I was in a non-contact traffic accident. What kind of evidence should I gather?

A non-contact traffic accident can be recognized even without an actual collision between vehicles, where the accident occurred in the course of avoidance due to the other vehicle's dangerous driving.

However, because it is a type of accident in which, “since there is no direct collision,” the burden of proof is heavily demanded of the victim, securing evidence is very important.

First, the key to proving a non-contact accident is securing video footage of the other vehicle's negligent actions, such as an abrupt lane change, sudden stop, or dangerous cutting in.

If it is not clearly captured on your own vehicle's dashcam, you must request and secure the dashcam footage of vehicles near the time of the accident, vehicles that stopped after the accident, and vehicles parked around the accident site, and the like.

In addition, securing CCTV from the accident scene also helps.

If circumstances of dangerous driving, such as the other vehicle's driving pattern, lane change, and sudden entry, are captured in surrounding footage such as CCTV at intersections, around traffic lights, at bus stops, and on the exterior walls of commercial buildings, the evidentiary power greatly increases.

Furthermore, if you have kept photographs or video of traces of the collision with the structure caused by the avoidance and of the skid marks caused by the sudden braking, they become important materials for explaining the causal relationship of the accident.

Additionally, if there were witnesses, it is good to secure their statements, and if it is difficult to secure witnesses, you must write in detail, in your own written statement, the circumstances of the accident, the part concerning the other vehicle, the driving situation, and the like.

Because a non-contact traffic accident often involves claims that “the other vehicle's fault is not clear” since there was no actual collision, it is a type of accident in which the outcome differs entirely depending on how the evidence is collected.

Accordingly, if you receive help from an evidence examination expert or a traffic accident attorney, you can increase the possibility of proving the other vehicle's fault in a non-contact traffic accident through specialized procedures such as dashcam analysis, CCTV route tracing, and confirmation of the vehicle's movement path.