Take Pictures! If you are in a motor vehicle accident or you fall down somewhere, make sure you take pictures.

Take Pictures!

If you are in a motor vehicle accident or you fall down somewhere, make sure you take pictures.  Even if you have no intention at that moment in time of pursuing any sort of legal action, take pictures.  Even if you do not think you are hurt, take pictures.

Take pictures of what?  Any marks on your body from an injury, such as bruising, swelling, redness, abrasions.  If you're in a car accident, take photos of the damage to your vehicle.  Take photos of any damage both inside of your vehicle and outside.  Take photos of the other vehicle.  Take photos of the accident scene with the vehicles before they are moved.  If you fall down somewhere, take photos of the scene.  Take pictures of whatever is on the ground that made you slip or lose your balance.

Why are we doing this?  Of course, it is to document what happened.  Even if you do not pursue a personal injury case, you still may need this documented in case the police report gets it wrong.  You may need things documented so that if any insurance issues arise, you have some evidence.  You may need things documented if your employer gives you a hard time.  Also, if someone else tries to blame you for what happened, you have some evidence.

And of course, somewhere down the road, if you come to realize that you were injured, or your injuries are worse than you initially thought, and you then decide to pursue your legal rights, at least you have preserved some evidence.  It could help your lawyer tremendously in trying to prove your case.

Photos in a personal injury situation can be very valuable in establishing what happened, how it happened and the extent of any damage to the body or property.  Just remember that it's far better to have photos that you never need to use than to need photos that you never took.