Personal Injury Accident – Preserving Evidence – Tips For Photographing The Scene

Have You Suffered A Personal Injury?

Not only is it critical for you to revisit the scene of your personal injury accident as soon as you can, but the visit would be all but worthless if photographs are not taken.  Having a personal injury attorney present directing or taking the photographs is critical.  A thorough job is required and dozens of photographs should be taken not only of the site of the accident but also of the surrounding layout.

For photographs to be admissible at your trial, they must meet certain standards. Having the photos taken close in time to the accident is critical.  The better prepared you are with photographs – and other physical evidence obtained at the scene – will result in a stronger position with the insurance company.

Key Tips For Photographing An Accident Scene:

  1. The camera used must be sophisticated enough to take clear photographs regardless of the lighting source. Camera phones, cheap digital cameras and Polaroid pictures provide far lesser quality and, because of their low pixel count produce grainy images when blown up for exhibits at trial.
  2. Photographs should be taken at the same time of day or night that your accident occurred.  While it may be necessary to take daytime photographs when the accident occurred at night (and vice versa), having photographs that depict the accident scene as close to its appearance as it was is very important.
  3. Have a witness with you, or your attorney present, when the photographs are taken. This will provide you with some security in the form of testimony or affidavit that will corroborate the photographs and when they were taken.
  4. Be liberal with the amount of photographs that you take. It is always better to have more than less.
  5. Take photographs of the same area from multiple angles… You never know what may be deemed important later on.
  6. Take photographs of more than just the distinct location where your accident occurred. Wide shots should be taken to provide a context for the location of the accident. And tight shots should be taken at more than just the accident location, but also its surrounding area.
  7. Get the photographs developed promptly so as to review what you have in a hard copy, and get a receipt for the date and time the photographs were developed.