If you or your loved one have become car accident victims, it matters what information you can preserve. Documenting the accident scene by taking car accident pictures should be among the immediate steps after being in a crash. Depicting the scene is essential, especially since the wreckage might be towed away.
Understandably, your condition after the accident might not allow you to photograph the accident. However, these accident photos might change the course of your personal injury claim.
Further, they give your California car accident attorney the leverage to fight for your rights to compensation.
Why Take Car Accident Pictures?
The various reasons for photographing a car accident include:
- Preserving and presenting evidence: The wreckage after a car accident is usually taken away quickly, especially in a busy road section. The pictures are a reliable way to preserve the evidence even if the totaled vehicles are removed and present during the trial.
- Supporting your claim: A considerable part of any claim is proving fault. The insurance companies will use tricks to evade compensating you. The photographic evidence will prove the accident wasn’t your fault. It’ll depict the injuries you sustained, vehicular and bodily damages, and the extent of the accident, giving the insurers no reason to deny your claim.
- Presenting data: Accident photos contain valuable information, including the extent of the crash and its damages, location, contributing external factors, and more.
- Supporting damages: A car accident can cause extensive physical damage to the cars, the victims’ bodily injuries, and surrounding areas. These photos complement accident and medical reports, witness statements, and any other evidence to show the damage the car accident caused.
- Recording for the future: Every photo has a story behind it. Even though a car accident is a painful narrative, the photos can help you come to terms with the accident and help you understand the precautions necessary to prevent such an occurrence in the future.
What Particular Car Accident Photos Should You Take?
Knowing which photos to take can help with your car accident claim, including:
- Your injuries and those of other injured victims — after the accident and during recovery
- The damaged vehicles, their registration numbers, and VINs
- The surrounding areas, including buildings and traffic signs
- Skid marks, wreckage debris, shattered glass, and any charred car wrecks
- Any other damaged property
- The interior of your car, including the odometer and deployed airbags
- First responders and witnesses
- Documents from the other drivers, such as insurance information, contacts, and driver’s license
- The overall accident scene
- The road, traffic, environmental and weather conditions
There’s no limit to the particular photos you can take after the accident. There are always some vital details the images can provide to help with your claim and insurance companies.
A Point of Caution Before Taking Car Accident Photos
While taking pictures for insurance companies is essential, the health and safety of all accident victims should be the priority.
Only photograph a car accident if you are safe to do so. Otherwise, stay put inside your car until help arrives. No photos, however vital to evidence, are worth your health and safety.
Important Tips on Photographing a Car Accident
It’s not enough to know which car accident pictures to take. While it’s not your typical photo session, knowing how to take the images and what to capture can boost their usefulness and relevance.
Here are some helpful tips:
- If you cannot take the pictures out of concern for your own health and safety, request someone else to do it.
- Work with what you have. If you don’t have a high-resolution camera, you can still use your phone’s camera.
- Take as many pictures as you can. Each photo has some information to convey
- Time and date the photos to ensure accuracy and authenticity.
- Every detail counts, however minor or minute. Focus on close-ups and details.
- Take the pictures from varying distances and angles.
- If possible, capture familiar landmarks in each photo to highlight scale, location, and distance.
- Note how sunlight and weather conditions affect the photos’ quality.
- Take multiple close-ups from the same spot as backups.
Contact the Car Accident Attorneys at LA Century Law
While taking pictures for insurance companies is vital, seeking legal representation after a car accident should be your next step. Accident photos or not, your attorney will know the best course of action to take.
LA Century Law’s car accident attorneys will guide you through the legal steps after a car accident and fight for your rights. We’ll paint a vivid picture of the physical and psychological damages you ensured after the accident and that you have to live with for life.
Contact us today if you or your loved one has been in an accident.
Car Accident Photo FAQs
What if I was unable to take car accident photos?
While car accident pictures are vital for your claim and insurance companies, your health and safety come first. Only take them if the situation allows it. If you were unable to initially, you could return to the scene afterward to capture the road layout and damage (chipped sidewalks, etc.).
Who uses the car accident photos I take?
Every car accident photo you take relays vital information relevant to your claim. The main parties that require these photos include the court, jury, your car accident attorney, insurance companies for all parties involved in the accident, the victims, and investigators.
Will I get in trouble for taking car accident photos?
The accident occurred on the road, which is public domain. You are free to take pictures in the public domain; they become your intellectual property the moment you take them. However, refrain from sharing these pictures on social media, as insurance companies can use this move against you.