Strengthening Your Car-Accident Injury Case: 3 Road Conditions to Photograph for Evidence
Posted on: 16 November 2016
Upon getting into a car accident, your taking photographs and collecting evidence that is needed to prove your claims can be very helpful in the event that you decide to file a legal suit for compensation or in the event that you have to defend yourself from a legal suit filed by other parties involved. On top of taking photographs of your car and the other cars involved in the accident, you should also take several photographs of the road and the conditions that resulted in the accident. Here are three particularly crucial road conditions that you should photograph to support your case.
Skid Marks That Prove Speed, Starting Point, and Travel Route of Each Car
Skid marks on the road should definitely be photographed, especially if the cars were moved to the side of the road for safety after the accident. Skid marks can be very telling and can be used by accident-reconstruction professionals to determine what exactly happened. They can help prove any claims you've made and determine which party is at fault. Several factors taken from the skid marks can be used to determine the speed of each vehicle. They include the distance of the skid marks and the coefficient of friction. If possible, try to measure the distance of the skid marks. If not, make sure you photograph where on the road they start and where they end so that accurate measurements can be taken by an accident-reconstruction professional at a later time.
You want to take photographs of the skid marks from several different angles. Make sure you carefully label which skid marks belong to which vehicles involved in the accident.
Diesel and Oil Spills on the Road That May Have Contributed to the Accident
Diesel and oil spills from other vehicles can make the road quite slippery. Their presence might result in a car accident depending on the amount of diesel and oil that has been spilled. If you notice the presence of diesel and oil spills on the road, you might also want to take a photograph of the spill. These spills basically look like rainbows on the road. Make sure that the photograph can clearly show how large the spill is and its location on the road. The presence of diesel and oil spills can help your case in the event that the spills caused your vehicle or the other vehicle to swerve out of control. If you can find the party responsible for the oil spills, this can also be beneficial.
While the oil spills may prove contributory negligence, they can also be used to prove that a vehicle might have been going too fast, resulting in the car slipping in the oil spillage and swerving out of control.
Road Hazards Like Potholes and Other Items That Should Not Be on the Road
Another factor that might have caused the accident could be road hazards like potholes and even other types of potentially hazardous items that might have gotten blown onto the road. The location of the road hazards and their effect on the accident could help strengthen your case depending on what you're claiming. Your car-accident attorney can help you determine whether photographs of the road hazards are a blessing to your case later on; however, it never hurts to take several photographs of the location of the road hazards from different angles.
If your photograph can prove how the road hazards contributed to the accident, then your photograph could dismiss any false claims that the other party might conjure up when in court.
Conclusion
You don't necessarily have to use all of the photographs you've taken in court. Your car-accident attorney will go through the various photographs you've taken to determine whether they are helpful to your case, and the photos should be submitted as evidence to support any claims you've made.
Talk to a firm such as Welsh & Welsh PC LLO to get started.
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