Understanding The Accident Injury Claim Process

If you were involved in a vehicle accident with a commercial trucker, it is vitally important that your lawyer obtains photos and videos of the accident scene and of the truck involved in the accident. Here are a few things you need to know about photo and video evidence in a truck accident case.

#1 Take Photos At The Accident Scene

If you or a passenger is in the physical state to do so, you should take photos of the accident scene. Make sure that your photos encompass the scene as a whole, and show where both you and the commercial truck were traveling and where you ended up. You should also make sure that you take pictures of the commercial truck up close. These pictures should show what damage or marks were left on the commercial truck. If possible, you even want to get a picture inside the cab of the commercial truck.

You may not be physically able to obtain all of these pictures, which is why if you have an attorney on retainer you should call and request them to come down to the scene of the accident and take pictures.

#2 Obtain Pictures Of The Accident Scene

If you are not able to get photos of the accident scene due to injuries, there are still lots of ways that you can get photos.

Your attorney can request photos from the officers who responded to the scene; if it was a big accident they should have documented what happened with photo evidence. The police who respond may also have dash cam video footage that can establish the scene. If firefighters responded to the scene of the accident, they may have taken pictures that your attorney can obtain as well.

Also, make sure that your attorney looks around and asks around for video footage. Store cameras near the accident site may have captures valuable footage, or traffic cameras may have footage that you could use to build your case.

#3 Pictures Can Tell A Larger Story

Picture evidence in truck accident cases are important because they can show and tell a larger story. They can make it more clear who was responsible or the various factors in play that contributed to the accident.

For example, if the trucker hit you without slamming on their brakes, that would be evidence via photo and video evidence. Or if your vehicle was torn apart, seeing that damage can be more impactful to a judge and jury than hearing about it. Or, perhaps the inside of the cab is covered with energy drinks or show a bottle of caffeine pills; that type of evidence could support your argument of driver fatigue and negligence on the part of the trucking company in pushing drivers to drive for too long.

Picture evidence can become invaluable to your case and back up the testimony from yourself and other witnesses about what happened during the accident. It can really strengthen your case so make sure that your attorney obtains as much video and photo evidence to support your case as possible.