The days after your accident are very important when it comes to preserving and finding evidence. You need to document injuries and take the steps needed to build a strong case for the personal injury claim you will file. How can you do that? Vehicle accident lawyers recommend the following.
Get Back To The Scene Of The Accident
When the accident happened in another location than your home, get back to the scene. Do this as soon as you can so that you can photograph important elements and locate potential evidence. Most people do not do this but you will surely be surprised to find some things you did not even think about, like a traffic light that does not work or a worn part of a carpet. You can also find people that might have been witnesses.
You have to take photographs of the scene of the accident if you did not manage to do this right after the accident. These images will eventually be very useful for the personal injury settlement, especially when talking about vehicle accidents. To make photos even better, try to take them when situations are similar, like the same hour of a day.
Protect All Physical Evidence
Physical evidence like broken stairs, car dents, and overhanging branches often dictate the outcome of an injury claim. Also, physical evidence is very useful in proving how injured you actually are. As an example, car damage will be very effective at demonstrating the impact of the collision.
Try to preserve physical evidence and when you cannot actually do that, simply take photos. In the future, you will use the images to prove what happened.
To take some great pictures you would be able to use, remember the following:
- Your smartphone camera is more than enough to show details and light conditions. Alternatively, you can use an older camera, but try to avoid Polaroids because they do not capture really crisp images.
- Regardless of the camera you will use, take photographs from various angles. You can pick the very best one at a later point in time, based on what you want to highlight.
- Try to take photographs as soon as you can so that you can accurately represent accident conditions.
- Check your camera or smartphone to be sure that a timestamp is put on the images. Alternatively, quickly develop the film so you have the date from the shop where you did this as proof.
Find Witnesses
Last but not least, an eyewitness can become incredibly valuable for your insurance claim. Such people can describe what happened and end up confirming your story. In addition, they can present some information that you had no idea about. Sometimes, even witnesses who were not present and did not see what happened can become valuable as they saw your injuries or can confirm some other things you mention, like lighting conditions.
The only problem is you will have to contact people as soon as possible. The sooner your story is confirmed, the sooner you have the evidence you need. Also, in time, information is lost or forgotten. Never underestimate how fast people can forget very important accident details.
