If you are injured in a crash, it’s essential to get the police on the scene as quickly as possible. The police and emergency service providers will then make a report documenting what they think happened to cause the crash and more.
While these reports are often comprehensive, sometimes it can be useful to collect extra evidence to boost your claim — especially if there are doubts or the other driver disputes the facts. Another reason you might need more proof is that the insurer may challenge the police report and try to push more of the blame onto you than you actually deserve.
Video footage is one of the types of evidence that can often make all the difference. It is not infallible, as you will understand if you have ever watched replays from different angles of contentious moments in sports matches. Pictures really can be worth a thousand words — and, sometimes, thousands of dollars.
You don’t necessarily need footage of the crash itself
Your first thought might be to seek footage taken at the moment of the crash. Cameras on top of intersection lights or on a vehicle’s dashboard often catch the precise moment two vehicles collide. But that is not your only option.
What the other driver was doing beforehand may also help investigators understand what really happened. A video showing the other driver operating recklessly a few minutes earlier may boost your argument that they were driving without due care when they hit you. If the other driver did not stop, a video a mile further down the road might capture their identity or show them pulling over to ditch the containers of alcohol they had beside them, and had likely been drinking from in the lead up to the collision.
Experienced legal guidance can help you learn more about building a strong claim for compensation.