A lawyer can use many different types of evidence to ensure you receive compensation. Below is a brief of some types:
• Medical records. Medical records are a common form of evidence in personal injury cases. In many cases, the medical records of your treatment will be the primary evidence for the extent of your injuries and how long they will take to heal. They also show what steps were taken to treat your injuries, such as physical therapy, surgery or medication. Medical records come from both doctors’ offices and hospitals.
• Photos: Photographs are a great way to show how an accident affects your body. They show how certain aspects, such as your face, were injured in the accident and can help you win damages for having to pay for things like plastic surgery or scar removal treatments. You can take them yourself if you have a cellphone with a camera so that they were taken at the time of the accident and not afterward.
• Expert Testimony: Expert testimony is when an expert on a specific topic testifies about their expertise in court. For example, suppose your case involves the design of a street corner where an accident occurred. In that case, your Personal Injury Lawyer in Burlington will want to find experts in traffic engineering who can provide testimony about whether or not any changes could have been made to make it safer for pedestrians.
• Video Footages: If there are surveillance cameras in the area where the accident occurred, these can be used as evidence to prove that someone else was at fault for the accident. For example, if someone rear-ended another car, video footage can show whether or not that driver was speeding up to tailgate them before hitting them.
• Police reports. Police reports document any citations issued against a driver involved in an accident, including reckless driving and driving under the influence charges. They also confirm whether anyone was injured or killed due to the accident.
• Accident reconstruction reports. Accident reconstruction experts use scientific methods to reconstruct an accident scene to determine what happened based on physical evidence such as skid marks, tire tracks and impact angles between cars involved in an accident. For example, a skid mark left on the road will tell the expert how fast the vehicle was traveling before it hit another car, while a series of skid marks can indicate drifting before an accident. Impact angles can tell if one driver hit the other head-on or if they collided while turning.
• Witness Statements: Witness statements are from people who saw or heard what happened during the accident but may not have been present when it occurred. Your lawyer will gather witness statements as soon as possible after an accident, even if they aren’t present while it is happening, because they may remember details that they forgot while they were experiencing the trauma at that moment in time.
