Picture someone blurting out, "That truck ran the light!" seconds after a crash, before anyone has had time to slow down, compare stories, or polish what happened. In law and insurance, an excited utterance is a statement made while a person is still under the stress or shock of a startling event. Because the speaker is reacting in the moment rather than carefully thinking things through, courts may treat the statement as more reliable than ordinary hearsay.

That matters when key facts come from chaos at the scene. After a highway collision, a fall, or another sudden injury event, people may say things that help show fault, timing, or what they observed. A judge may allow that statement into evidence even if the speaker is unavailable later or cannot remember details as clearly. Under North Dakota Rule of Evidence 803(2) (2025), an excited utterance is a recognized exception to the hearsay rule.

For an injury claim, that can help preserve what happened before memories fade. A 911 call, body-cam recording, or witness statement made right after a wreck near Williston, for example, may support causation, identify a driver, or back up damages. Insurance companies may still challenge whether the speaker was truly under stress or had time to reflect, so timing and context are critical.