People in today's society are more visual than ever. With the prevalence of social media and the decline of overall attention span, it is crucial tell stories in an engaging and visual manner. As with the timeless saying "a picture is worth a thousand words," a picture of the scene and injuries can be the difference between recovering fair compensation and not having a viable claim.

In today's post, we discuss the importance of documenting all aspects of car accident and slip and fall personal injury scenes.

What do you mean by "documenting the scene?" Our strong advice is to photograph everything, either on scene or as soon as possible afterwards. In car accidents, investigating police officers will usually take photos of the vehicles and have body camera footage of the scene. And depending on how quickly an injured victim hires a lawyer, traffic camera footage may be available for the particular intersection. 

In a premises liability case, it is essential to photograph the dangerous condition that caused the victim's injury. Particularly with a slip and fall, you must show what the premises looked like at the time you fell. Otherwise, the insurance company has an easy defense to the case: how do we know the sidewalk or stairs were dangerous, we have no evidence of what it looked like at the time?" And to be fair, that is a valid argument. The burden to prove something was dangerous rests upon the plaintiff and it is very difficult to overcome that burden without pictures. 

Another important reason to hire a personal injury lawyer immediately, an experienced attorney will request all video surveillance footage (if applicable) from the timeframe the injury occurred. But, most commercial surveillance systems overwrite the video data in as little as 14 days so unless they receive notice prior to then, there is a real chance the video footage will disappear. 

Should I photo my injuries? Won't the medical records explain what happened? Short answer, absolutely and not really. Think about it, if someone tells you a story about their vacation and shows you pictures of what they are talking about, how much more impactful is the story? Medical records and doctors can educate the jury in medical jargon about a fractured arm, but photos of the bruising, stitches, scar etc will carry significant weight to add color (literally) to the story. We advise our clients to take photos as the injury heals as well. 

What if the injured person is taken by ambulance? Understandably, getting immediate medical care is essential and it's not always practical to photograph the scene. In those instances, as soon as possible ask a family member or friend (or a good lawyer will also do this) to go to the scene and take pictures.  

In sum, documenting the scene and injuries can literally make the difference in a personal injury case. If you've been seriously injured through no fault of your own and have any questions, please contact Kane Trial Law at 303-919-7777 for a free consultation.