Whenever you are involved in an accident, it is very important that you gather evidence to help you support your injury claim. This is not as easy to do as you might think because there is a very high possibility you do not know much about it.
Personal injury law is very complicated. You need all the help you can get in order to prove what happened. This is why it is such a good idea to gather evidence at the scene. This is especially the case in very serious cases, like with 18 wheeler truck accidents.
With the use of physical evidence, you can prove how injured you were. As an example, when you show specific car damage, it can prove how severe the impact was. Bloodied or torn clothing will be capable of dramatically showing physical injuries.
When you cannot photograph and preserve physical evidence right after the accident, you lose a lot of leverage for your personal injury claim. Evidence can so easily get lost, repaired, or even destroyed. Try to preserve bike or car damage, torn clothing, and even defective products.
How Will Photos Help Your Case?
There are several situations in which you cannot preserve evidence. When this is the case, you can definitely use photographs as evidence. Fortunately, even photos you take with the smartphone will be very useful during the personal injury claim.
Take out your phone and take photos from as many angles as possible. You can pick the very best ones later on. Also, your attorney will surely choose the ones you can eventually use as proof.
Try to take photographs as soon as you can so they represent evidence conditions as accurately as possible. Process or print the photographs and make sure you have evidence about the date when they were taken.
Remember that in any public place, you are allowed to take photographs. When the area is closed, you need permission. For instance, inside shopping malls, if you are injured, you need the permission of security people or managers to take photos. When you negotiate settlements with the insurance adjuster, you can take the photographs with you. They will simply make your claim a lot stronger.
Getting Back To The Scene Of The Accident
When you had to leave the scene of the accident, like when you go to the hospital to get your injuries treated, try to get back as soon as you can. The sooner you get back, the better your photograph will be. Also, you have a higher chance that you can still photograph some things that contributed to or caused the accident.
If possible, try to talk to people that might have been witnesses. Obviously, you do not want to photograph them. But you will benefit from getting their contact information.
At the end of the day, anything that seems to be useful for your claim should be saved. And you need to get in touch with a personal injury attorney as soon as you can so that you can start the injury claim process and receive the financial compensation you have the right to get.