I had a sad meeting with a client once. He was driving in New Hampshire in the snow. A car pulled out of a parking lot and cut him off. My client slid in the snow and hit the car. The person that he hit was a native of the town in New Hampshire in which it happened. My client is an immigrant from Lowell.
The police report says that the other guy was still in the parking lot when my client, thinking he was going to pull out, slammed his brakes, lost control of the car and slid into the parking lot, striking the other car that had not yet pulled out of the parking lot. There are, of course, no witnesses. Even the officer’s drawing indicates that this happened right where the parking lot meets the road. What is more, there are several things in the police report which demonstrate that the officer is not on my client’s side. He not once, but twice, mentioned that my client was not injured at the scene. He would quote my client and then add snide little comments about what he was trying to imply. In my heart, I really do believe my client over the police officer. But the insurance company will certainly take the police officer’s side, as would a New Hampshire jury.
Like most people, my client carries a cell phone, and the cell phone has a camera. If only he had taken some pictures at the scene. I would then be able to prove what really happened and would be able to settle the case fairly easily, notwithstanding what the police report says. Unfortunately, he did not. He thought the accident was pretty straightforward, and it never occurred to him that this would happen. He was very surprised when I told him what the police officer wrote. I really wish people would make it a habit to take pictures at the scene when they are in an accident.