The Importance of Gathering Evidence After an Auto Accident in Florida

While auto accident victims in Florida are often entitled to financial compensation, recovering compensation requires evidence. Without evidence, you won’t be able to prove your legal rights—and you won’t be able to recover the financial compensation you deserve. This makes it important to hire a Florida accident lawyer to promptly conduct an on-scene investigation.

But, the scene of the accident is just one potential source of evidence. Evidence may be available from a variety of other sources as well. To make sure you do not overlook any sources of evidence—and to make sure you do not leave any money on the table—you will need to rely on your lawyer to thoroughly document both the cause of the accident and the costs of your accident-related injuries.

Two Important Types of Evidence After an Auto Accident

After an auto accident in Florida, there are two things you need to prove in order to recover just compensation. First, you need to prove liability, or who (or what company) is responsible for causing the accident. Second, you need to prove your damages, or how much you are entitled to recover. Both of these may require various forms of evidence:

#1: Evidence of Liability

The evidence needed to prove liability depends on the cause of your auto accident. For example, if you got hit by a speeding driver, forensic evidence from the scene of the accident could be enough to prove your right to financial compensation. On the other hand, if the driver who hit you was drunk behind the wheel or working at the time of the accident, then you may need additional evidence to prove your legal rights.

Depending on the circumstances, your Florida auto accident lawyer may also be able to use cell phone photos, surveillance camera footage, eyewitness testimony, and a variety of other forms of evidence to prove liability for your car accident. The key is to act quickly to gather as much evidence as possible—whatever that evidence may be. Once your lawyer is confident that he or she can use the available evidence to prove liability, then your lawyer can shift his or her focus to documenting your accident-related losses.

#2: Evidence of Damages

Along with proving who (or what company) is liable for your auto accident, you also need to prove how much you are entitled to recover. This means that you need evidence of your damages.

Even if you have clear evidence of liability, this isn’t enough to file a successful personal injury claim on its own. If you haven’t gathered evidence of your damages, you won’t know the value of your claim—and this means that you won’t know when you should give serious consideration to any settlement offers that might be on the table. As a result, there is a very good chance that you will either: (i) accept far less than you deserve; or, (ii) reject a settlement offer that you should have accepted.

What evidence do you need to calculate and prove your damages? While the specific types of evidence needed vary from one case to the next, generally speaking, proving damages after an auto accident requires evidence such as:

• Medical records
• Employment records
• Bills and receipts for medical care, prescriptions and other expenses
• Documentation of your pain and suffering
• Documentation of the other non-financial costs of your injuries

Keep in mind that you may continue to incur financial and non-financial costs well into the future—and you can (and should) include these future costs in your claim for damages. An experienced Florida accident lawyer will be able to assess your future costs and make sure he or she has the evidence needed to prove these costs during settlement negotiations or in court.

Gathering the Evidence You Need to Recover Your Losses

Now that we’ve covered the importance of gathering evidence after an auto accident in Florida, how do you gather the evidence needed to prove your legal rights?

On-Scene Investigation

An on-scene investigation is the first step. Since evidence can disappear from the scene quickly, it is important that you hire a Florida accident lawyer to investigate as soon as possible. From tire marks to debris on the shoulder, various forms of forensic evidence can be lost forever if they are not quickly collected and preserved.

Further Investigation

After conducting this initial on-scene investigation, your Florida accident lawyer will determine where else evidence of liability might be available. Do you need the driver’s phone records to prove that he or she was distracted? Do you need surveillance camera footage from a nearby business? Do you need the driver’s employment records to show that he or she was working at the time of the accident (and that his or her employer is liable for your injuries)? These are all different forms of evidence that can be used for different purposes—but that can all be equally important for establishing your legal rights.

Evidence in Your Possession

It is important to keep in mind that you may have important evidence in your possession as well. For example, if you took photos or videos at the scene with your phone, these could provide critical insight into what happened and who (or what company) is to blame.

Likewise, if you have copies of your medical records, employment records or any other relevant documents, you should be sure to keep these to share with your lawyer. Ultimately, your lawyer will be able to collect any documentation he or she needs. But, if you have relevant documents readily available, providing these to your lawyer can help expedite the process of seeking the financial compensation you deserve.

Get Help from a Florida Accident Lawyer at Searcy Denney

Were you seriously injured in an auto accident in Florida? If so, we encourage you to contact us promptly so that we can gather the evidence needed to prove your legal rights. To get help from an experienced Florida accident lawyer at Searcy Denney, 800-780-8607 or get in touch online now.