Is it Illegal to Record Someone After A Car Accident in North Carolina?
It can happen in the blink of an eye, and you’re never fully prepared for what happens after someone hits your car. But is it illegal to record someone after they have caused a car accident in North Carolina?
One day you’re cruising along on your evening commute, ready to get home and unwind after a long and tiring day at work. You see a stop sign coming so you slow down your car, only to be hit from behind by some reckless nitwit who was too busy texting to notice your car coming to a stop.
I know this all too well. My back bumper is badly dented in an accident recently, and my small amount of free time after work now was focused on resolving this issue. As tempting as it can be to lose your cool here, it’s important that you take appropriate next steps so the situation doesn’t escalate.
I wish I’d thought to record things after my accident. It might have made things easier.
Goeing, Goeing & McQuinn PLLC, says that it’s perfectly legal to record someone if they hit your car.
Whether while you’re driving or while parked, the best course of action is to whip out your phone and record everything. And I mean everything. In addition to pictures, video recording can be a useful tool when dealing with the aftermath of a fender bender, as it could help with navigating the situation amongst insurance companies and even law enforcement.
It is completely legal to record people in a public space, even if they don’t provide explicit consent. While this could potentially lead to icky situations in other areas, in the context of car accidents it can provide valuable insight as to what happened. This allows you to gather eyewitness testimonies from a bystander who may have witnessed the accident. It’s especially useful to record any interactions you may have with the other driver involved, as their behavior post-crash could later serve to benefit you.
Goeing, Goeing & McQuinn also advise you to look into a dash cam so you can provide clear, objective proof of how the collision happened. A dash cam can also capture license plate info in the event of a hit-and-run.
Just remember to stay safe in the moment of your car accident, but yes, you can absolutely record someone to help save you some headaches.