The accident photos can be very powerful when handling a claim or a jury.

They can reveal key information about fault, damages, and injuries.

Accident Photos:

Taking good photos of the accident is critical for many reasons. If you are at the scene, then you have a great opportunity to snap pictures of damages, positioning of the vehicles, tire marks etc. However, most if you are not able to take accident photos the day of the accident. Maybe you can come back and snap some.

This is particularly important if there is something in the accident scene that contributed to your accident. A patch on the road left by construction workers is a good example. Many times, construction crews leave their work sites without marking the work area. After an accident, they are very quick about marking the site. This is not all companies of course, but my point is this: people can modify the scene of an accident in their favor, unless you take some good accident photos.

If you are involved in a winter accident, then you absolutely need pictures. The marks on the snow will melt away, and so will your evidence.

If you are not able to get to take photographs at the accident scene, then do the next best thing. Go back to the scene (if you can) and snap some pictures.

If the accident was at night, then take pictures at night and on the daytime. The night pictures will show how street is illuminated, the daytime pictures will show if there was anyway the vehicles could see each other prior impact.

The important thing to remember is that you need pictures from all four angles (in an intersection scenario). You also need pictures of the corners of the intersection to show any obstructions in visibility (under the fault heading you will see why this is important). Following is an example of some pictures I believe display the scene of an accident pretty good. These pictures were taken the day after the accident.

Accident Scene Photo Looking North

Accident Scene Photo Looking West

Accident Scene Photo Looking South

Accident Scene Photo Looking East

Accident Scene Photo, looking at visibility obstruction.

Accident Scene Photo, looing at visibility obstruction.

The last two picture show a tree and a vehicle parked on the side of the road. If you add two more vehicles and make this accident at night time, there could be a good argument regarding one driver not being able to see in that intersection. This is a hypothetical but it shows my point. You must show the lines on the road (dotted yellow), the signs posted (two stop signs), and any obstructions in the road (tree and car parked).

Not only you need to take accident photos, but also pictures of the damage to the vehicle (all vehicles involved if possible). This is very important to show damages, but even more important to show your injuries.

Adjusters will tell you that the property damages (damages to your car) have nothing to do with the injury. They are settling for the pain to your neck, not for the damages to your car. This is not true. The insurance company is trying to buy themselves out of a lawsuit. If you show accident photos showing your damage, like the picture below, then a jury might very well be persuaded that the impact was significant enough to create a soft tissue injury (no broken bones).

Accident Scene Photos, Auto Damage

But what do you do if you cannot go back to the scene? If the accident occurs in a different town, then how can you acquire accident photos or photos from the scene?

This is not an uncommon scenario. The best advice I can give you is to visit Google Earth, click here, this amazing free program will give you the ability to have a satellite picture of any road or intersection in the United States or Canada (and a lot more countries). You will be surprise the details of some of the satellite pictures. Google Earth can also show you if the road curves making it hard to see ahead. It cal also show you the layout of a parking lot.

The following Google Satellite Picture shows the same accident scene of the pictures above. I have tried to optimize the picture so it loads faster in this webpage, the quality however has suffered significanlty. If you visit this program you will be surprised.

Also note that the satellite picture is a little behind in time, and this neighborhood has built many homes in the last 12 months. Most neighborhoods do not experience this type of growth, making Google a great tool for you.

Having good accident photos and a good diagram can win your car accident. Learn how to draw a good diagram.

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