Dallas Attorney and Traffic Safety Advocate Amy Witherite Says the Same Technology That Helped Convict Mackenzie Shirilla Could Be the Key Evidence That Wins an Accident Case
Netflix’s “The Crash” Has an Important Hidden Message for Anyone Who Drives
Mackenzie Shirilla sits in jail because a device she probably didn’t know existed proved she never touched the brakes before crashing into a wall at 100 miles per hour killing her two passengers. That case is the subject of the new Netflix documentary The Crash. Dallas attorney and traffic safety advocate Amy Witherite, founder of the Witherite Law Group, says that same technology is doing something else every day helping accident victims get justice.
“That same black box is riding in nearly every vehicle on the road right now,” says Witherite. “And if you are ever seriously injured in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence, that data could be the difference between proving your case and walking away with nothing.”
Event Data Recorders capture a precise snapshot of a vehicle’s actions in the critical seconds before impact speed, braking, throttle position, seatbelt usage, and whether safety systems were engaged. In accident litigation, that data can be decisive evidence of negligence. But there is a critical catch: the window to preserve it can close quickly, and decoding it requires specialized technical expertise most accident victims don’t know they need.
