photos in car accident

How Accident Scene Photos Can Increase the Value of a Car Crash Claim

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In the moments after a car crash, everything moves faster than you can imagine. The police are called, you check yourself for injuries, and you may even have a conversation with the other driver. It’s all a blur, and before you know it, you’re either being sent to the hospital or being told you can go home. It’s easy to let the police take charge of this time and simply be a passive observer, but that won’t help you with your personal injury claim.

What will help you with your claim? Taking photos of the crash scene. To learn more about the benefits of clear accident scene photos, and to talk about your claim in more detail, call Reeves & Mestayer at 228-300-2754.

Benefits of Accident Scene Photos

While it may seem inconvenient or time-consuming to take pictures when you’ve just been hit by a car, doing so can help your personal injury claim. Some of the benefits of these photos include:

  • Proof of the location, time of day, and weather conditions. These facts may seem indisputable, but a surprising amount of drivers try to argue that the accident actually happened at a different intersection, in the dark, or in inclement weather. They may do this to assign liability to something other than their own poor driving. It’s harder to deny these basic facts when there is photographic proof.
  • Proof of damage to your vehicle and where the other car struck you. Photos of the cars in their crash position make it easy for accident reconstruction specialists to determine exactly what happened in the collision. This information can also assist with determining liability and pursuing compensation.
  • Immediate condition of injuries. Photographing your injuries shows what they looked like before they were cleaned up and treated.
  • Documentation of who was present at the scene. Eyewitnesses are a great source of evidence for your personal injury claim, and photographs of the scene may show who was present in both vehicles, who stopped to provide help, and who may have been in the background observing.
  • Assists you when you forget important details. Your car accident was likely traumatizing for you. Still, you’re likely to forget details and even basic facts of the accident as time passes. A well-documented accident scene can help you refresh your memory.

Boosting Your Settlement with Photos

Clear photos and video footage may help your attorney secure a better settlement for you. As you know, insurance companies will do whatever they can to drive down the value of your claim or deny your settlement entirely. It’s much harder for them to do that if you have undeniable proof of the damage caused by the accident. Furthermore, your photos may disprove falsehoods told by the other party.

Photos to Take at the Scene of the Accident

Not only is it crucial to take photos of the scene, but it’s also important to take the right photographs. They include:

  • The vehicles as they were after the crash. You may have to move the cars to prevent obstructing traffic, but before you do so, get a few pictures of the cars exactly as they were when they crashed.
  • Every part of your vehicle that is damaged. Get photos of the damage from multiple angles and distances. If possible, make sure that your license plate is present in some of the photos.
  • Every injury you or anyone in your car sustained. Immediate injury photos can support your demand for medical compensation.
  • Debris from the vehicles. Debris that falls from one or both vehicles can prove the force of the crash.
  • Proof of both vehicles’ license plates. This type of photo proves that your photos are of the accident in question, rather than pulled from a random Google search.
  • Damage to public property and roads. These photos document the location of the crash. Additionally, damage to other property may showcase the severity of the crash.
  • People present at the scene. Proof of those at the scene may help if your attorney wants to talk to witnesses.

Choose Reeves & Mestayer for Your Accident Claim

When you select the right attorney for your car accident claim, you can rest easy knowing that they are fighting aggressively on your behalf. At Reeves & Mestayer, we work tirelessly to help our clients get what they deserve. Set up your consultation right now by calling us at 228-300-2754 or sending us a message online.