We often hear clients tell us they moved their vehicles to the side of the road and then took photos. No. We recommend after an accident, you get out of your car and take photos of your car and the other cars before you move your vehicle.
Often there is a dispute regarding who hit who. Often there is a dispute regarding who changed lanes. Some people aren’t aware that they are drifting out of their lane, and when they collide with another car, they believe they were in their lane at impact when they weren’t.
If you can take photos showing where on the street your vehicle came to rest, it could be very helpful in resolving liability.
For example, we had a client Ms. Kwon who was in a left turn lane when a vehicle to her right also entered the same left turn lane and hit the left front corner of her car. The insurance company for the other party disputed who was at fault, claiming my client changed lanes from the left turn lane to the lane to her right.
The photo clearly shows the accident happened in the left turn lane not in the number one lane. In fact, the impact pushed my client’s car partially into the lane for opposing traffic.
However, Ms. Kwon took photos at the accident scene before the vehicles were moved. Here is a photo taken at the accident scene:
Taking the photo at the accident scene before the vehicles were moved resulted in a large settlement in our favor in which the client got more money than she ever expected.