If you have recently been involved in an accident and are planning to pursue legal action, preserving evidence is very important. All legal cases are going to require mounds of evidence in order to prove your case. You may not be aware of what constitutes evidence, so you should be familiar with the basics of evidence material and what you can do to preserve it.

Physical Evidence

Physical evidence is made up of any type of evidence that can be seen, felt, smelled, and so on. If it had an impact on your accident, it may be needed to help your case. An example of physical evidence include dents in your car if you were hit from behind. If you suffered from a neck or back injury due to a rear collision, fresh dents in the back bumper of your vehicle can be a very important piece of evidence.

If your car left the road due to bad tires from a manufacturer, those tires should be preserved and presented as evidence. Keep in mind that they do not have to physically be on your vehicle to count as evidence, so feel free to replace your tires so that your car is driveable.

Photographic Evidence

Immediately following an accident, make it a point to take some pictures if you are physically able. If you are not able, make sure someone you trust takes photos of the scene of the accident before it is cleaned up. Either yourself or someone else should walk around the scene and snap pictures with a smart phone or other photography device, especially in the event of a car accident.

Photos are not limited to vehicular accidents, however. If you fell down a flight of steps or slipped on a piece of buckled flooring, be sure to get a picture of the damaged area so you can prove that it played a part in your injury.

In addition to taking pictures on the day of the accident, you should also return to the scene later to check for additional evidence. There is always the possibility that certain pieces of evidence were overlooked. This includes things like broken traffic signals or street signs that were not visible due to tree branches in front of them. Take pictures of any inconsistencies you may notice that could possibly be helpful to your case.

While you should be utilizing the expertise of a personal injury lawyer, it does not hurt to take initiative in gathering evidence. Be certain to ask you lawyer for any advice as to what types of evidence is admissible and what is not so that you can have a successful outcome.