Facebook And Your Car Accident Case

Have you ever wondered how what you post on Facebook can impact your car accident case? Well, if you haven’t, you absolutely should! If you have been hurt in a car accident and you have an experienced car accident lawyer, he or she is going to give you some excellent advice each and every time: be careful of what you post on social media, because it can be used against you!

Below, our friends from Blaszkow Legal, PLLC discuss how Facebook and social media in general can affect your car accident case.

How Social Media Can Affect Your Case

Many of us have allowed social media to become part of our lives. Some of us make posts without even realizing the impact it can have—from posting a picture of a fabulous dinner to celebrating an amazing night on the town. These things may sound innocuous. And as to the dinner, it is. But what about that night on the town? Could that be used against you? You probably don’t think it can. Let’s dive a little bit deeper.

Medical Records And Statements Matter

Remember your car accident and consider everything that you have said within your medical records. Every time you go to a doctor, the doctor has to write notes (medical records), and those entries form one of the largest pieces of evidence that any personal injury attorney has to prove your case and how the case has impacted the aspects of your daily life.

So, if you go to the doctor and you tell the doctor that you’re having trouble lifting anything over 5 lb, and you have pain when you turn your head to look in the mirror while driving, this sounds like a perfectly reasonable symptom to have after a car accident when you’ve hurt your neck and your back. So far, so good.

How Posts Can Be Used Against You

But, if you go to the doctor at 3:00 in the afternoon and you tell the doctor that you have this pain in your neck and your back, and you can’t really turn your head, and then at 7:00 that night, you are posting pictures of you dancing with friends, now you have created evidence to call your own statements into question. Dancing? Yes, absolutely. Dancing requires movement, and the insurance company is going to argue that the video of you dancing shows that you are able to move without pain because here you are doing it recreationally. This creates an argument by the insurance company to say that you are not telling the whole truth to your doctor, and thus all of your statements should be called into question. Attacking the integrity of a witness, including the plaintiff, is known as impeachment.

Insurance Companies Use Every Tactic

This is not a new tactic, but insurance lawyers will use whatever they can to attack your case. Never forget that they are in the business of paying as little money as possible, if any at all. They will use every trick they can to attack your case. This includes attacking you.

When It May Be Safe To Post

Now, in the same fact pattern as above, if you have been discharged from your doctor and you’ve made a full recovery, is there any trouble with you posting the dancing? Well, probably not. But here again, everything is fact-specific. If you are telling the doctor that you have continual pain, and part of your claim is for continuing physical injuries, then indeed you should be speaking to your attorney about it.

Think Before You Post

At the heart of the matter is remembering that anything that you say, which includes anything that you post, can and will be used against you in court. Never reveal or create evidence that a crafty defense lawyer can use to attack your case and attack you. Before you post anything, it never hurts to call your car accident lawyer and check to see if it’s okay!