Can Dashcam Footage Help or Hurt Your Car Accident Claim?

A car accident can happen in a heartbeat, yet the fallout can drag on for months or even years. When fault is disputed, dashcam footage can feel like talking to an honest eyewitness who was riding shotgun. Missouri juries trust what they can see, and insurers know it.

Ways dashcam footage can tip the scales of justice in your favor

Video can capture the instant a light turned green, a truck drifted over the center line, or a cellphone glowed in another driver’s hand. It proves speed, distance, and weather better than any memory. With a clear clip, an adjuster often jumps straight to dollar figures instead of excuses.

Documenting road and weather conditions

Wet asphalt, blinding sun, or a flooded underpass can shift blame. Frame‑by‑frame footage provides context for skid marks or unexpected hydroplaning. That context can nudge Missouri’s pure comparative fault percentages toward the driver who created the risk, not the one who suffered its consequences. This can impact how much a person may recover for their injuries.

Catching hit‑and‑run plates

Many Missouri crashes happen on two‑lane highways that wind through the Ozarks or farmland, where a fleeing taillight vanishes fast. A steady lens can snag the license plate before it disappears, handing police a lead and giving you a viable defendant.

Strengthening eyewitness testimony

A stranger’s statement may sound shaky alone. Paired with synchronized video, the story gains backbone, leaving a defense lawyer far less room to suggest confusion or bias.

The flipside: when dashcam footage backfires

A camera is neutral—it records your errors too. If you were glancing at the GPS or creeping over the speed limit, the defense can ask jurors to replay that moment again and again. Open‑mic audio may even capture a panicked admission you’d rather forget.

Missouri rules you need to know

Issue	Key Missouri Authority	Practical Takeaway
Windshield placement	Mo. Rev. Stat. § 307.173 bars objects that obstruct the driver’s view of the roadway.	Mount the camera high, behind the rear‑view mirror—not in the middle of the glass.
Authentication	Missouri Rules of Evidence 901 (same numbering as federal rule).	Keep the original memory card intact with date/time stamps untouched, so counsel can lay a clean foundation.
Audio recording	Missouri is a one‑party‑consent state (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 542.402.2).	You may legally record in‑car conversations that you are a party to.
Comparative fault	Missouri follows pure comparative negligence by case law and statute.	Dashcam proof that you signaled, braked early, or held your lane can shrink your fault percentage and boost recovery.

Preserving evidence

To preserve evidence, take the following actions as soon as possible after the accident:

1. Secure the memory card immediately. Pull the power cord and pocket the memory card before the loop‑record function overwrites it.
2. Make two digital backups, and then cloud‑store a copy for backup.
3. Maintain chain of custody. Label the device, note the time removed, and log every hand‑off.

Talking to the insurance company

Facts and the truth are not necessarily the same. Handing over raw video without legal review can be costly, since an adjuster may cherry‑pick a few incriminating moments. Let your attorney screen every frame first, then release only the portion that tells the truthful, complete story.

Handling requests from the other side

Defense counsel will subpoena the footage once they learn it exists. Destroying or editing a video after receiving a spoliation notice is illegal and can trigger sanctions and an adverse‑inference instruction. Keep everything, even if it hurts, and let legal strategy decide what the jury ultimately sees.

Impact on settlement value

Claims backed by undisputed dash‑cam footage settle faster and higher. Insurers crunch probabilities. A video that nails liability shaves weeks off of negotiations and often adds real money to the offer.

What if you don’t have a dashcam?

Missouri courts allow traffic‑cam pulls, business security reels, and even doorbell video from nearby homes. A prompt lawyer can send preservation letters within hours, preventing crucial angles from being deleted by automated systems.

Choosing and installing the right device

It’s crucial that you install just the right kind of dashcam:

• Specs that matter: 1080p or better resolution, 140‑degree lens, infrared night mode, and a G‑sensor that locks collision clips.
• Parking mode: Captures the moment a hit‑and‑run driver backs into your parked car on Broadway in Kansas City at 2 a.m.
• Install properly. Get help if you are uncertain. Make sure there are no dangling wires to invite a windshield‑obstruction ticket.

Syncing time and date

Courts frown on timestamp errors. Sync the camera’s clock with GPS or your phone weekly. A five‑second mismatch can become the gap defense counsel turns into claim-defeating doubt.

Explaining your story to a jury

A compelling narrative still matters. Your lawyer may slow the clip, freeze a frame, or digitally highlight a texting driver’s glowing screen. Paired with honest testimony about pain and medical bills, effective footage turns cold pixels into persuasive evidence.

Not just cars—motorcycles and big rigs too

Riders mount cameras on helmets, and truckers often have dual‑facing systems (front and back). If you were struck by a commercial vehicle, your lawyer will demand those recordings in discovery. Sometimes they reveal hours of fatigue before the crash.

Dealing with police investigations

Officers may ask for a copy of your dashcam footage at the scene. Politely decline until you’ve duplicated the file and spoken to your lawyer. Provide it later through counsel to preserve the chain of custody and avoid accidental deletion.

Future tech and artificial intelligence

Modern cams overlay speed, GPS, and impact data that can be plotted on a map for evidentiary exhibits. An expert can extract that metadata, proving where, when, and how forcefully you were struck.

Your next steps after a wreck

Take the following actions as soon as you can after an accident.

1. Seek medical care.
2. Secure the dashcam.
3. Snap phone photos and gather witness contacts.

After you leave the scene of the accident, call a seasoned Missouri car‑accident lawyer who knows how to leverage video footage without letting it become a trap.

Contact a Kansas City Car Accident Lawyer

Our seasoned trial lawyers at Kansas City Accident Injury Attorneys have studied many hours of dashcam footage. We know how to turn each frame into leverage. Let us put that experience to work for you, turning evidence into hard‑earned compensation when the road takes an unexpected turn. Call us or fill out our contact form today for a free consultation.