How Can Truck Accident Victims Preserve Important Evidence?
A truck accident may only take a few seconds to occur, but the damages can last for a lifetime. After a truck accident, people often find themselves scrambling to address serious injuries and property damage at the scene and once they get home. Although everything may happen fast, it’s also important to focus on preserving evidence that might be useful for handling your accident claim.
Determining who is at fault for a truck accident can sometimes get complicated, especially when multiple parties are involved. Unfortunately, evidence can disappear quickly. For instance, skid marks may fade, which could indicate how the accident occurred. Or, surveillance footage might get erased that you could use to demonstrate what happened on the day you received your injuries.
Learning how to document the accident scene, collect personal information from everyone involved and preserve essential medical records can all help support your case. While caring for urgent medical needs always comes first, taking the next steps to secure evidence can make a difference in the outcome of your truck accident case.
Collect Physical Evidence and Document the Accident Scene
As soon as it is safe to do so, you’ll want to begin taking pictures of the vehicles that were involved in the accident. Try to include the truck’s license plate and company name, including any identifying numbers. You will also want to capture any damage to the truck. Making sure to include images of skid marks, debris and the general road conditions can also be helpful.
Many accidents generate damaged personal property. While you might want to toss your damaged bicycle helmet to get rid of the memories, this could harm your case. Instead, carefully preserve helmets, clothing, car seats and other belongings when it’s practical. If you can’t keep an item, then take a picture of the damage to document its condition. Asking a qualified truck accident lawyer like those at Thomas Law Offices what to keep can further help you make these types of decisions.
Once you’ve tended to your injuries, you’ll also want to record as many of the accident details as possible. Memories often fade quickly after an accident. Start by jotting down the date, time and location of the accident. Then, create a description of how the collision happened. Keep in mind that no detail may be too small. For instance, noticing that the truck driver was eating or swerving between lanes could point to distracted driving issues. You can also request a copy of the police report that might also have details that you want to include as evidence.
Save All of Your Medical Records and Document Each Injury
Medical evaluations can serve as professional records of your injuries. Keep in mind that some injuries may show up later, which is why you’ll want to make this part of your evidence collection ongoing. Collect emergency room records and hospital discharge summaries. Diagnostic imaging results and specialist reports are also important to keep.
As the medical bills begin to arrive, include these in your evidence files. You can also maintain records of your out-of-pocket expenses. Covering the cost of transportation to physical therapy or for a caregiver to assist at home gets expensive, especially if insurance isn’t covering all the bills. Even bandages and other over-the-counter supplies can lead to mounting costs that impact your financial security.
Although online portals often include medical billing information, you may need to retain hard copies. Requesting records and receipts is especially useful when you anticipate your truck accident case to continue for a long period of time. Sometimes, online resources are erased after a short period of time. Having offline copies can preserve records that a billing company or healthcare program might erase after several weeks or months pass.
You will also want to document any lost income you experience as a result of your injuries. Pay stubs, tax documents and employer statements might be helpful for demonstrating the financial costs of the accident. Starting a journal where you detail your pain and emotional stressors each day can also help support any pain and suffering claims you need to make in the future.
Secure Electronic Evidence and Identify Witnesses
If possible, you’ll want to get the names, telephone numbers and email addresses of witnesses that can describe what happened during the accident. Witness statements that include how fast the truck was driving, any unusual behavior from the driver and traffic conditions can also help. If any witnesses have video footage, then requesting it can also help support your accident case.
Nearby property owners might also have surveillance footage that shows what happened. Since many of these systems automatically delete footage or overwrite the recordings, acting quickly is your best defense against losing valuable visual evidence. Commercial trucks may also have electronic data that is useful. Working with a lawyer can help you obtain dash cam recordings, digital files and other types of evidence that show why an accident occurred.
During the evidence collection phase of your case, it might be necessary to have a legal professional submit certain types of requests. For instance, trucking companies might be hesitant to produce driver qualification files or histories. Inspection reports, maintenance logs and repair records are a few more types of evidence that trucking companies might try to withhold unless you go through specific processes to make a request for their disclosure.
As a final note, make sure to avoid any actions that could compromise your claim. For example, altering an original photograph could make it seem like you are tampering with the evidence. Editing video files to make them clearer could also have the same effect, even if your intentions are well-meaning. If any alterations need to be made to enhance the clarity of photos or digital evidence, then let the people handling your case make those kinds of decisions.
Preserving as much evidence as possible can help you establish liability and document your injuries after a truck accident, and taking the right steps can impact your ability to recover compensation you need for medical care and managing property damage. When in doubt, check in with your lawyer. They’ll be able to tell you which pieces of evidence are important to keep, and you can rely on your legal team to help you gather essential documentation from the trucking company that is often hard to access on your own.