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Car accidents happen unexpectedly, and they can lead to significant injuries for drivers and passengers. If you or somebody you care about has sustained an injury due to the careless or negligent actions of another driver on the roadway, you need to understand all of your options for recovering compensation for your losses. One of the most important things you can do in the aftermath of a crash is take photos at the scene of the incident. This evidence can be used whether you seek compensation through insurance carriers or a personal injury lawsuit. The good news is that it has become much easier to take photographs at a car accident scene because just about everybody has a phone that is capable of taking pictures.
One of the main reasons you need to take photographs in the immediate aftermath of a crash is that evidence will begin deteriorating rapidly. As soon as vehicles are moved, evidence disappears. Police, fire, and EMS personnel may inadvertently disturb or destroy valuable evidence, and tow truck crews will clean the entire scene as quickly as possible to restore traffic patterns. After a crash scene has cleared, much of the evidence is already gone. Photographs can help preserve evidence that may be necessary to prove liability.
If another driver caused your accident, their account of the incident may be quite different than yours. In fact, the other driver may try to blame you for the crash. While photographs alone may not tell the whole story, they can be used to piece together chains of events. Photographs of the areas of a vehicle that were damaged, skid marks, and the debris field can all help establish what happened.
While taking pictures of injuries may not be on a person’s mind in the aftermath of a crash, this kind of evidence can be incredibly useful. If you are able to do so safely, take photographs of any injuries you sustained as soon as possible after a crash. This helps establish a link between the incident and your injuries. You can also take photographs of the same injuries in the days and weeks following the crash as you recover. This will help show how long the recovery process has taken and could help you recover compensation for lost wages as well as pain and suffering damages.
The old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” is certainly appropriate here. It is one thing to describe injuries and read medical records, but a photograph can be eye-opening to a jury when they are deciding the facts of a case and the amount of compensation an injury victim should receive.
You do not have to be an excellent photographer in order to capture the reality of what has happened at the crash scene. Using your smartphone or another type of camera, take photographs of any damages, injuries, skid marks, debris, traffic and weather conditions, and more. Take multiple photos at various angles and distances of everything. For example, if there is significant damage to the rear end of your vehicle, take a photo directly behind the vehicle from a few feet away, then 10 feet away, then 20 feet away. Then take a photo of the same area while standing to the side of the vehicle and at the same distances as before. Use this method for anything you take a photograph of after the car accident occurs.
If you or someone you know have been injured in a car crash, reach out to a Lexington car accident lawyer for help today.