In order to have a personal injury case, you need physical evidence.  Claims adjusters will not be willing to offer you a settlement without proof that the person they are ensuring actually caused your injuries.  And should you go to court, it will be difficult to win your case without sufficient evidence of a compelling nature.  Pieces of physical evidence become exhibits that help support arguments in favor of your claim.  The most common forms of physical evidence for personal injury claims include:

• Records of medical treatment.  Medical records tend to turn the tide in personal injury cases more than anything else.  After all, you are attempting to prove that you were injured as a result of negligence on behalf of another party.  If you can’t even prove that you were injured in the first place, you don’t have much of a case.  For this reason, it’s important to seek medical treatment immediately following an accident, whether you think you’ve been hurt or not.  Some injuries can take considerable time before their symptoms manifest.
• Statements from witnesses.  Always get contact information from anyone around the scene of an accident that witnessed what happened.  While eyewitness testimony may not be the most reliable form of evidence, it can reinforce the narrative established by other forms of evidence.
• Photographs of the scene.  Visual evidence can be very powerful.  Such evidence is difficult to refute, given that it speaks for itself.  Remember to take as many quality photographs of the scene of an accident as soon as possible.  The more time that passes between the accident and the timestamp of the photographs, the more objections can be raised as to the validity of the pictures.  Physical evidence may also deteriorate over time.  Take photographs of any physical injuries to your body, damaged clothes, the surrounding scene and damage caused by the accident as well as what caused your injury, if possible.
• Police reports.  A police report functions as a piece of tangible evidence indicating that the accident occurred in the time and place that the plaintiff alleges it did.  It’s important to contact local law enforcement following an accident for this reason.
• Your own written narrative of the accident.  This one is somewhat self-explanatory.  It’s best to articulate your side of the story exactly as you see it.  It’s best to do this sometime after the accident when the heightened emotions that often result have passed.

Evidence spoliation
When an at-fault party eliminates evidence in an effort to detract from the injury claim, it is referred to as spoliation of evidence.  Your attorney can send a letter to the defendant or defendant’s insurance company to in an attempt to stop this before it happens.  If evidence still gets destroyed, little can be done unless your case goes to court.  If your attorney argues that evidence was destroyed, the at-fault party could face severe consequences such as steep fines or jail time.

Our personal injury lawyers at Dehghani and Associates are experts in this kind of litigation.  We charge no fees unless we recover damages for you.  Contact us today.