault by itself — and in California, being partly at fault does not end your claim. A recording is evidence, not a verdict. An adjuster, and ultimately a jury, weighs it against everything else: the traffic collision report, the damage patterns on both cars, the road and weather conditions, speed, and what each driver did in the seconds before impact.

California's negligence rule is a statute, not a formula. Cal. Civ. Code § 1714(a) provides: “Everyone is responsible, not only for the result of his or her willful acts, but also for an injury occasioned to another by his or her want of ordinary care or skill in the management of his or her property or person, except so far as the latter has, willfully or by want of ordinary care, brought the injury upon himself or herself.” Fault, in plain terms, means a failure to use ordinary care that caused the harm.

The closing clause of that sentence is what worries people. It does not mean that carelessness on your part shuts the door. California applies pure comparative fault. In Daly v. General Motors Corp., 20 Cal. 3d 725 (1978), the California Supreme Court reaffirmed a system that assigns responsibility in direct proportion to each party's negligence, so an injured person's recovery is reduced only to the extent his own lack of reasonable care contributed to the injury. Fault is a percentage split between the drivers, not a door that closes on you.

Video is most useful where it settles something that would otherwise be one driver's word against the other's: which light was green, who changed lanes, whether a turn signal was on, how fast a car was closing. It is least useful for what it cannot show, such as what a driver could see from inside the car. It can also show something you did not expect — which is a reason to watch it carefully before you describe the crash to anyone.

What you can do

1. Back up the video today, in its original file, to two places. Do not trim it, add music, or export a shortened version; the untouched file, with its date and time information, is what carries weight.

2. Write down the traffic collision report number and the agency that responded, and request a copy of the report from that agency.

3. Photograph both vehicles, the roadway, and any skid marks or debris before repairs begin.

4. See a doctor promptly if anything hurts, and keep every bill, discharge instruction and referral in one folder.

5. Report the crash to your own insurer as your policy requires.

6. Ask a local lawyer before you give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer, post the video publicly, or sign anything. Those are choices with consequences a general page cannot weigh for you.

Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1 gives two years for a personal injury claim, and Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 338(c)(1) gives three years for damage to your vehicle. Which period applies to you, and when it started running on your facts, is exactly the question to put to a local attorney now rather than later. This page will not calculate your deadline, and you should not calculate it yourself.