Posted on: 18 May 2017

Not all wrecks are devoid of evidence that can point out fault and legal responsibility, but can you be sure that the legal system will work in your favor? In those few situations where an eyewitness testimony would be helpful, it's vital that you get some sort of information to strengthen your side of an auto accident case. Before making statements or attempting to go to court with nothing but your word, consider a few evidence-gathering techniques that can be done without tampering with anything vital.

Recorded Areas And Backup Evidence

If your accident happened in a public place within city limits, it's likely that some part of the scene was recorded. From security cameras to personal recordings, you need to scour the area for business and individuals who could have recorded incident. First, start with local businesses.

Business will often have cameras pointing into their own assets and towards the outer area. This is both to capture information that happens in the parking lot, as well as anyone who may flee the scene of a crime to make identification easier.

If you're lucky, one of many businesses in the area will have a camera pointed in the direction of your accident. Parking lots accidents have the greatest chance of capturing evidence, while roads and highways may depend on high-powered cameras or cameras that extend far beyond a business' responsibility. This is legally fine as long as the general area is a public area.

Private persons who may have recorded the information can be harder to find. Take to social media such as YouTube, Google+, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and ask for any recordings of the information. You can also reach out to local news stations to ask for evidence on their sites and news segments.

Copying Evidence For Yourself

To get this evidence, you'll need to have the proper storage media to get a copy. Unless the business is sloppy, you won't be able to get the original version. Even if you did, having the original version of evidence can make it easy to blame you for editing information. 

A thumb drive/USB drive is fine for most modern surveillance systems, as they are basically computers with the ability to record video. The older versions will record on DVD or CD, with the oldest using tapes that you may have to leave to an attorney due to the rarity of the media.

To keep yourself safe and to make sure that your legal adversary doesn't somehow destroy or edit the evidence after your discovery, notify police and an attorney to have an official copy of the information made for court use. You should still keep your own copy for personal protection, but a neutral third party with a permanent copy is a huge help.

For personal recordings, smartphones can transfer information in many ways. The phone owner can connect to a wireless internet service if they don't have enough data connectivity, or the information can be transferred with a physical cable such as a USB cable. It can even be uploaded to a public service such as YouTube if that's easier for the owner.

For more information, contact a local auto accident attorney near you!