The Impact of Surveillance Footage on Personal Injury Cases

Surveillance footage could have a profound effect on your Personal Injury case. It is often a powerful ally for your claim by substantiating your side of the story. However, insurance adjusters may also use video evidence against you.

Whether you slipped and fell in a grocery store or were involved in a collision while driving to work, CCTV cameras are everywhere now. When this footage aligns with your account, it demonstrates your truthfulness in court, but it could be hard to obtain. Keep reading to learn more about the impact of surveillance footage on personal injury cases and how your attorney can help you get it.

How Can You Get Surveillance Footage?

Although TV shows and movies make it seem like the ideal surveillance footage that upholds your case is easily available, in reality, it can be difficult to find and acquire this important evidence. The primary issue with videos is that cameras may not be pointed in the right direction to capture your car accident or slip and fall injury.

The camera system must also preserve the footage until you or your attorney can retrieve it. Unless there are legal reasons to keep it, businesses can delete camera footage whenever they wish. To obtain this evidence, we must act quickly. The first step in the process is to identify possible sources of surveillance footage, including businesses, traffic cameras, and residences.

While business owners may respond faster to your attorney’s requests, you are within your rights to ask them if their cameras captured the incident. Just keep in mind that many homeowners do not have their Ring cameras set to record. So even if a video recording device was near the scene of your accident, it is difficult to rely on the device to store admissible footage.

Public Cameras and Police Footage

Surveillance cameras help showcase what happened at the scene and can display the accident from different angles. The video can also disprove claims you were partially responsible and confirm witness statements.

However, to obtain surveillance footage from public cameras, like traffic cameras or police dash-cam footage, your attorney may need a subpoena. Subpoenas ensure you get the exact video evidence you need while preventing claims of bias or cover-up. Public cameras may be erased within 30 days, so we must act quickly to get the footage you need.

Contact a Personal Injury Attorney Experienced with Securing Surveillance Footage

Personal injury claims can benefit from more than just documentary evidence and video is proof that judges and juries can see with their own eyes. Reach out to Jan Dils, Attorneys at Law for more information about the impact of surveillance footage on your injury claim.

It is easy to schedule a free consultation with a member of our team. Because our focus is to help you get the compensation you deserve, we do not accept “no” from an insurance company.