After a motor vehicle crash, people are injured, shaken up, and not thinking clearly. People can often make critical errors, which cannot be corrected. These errors may later impact a person’s eligibility for financial compensation.
Following the four steps below will help you after you have been in a car crash:
- The Scene. You have just been in a car crash and are injured. While you have a thousand things on your mind, accident surveillance footage may not be on that list. You are not thinking about what crash scene evidence should be preserved and how it could be used in the future.
Your health is first. Call 911. Contact the police. Contact a friend or family member for help.
First responders and police will come to the scene. First responders and police have dash cams, body cameras and digital recorders. First responders and police will be recording people at the scene, witnesses, the scene and the surrounding areas. This information may be critical in determining exactly what occurred, what people may have said, saw or preserved from the scene. Retrieving this data may often be accomplished through a statutory Open Records Request.
Oftentimes there are witnesses the police do not speak to at the scene. More often than not, witnesses will have recorded the impact, persons involved, the scene and the surrounding area. Independent witnesses can make or break a dispute on liability. Ensure all witnesses have been identified and whether they have recorded any information.
Cell phones record a wealth of information. In addition to digital recordings, cell phones record and preserve GPS tracking, which may be used in reconstructing the accident. This will be especially vital in case your vehicle’s event recorder data (EDR) data or “black box” was destroyed in the crash or otherwise becomes unavailable.
Municipal surveillance cameras and business surveillance cameras are everywhere. The importance of footage from surveillance cameras cannot be overstated. Take photographs of where the surveillance cameras are located. Generally, we can get the surveillance camera footage from the Department of Transportation or law enforcement. Talk with business owners to ensure their cameras were on, operating and recorded the crash. Request the business owners to preserve the surveillance from their cameras. Be sure to record the name and address of each business.
- Your Health. Your health is paramount. Do not speak with the other driver or the other driver’s passengers. Only speak with emergency health care providers and the police.
Ensure the police author a police report. A report may be critical evidence to prove a crash occurred and the ensuing losses.
- Follow Through. Once you have collected your thoughts, follow through on what happened at the scene and the investigation following the crash. Contact the law enforcement agency which came to the scene and collected all data. You are entitled to the data under a statutory Open Records Request. You have a right to see the Wisconsin police report. Review the report or enlist the help of a local Wisconsin car accident lawyer. If the report is not accurate, contact the law enforcement agency and request it be corrected. Again, you can reach out to a Wisconsin car accident attorney for assistance. If the law enforcement agency will not correct the report, file a supplemental report correcting the report.
Be sure to follow through with the car crash witnesses, especially if the witnesses recorded the crash, the persons, scene or the surrounding areas. Be sure to follow through with municipal or business owner surveillance cameras. Preserving surveillance footage is extremely important because the footage can be overwritten by the municipality or the business owner.
- Contact your friend or family member who came to the scene. Review what was recorded. Think of other evidence which can still be recorded but was not recorded at the scene. Examples include skid marks, property damage at the scene, traffic controls, security cameras, businesses or other persons who may have witnessed the scene. Do not stop there. Follow through with business owners who have cameras at the scene. Ask the business owners if their security cameras are on and retrieve the recorded footage.
Preserve your vehicle. Your vehicle has EDR data which can be overwritten if you continue to operate your vehicle after the car crash. EDR data is critical in reconstructing the accident and must be preserved to pursue your claim.
At Stanford Law Offices, we hope these points will assist you with your car crash. There is no question they will assist in prosecuting your interests and recovering the losses you sustained following a car crash.