Car accidents are one of the most common causes of personal injury. Nearly 37,000 Americans die in car crashes every year while another 2.35 million are injured. The injuries in the wake of a car crash can leave a victim with serious injuries. If you have been involved in an accident, you may also face unexpected healthcare and treatment costs. Taking car crash photos can help you recover damages.
It is important to seek compensatory damages if you are injured in a crash caused by another driver. Such damages cover medical costs, lost wages as well as any other losses you may have suffered. When filing for damages, you have to prove the fault of the other negligent party. You are also required to provide the relevant evidence to back your claim.
Why Take Car Crash Photos?
Photographs are an important piece of evidence. If you are able to take photographs of the crash scene, the vehicles involved and any skid marks on the road, these can prove vital in establishing fault in the case. You may also use these to support your claim for compensation against another driver.
However, car crash photographs must be taken properly. If your case goes to a court, a judge and jury will look at these photographs and use them as legal evidence. Here are some tips on how best to take photographs of a car crash so that they can be used as admissible evidence.
Take the Right Photographs
During a car accident case, the court needs to determine who was at fault. This is done by looking at the available evidence. Photographs can point the court in the right direction. So you should snap photographs that may explain how the accident happened. These include photographs of the vehicles involved, specifically the damaged parts that were directly impacted by the collision. Also take photos of the interior of the cars involved as well as the license plates.
You should also photograph the road at the exact spot where the accident happened and the surrounding locality. Skid marks on the road can be used by crash reconstruction experts to determine what happened. Be sure to include these in the car crash photos taken at the scene of the accident.
Use Your Phone
Very few people travel around with a professional camera in their cars. However, most people do have a smartphone with them at most times. If you were involved in a traffic collision, you can use your smartphone camera to photograph the crash. A smartphone camera delivers fairly good results. Make sure you shoot the pictures from an angle which minimizes glare from the sun and clearly shows important details.
Use a Timestamp
If you are using a smartphone to take photographs of the crash, the car crash photos will be automatically timestamped. When using a digital camera, you may need to manually turn on the timestamp. If the feature is not available for some reason, simply write down the time and date when you snapped these photographs. This information may be of use later when the photographs are considered as evidence.
Try Different Angles and Distances
When taking photographs of the crash scene, snap photos from different angles. Also try shooting from different distances. The aim here is to provide an accurate and detailed view of the crash as well as the context of the crash. So you should include panoramic views from a longer distance as well as close-up shots to show smaller details. You may also experiment with using flash or turning it off when taking car crash photos.
Don’t Use Filters
When you are shooting car crash photos, you should try to keep them as accurate as possible. Using filters may affect the accuracy of the photos. Filtered photos may be dismissed in court as reliable evidence. So make sure you turn off any filters before you shoot photos of the crash site.
Hiring a Car Accident Lawyer in Birmingham AL
If you have been involved in a car crash, you should hire an attorney as soon as possible. An experienced attorney will help you prepare your case for trial, even if it ends up settling outside of court. The attorney will also determine the amount of losses you have incurred, aiding you in seeking a suitable sum.
At Hare Wynn, we work with you to get you the compensation you deserve. Our Birmingham car accident attorneys also help you prepare a compensation claim, analyze the available evidence and organize it to make sure that it supports your case. Contact us today to book a FREE consultation with our lawyers.
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