If you’ve experienced an injury owed to another’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. You should speak to a personal injury attorney as soon as possible to begin building your case and collecting evidence. What types of evidence will you need? This depends on the nature of your injury, but in many cases, physical evidence as well as photos can be highly valuable.
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Ask a Personal Injury Attorney: What Evidence Do You Need to Win a Lawsuit?
You can commonly bolster your personal injury claim with physical evidence. This refers to something tangible rather than a verbal depiction of events. Examples include:
- A dented car panel indicating where it was hit
- A porch in disrepair that caused a fall
- An obstacle that blocked a bike path
Physical evidence can paint a picture of the accident itself and help substantiate the nature and severity of your injuries. To illustrate, bloodied clothing can suggest major physical injuries, while car damage can demonstrate the impact severity.
Protecting the Evidence
All physical evidence must be collected right after an accident. Your health is a top priority, meaning you can wait a few days to collect evidence if your injuries need immediate attention. Waiting much longer than several days, however, puts the evidence at risk for change, destruction, or repair. Properly preserving evidence will help show its exact condition at the time of the accident.
The Value of Photos
If you are unable to preserve or collect a piece of evidence, the next best option is to photograph it. Again, time is of the essence. You want to take pictures as quickly as possible so they reflect the condition of the evidence at the moment of the accident.
Try to photograph on the same day and at the same time as the accident occurred to help recreate the situation you experienced. Likewise, you should immediately print or process the photos to ensure a date is stamped on either the receipt or the back of the prints.
Validating Your Injuries
As long as we’re talking about photos, those validating your injuries can help demonstrate your pain and suffering. This includes clear photos of lacerations, bruises, or burns.
The real story of your injuries, however, will be told through medical records. These key documents can be used to depict the full extent of your injuries and calculate any financial compensation to which you may be entitled. It’s therefore crucial you see a doctor immediately after the accident and follow all recommendations for treatment, including referrals to specialists.
Going Back to the Scene
If your accident happened in a public space, you have the right to return and take pictures. If that place is gated or manned by security, ask for permission to go beyond the barriers. Make note if your request is denied and include such details as the person you spoke to, the reason you were not allowed to take photos, and the date and time you tried to return. Your personal injury attorney will need this information.
In addition to photos, search the scene for conditions that may have contributed to the accident. Perhaps traffic is a problem that needs to be addressed or a jagged sidewalk can now be spotted. You might also find witnesses who know of other accidents that happened in the same spot or nearby. Even more significantly, you might happen upon witnesses who saw your accident.
Requesting a Police Report
If your personal injury was the result of a car accident, it’s crucial that you contact law enforcement so they can attend the scene and generate a police report. This report, likely available online from the Texas Department of Transportation, may serve as the primary piece in identifying the accident’s liable party. Your personal injury lawyers College Station will review this report and use it to help build an airtight case on your behalf.
Proving the Other Party’s Negligence
We’ve saved for last what is likely the most important component of your case, and that is proving the other party’s negligence. This means you must provide facts that show the other party had and failed to uphold a duty of care. In other words, that party was expected to meet the given circumstances with a certain degree of responsibility. A driver on the road, for instance, is expected to be cautious, alert, and sober.
Your lawyer will use Texas laws and standards to help prove a duty of care. To illustrate, laws prohibit vehicle operation at a certain level of intoxication. By using these laws appropriately, your lawyer can show the other party breached their duty to abide by the law in a way that endangered members of society.
Although the cause of a personal injury case may seem glaringly obvious, you will need evidence to substantiate your claim. Torn clothing, a damaged vehicle, or a broken step are examples of evidence that can strengthen your case. If obtaining physical evidence is not possible, you should take photos. Last but not least, you and your attorney will likely work together to prove the other party’s negligence.