When handling a vehicle accident claim, it can in some cases be necessary to be able to show that the defendant's story is not truthful. Sometimes all an attorney has to do so as to establish this is to show that the defendant lied or told an account that was false in some aspect. This is frequently enough to bring the other parts of the story into doubt. Pull at one thread of a story and it may all unravel. The difficult part is discovering that thread. The key many times lies in the way people distort facts. Many times, when people are making up a lie, they try too hard to make the story appear consistent. One way they do that is by making up too many details - the kinds of details people who are telling the truth would normally probably not remember.

Take into account, for instance, a lawsuit that concerned a vehicle accident which happened in a four way intersection. An SUV went into an intersection as a woman was in the intersection riding her bicycle. There were no bystanders in the area who saw the accident. The bicyclist claimed that she had stopped at the stop sign prior to entering the intersection. However according to the driver, it was the bicyclist who was responsible for the accident by going into the intersection without yielding the right of way. This would have been a simple, clean story. Without witnesses it would usually be a matter of whether a jury would believe the driver or the bicyclist. Yet the driver did not stop there. The defendant additionally claimed that was difficult to see the plaintiff because she was wearing dark clothes, and was riding a bicycle without adequate illumination.

The victim was thrown onto the pavement with so much force that she sustained a severe injury to her knee. Due to this injury she had to have arthroscopic surgery.

Two critical things were done correctly in this lawsuit. First, following the accident the fire department discovered a dislodged bicycle light at the location where the accident occurred. Second, the law firm that represented the victim uncovered this information and approached a member of the fire department to testify at the trial of the case. As a result the jury took only 1 hour to find for the bicyclist. The jury awarded her $300,000.

This matter presented an example in which the lack of witnesses to the accident could have prevented the bicyclist victim from recovering for her injuries. It is impossible to say what motivates an individual to distort the facts or even plain lie about how an accident took place. Presumably, the defendant had sufficient insurance to pay for the victim’s claim. Presumably, the defendant knew the extent of the injury the plaintiff suffered as a result of the accident. Yet, if not for the testimony of the fire department member, the defendant’s claims about the circumstances of the accident (which the jury clearly did not believe) could in all probability have blocked the bicyclist victim from recovering for her injury.