With the increased utilization of dashcams, people started catching more and more accidents and emergencies on camera. But, as much as that footage is valuable, sometimes courts can reject it for various reasons.
Therefore, is dash cam video admissible in court? If you want to discover the answer to that and see what the law says about this matter, keep reading.
Is Dash Cam Video Admissible in Court?
As every state has different laws regarding whether dash cam footage can be or can not be accepted as evidence in court, one thing is for sure.
As long as your footage is recorded in a public place, there should be no problems, and that footage should usually be accepted in court as admissible.
On the other hand, if the footage is recorded on private property without valid permission, the court might use this footage against you.
Moreover, if your footage is recorded without the knowledge of other people in the vehicle, and if there are some private conversations, this can also be used against you in court.
Therefore, the best thing you can do so that the dash cam video can become admissible in court is to put a sticker on the dash cam and always try to record only in public places.
Finally, the recording is far more valuable since dash cams record essential data like GPS coordinates and the time and date of the video.
Authenticated video
Thus, is dash cam video admissible in court? Well, another significant factor impacting the admissibility is its authenticity.
More specifically, when you submit a recording from a dash cam as evidence in court, you must remember that that footage must be authenticated. This means you must prove that you have recorded the video with your dash cam.
Otherwise, if you can not prove the footage’s authenticity, the dash camera video might not be admissible in court, regardless of what it proves.
The importance of the quality of the video
Although video proof is solid, if the footage quality is grainy or low, this might affect the value of your argument in court, and the footage might become inadmissible.
Therefore, you must consult your lawyer before submitting the video in court. Thanks to their experience and expertise, they will be able to advise you on what would be best and whether it is wise to use the dash camera footage as your main argument.
Read more: Can You Report Bad Driving With Dash Cam Footage?
What Should the Footage Contain to Be Admissible in Court?
Recording a video and submitting it in court as evidence will not do anything without it having the corresponding data and authentication.
That is why you must first ensure that the specific footage contains all the necessary data. Without that data, regardless of how good and clear the footage or footage quality is, the chances that it will be admissible in court are low.
So, that said, before you try and use a particular dash camera footage as evidence, you must make sure that the footage contains the following:
- The date of when the video was recorded
- The exact time
- GPS and location of the dash cam during the recording of that video
- The longitude and the latitude of the position of the dash camera
- The driving speed in that particular video footage
Can the Dashcam Footage Be Used Against You?
It can and it can not. First, if the dash cam footage is clear, authenticated, and recorded in a public place, the chances that it might be used against you if you are in the video doing something illegal are high.
Also, suppose you have recorded the video on private property without permission from the property owners. In that case, it is most likely that this footage will be used against you, regardless of what is happening in the video.
Second, if the dash cam records you behaving aggressively to another driver, for instance, even though the accident might be their fault, you still might get negative points for this in court.
Finally, if the dash camera footage is of poor quality and unauthenticated, you might save yourself as that evidence will not be conclusive and 100% valid.
Also read: Can Police Take Away Your Dash Cam?
Conclusion
To conclude, is dash cam video admissible in court? Well, the chances for that are high. However, as you saw, it might depend on a few factors whether the video footage will be admissible.