After you are involved in a car accident, it is important to gather as much information as possible. The truth is that oftentimes you can't tell the extent of damage to your person and your vehicle right after the accident. It can take time for injuries to show on your body, and it can take an appraisal process to determine how damaged your vehicle is. That is why after you are involved in a car accident, you should always collect as much information as possible.
Get Some Great Videos & Photos
With most of the population in the United States carrying a phone that has the capacity to take pictures and videos, it is important to document the scene of the accident.
Get out your phone and start taking pictures. There are some pictures that will be more helpful than other pictures. Start by taking pictures of the accident scene from as many angles as possible, getting pictures that show the entire scene and pictures that are closer-up.
Make sure that your pictures show the damage to the vehicles, as well as the location of any parts that flew off the vehicles as a result of the accident. Make sure you get pictures that show the entire scene, such as skid marks on the ground and property damage to things such as the guardrail or the street lights or even damage to a lawn. Also, make sure that you capture the environment, such as where the traffic light or nearest stop sign was located in relation to the accident.
Don't forget to take pictures of any damage that you and your passengers suffered as well. Picture of visible injuries is just as important as pictures of what caused those injuries.
Get Witness & Police Information
If anyone stops and offers help, or stops because they saw what happened, make sure that you grab their contact information. The police may grab a witnesses' contact information, but they may also fail to get their contact information or the witness could leave before the police even arrive. Witness testimony is great because it offers an outside perspective that can be used to back-up what you saw and experienced.
You should always call the police when an accident occurs. The police will be able to document what happened and what they saw when they responded to the scene, and that information can be really important to your insurance company and to you if you end up moving forward with a personal injury lawsuit.
When you are in a car accident, it is important to get photos and videos of the accident scene that really establish what happened. You should also get contact information for any witnesses, and always make sure the police are called. Should you choose to file a lawsuit, this information can be really important to your case. Finding accident lawyer can help a lot.