You have the right to pursue compensation for your car accident injuries if someone else caused you to get hurt. As the plaintiff, you carry the burden of proof. To win your car accident case and carry the burden of proof, you’ll need evidence supporting your claims.
Evidence can include many things, including physical items, documents, or statements, that help to show that your claim is more likely to be true than not.
The more evidence you have to support your case, and the stronger it is, the more likely it becomes that you’ll receive a meaningful settlement offer during negotiations with the insurance company or win a top-dollar verdict if your car accident lawsuit goes to trial.
While every case is different, here’s a breakdown of evidence that’s often beneficial in car accident litigation.
Accident Reports
One of the first things you should do after you’re involved in a car accident is call 911 or the local police department to report the collision. Once you call, there’s a formal record of the incident, and police will be dispatched to the scene to gather additional information.
Police officers on the scene will write a report that can contain a lot of important details about your crash, including:
- The time, date, and specific physical location of the car crash
- The names of all involved parties
- A diagram of the accident scene
- Road conditions
- Weather conditions
- Citations issued to parties involved in the collision
- Descriptions of damage to physical property and evidence at the scene, such as visible skid marks or broken taillights
- Preliminary assessments of fault or responsibility
Police and accident reports might not be admissible as evidence in court in most states, but they can contain valuable information about a car accident. An experienced car accident attorney can use the accident report to gain insight into a collision, better understand the circumstances of the crash, and support additional efforts to conduct an investigation and gather evidence that can be used at trial, if necessary.
Video Footage
It’s becoming increasingly common for car accidents to be captured on film by dashboard cameras, red light cameras, store surveillance cameras, or even residential doorbell cameras. If you can get a copy of a real-time recording of your car accident, it can be used to support your legal claim for damages.
Video footage doesn’t even necessarily have to show the collision itself to be helpful.
Videos can be useful in showing that a driver was:
- Speeding, by calculating their speed by measuring it against fixed objects in the video
- Distracted, if they’re caught texting or talking on the phone on camera; or
- Under the influence of drugs or alcohol, if the driver was visibly swerving, ran a red light, or made other gross errors at the wheel.
Dash cam video footage can be particularly helpful, as it can also contain audio recordings of the crash and the driver’s behavior.
Eyewitness Statements
Eyewitness statements and testimony can be invaluable when you’re seeking compensation for your car accident injuries. Witnesses can provide critical insight into a crash, including information on speed, driver behavior, passenger conduct, weather, and road conditions.
However, witness memories tend to fade and become less reliable as time goes on. It can be more difficult for a witness to remember the specific details of a collision properly. So, it’s important to get an eyewitness to provide a detailed statement about a collision as soon as possible.
Toxicology Reports
Toxicology reports can be used to support claims that a driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of a collision. Positive drug tests or toxicology reports must still be supported by additional evidence showing that the driver was impaired and that their impairment caused the car accident.
Cell Phone Records
Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of car accidents, injuries, and deaths nationwide. Cell phone use, in particular, is a major contributor. While many states restrict or prohibit the use of phones and electronic devices while driving, many drivers still choose to text, scroll through social media, or engage in lengthy conversations. Even hands-free cell phone use still causes some level of distraction.
Cell phone records can be used to show that a driver was using their cell phone in some way at the time of a collision. Helpful information could include timestamps of calls or text messages, or reports of heavier data usage when the crash occurred.
Property Damage
Damage to vehicles and other physical property can provide valuable insight into how and why a car accident happened. Even minor damage like scratches, dents, and scrapes can be used to evaluate crash angles, crash speeds, braking habits, and other key details about a collision.
Medical Records
Medical records can be used to further evaluate key factors about a car accident, including vehicle speed, the force of impact, even crash angles, passenger locations, and mechanisms of injury. Records can also be helpful in establishing damages, including those related to costs of medical care, lost wages, disability, and harder-to-value trauma like pain and suffering.
Photographs
They say pictures are worth a thousand words, and that’s certainly true when it comes to snapshots of damaged vehicles, car accident scenes, and physical injuries to vehicle occupants and bystanders.
Photographs capture a moment in time, which can include key details that can be useful in understanding how and why a car accident happened. For instance, a simple picture of an intersection right after a car accident might capture skid marks, which could show that a driver slammed on their brakes right before the crash.
Call Singleton Schreiber For Help Building a Winning Car Accident Claim Backed by Strong Evidence
While it’s good to know what evidence can help you win your car accident case, you shouldn’t have to stress out about where to find it or how to get it. Instead, focus on recovering from your car accident injuries and trust an experienced car accident lawyer at Singleton Schreiber to handle those critical details.
We’ve litigated thousands of negligence actions on behalf of clients across the nation, successfully recovering more than $3 billion in monetary awards. As local lawyers backed by national resources, we’re uniquely empowered to identify, locate, and secure critical evidence to help you win your car accident case, too.
Contact us for a free consultation and discuss your car accident case today.