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Preserving Evidence in a Personal Injury Case

Injury claim form

As in any lawsuit, the evidence is essential, and personal injury claims are no different. If you were injured in a car accident, a slip and fall accident, a truck accident, a bicycle accident, or if you were injured on someone’s residential or commercial property, we highly recommend taking steps as soon as you can to preserve valuable evidence. Why? Because, evidence can be altered, repaired, or even lost as time goes by.

“How do I go about preserving evidence?” How you preserve evidence varies, depending on the facts of the case. But in many situations, one of the most valuable tools is your smartphone, which should have picture and video capabilities – that’s a great place to start.

Preserving Evidence in a Car Accident

With car accidents, for example, we recommend taking pictures of how the vehicles landed, any skid marks, and photographing the damage to your vehicle. In addition to photos, you can use your smartphone to record the weather, the road conditions, where the vehicles landed, the damage to your vehicle, and your injuries.

If you have visible injuries, it’s wise to get photographs right away because, over time, cuts, scrapes, and bruises heal, but graphic pictures of your injuries right after the accident will be far more convincing to a jury. If there were any witnesses to the crash, gather their names and contact information, so they can be reached in the future.

Other Types of Personal Injury Cases

“What if I wasn’t in a car accident?” In that case, it’s just as important to preserve evidence, especially because some defendants will take steps to erase the accident by repairing a dangerous condition or outright destroying evidence. For example, torn carpeting can be replaced, bushes that obstructed drivers’ views can be trimmed, faulty pool drains can be replaced, broken fences that allowed a dangerous dog run loose can be repaired, and security tapes with accidents can “magically disappear.”

If you’re ever involved in an accident, our advice is to take pictures and a video of the dangerous condition as soon as possible. There may be other evidence as well; for example, if you’re attacked by a vicious dog, save the ripped and bloodied clothing so it can be submitted as evidence to help support your claim.

Looking for a Sacramento personal injury lawyer? Contact Eliot Reiner, APLC today.

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