4 Types Of Photographs That Can Help You Win A Car Accident Case

The photographs you take after a car accident can go a long way in supporting your account of the events. Lawyers, jury members and judges presiding over your case can see the accident scene, collision damage and resulting injuries for themselves by browsing through your photos. Photographic evidence also confirms the presence of all of the listed parties, including vehicles involved in the accident and nearby witnesses. Here's what you need to know.

Accident Scene

You will want to take a photo of the entire accident scene from the collision location to the vehicles' final resting place. Step far back from the scene and take a shot of the entire location to let officials see for themselves how the accident developed.

Also, take close up shots of the signage, including speed limit signs and traffic signals. Take shots of all skid marks and use a point of reference if possible to show their total length. If you take the photos right after the accident occurs, your pictures will also show the weather and light conditions in that area. You should also draw a diagram to outline how the collision occurred before your memory about the event starts to fade.

Vehicle Damage

Vehicle damage often clearly shows where the involved parties collided and the speed in which the accident happened.  Scraped, dented and shattered components clear up misconceptions about the collision cause and the assumed fault assignment.  

Just taking a quick look at the vehicle damage photos allows the judge or jury members to determine which person's account of the events rings true. The photographs of the involved vehicles should show all of the body panels at least once. Try to take some photographs at a high angle 3/4 view at each corner of the car.

Visible Injuries

The injuries sustained in a car accident directly relate to the collision type and severity. After a car accident, you should obtain a thorough exam from a physician for an evaluation of your injuries. Although you can use the written report from that exam as evidence in your car accident case, it's wise to also take photographs of any abrasions and bruising that appears in the days following the collision.

Start with photographs immediately after the accident and repeat the picture taking daily until the marks fully heal. Place a piece of paper showing the date and time of the photograph in the frame before taking each picture. You can hold a ruler right next to the injuries to show the true size of the abrasions if it's not immediately obvious. After all, it's wise to use tools that limit perception differences between the judges or jury members assigned on your case to avoid disagreements or misunderstandings.

License Plates

Snap a quick picture of the license plates of each vehicle involved in the accident. Also, ask witnesses for permission to take a photographic record of their plate at the scene of the accident. If the other parties try to claim the listed witnesses weren't really there, you will have the photographic evidence that they were on location at the time of the collision. The license plate pictures also prevent the other parties from trying to weasel their way out of the case by claiming they were not involved in the accident.

Securing The Pictures

If you are not suffering from serious injuries, you will definitely want to take the photographs yourself. You can apply the above tips to make sure your photographs meet the needs of the court officials. Be sure to take several photographs of each element from a variety of angles. Perspective differences from each angle will tell the whole story of the accident scene. If possible, check the photographs before considering this task finished to make sure all of the plate numbers and other pertinent information stand out prominently. Have your digital photo taking device set to upload all photos to a cloud based storage system for safekeeping and easy access. For more information, talk to an auto accident lawyer in your area.