Have A Recording And Reporting Plan Before An Accident

If you've been in a car accident before or want to protect yourself against bad drivers in the area, how are you helping yourself? Defensive driving is a good idea, and you should absolutely have an attorney saved in your contacts, but how are you protecting yourself when your mind, eyes, and hands are full with safe driving? Dashboard cameras and other recording technology can help, but only if you install and manage them properly, and a few tips can help you prove your innocence while gathering vital evidence.

Dash Cams Are Looking When And Where You Can't

A dashboard camera or dash cam can be mounted in multiple ways to record the surrounding area. The first and most important camera should be installed to record the windshield area, which will capture most incidents that could be your fault. This includes rear ending other vehicles and swerving through traffic because of traffic incidents further ahead.

You can install multiple cameras for additional views. 4 dash cams in total should be enough for most comprehensive coverage, allowing you to record the front, rear, and both sides of a vehicle.

Video quality is high definition (HD) as standard. You have to go out of your way to find a dash cam that records lower than the minimum HD resolution of 720p, and the loss of quality isn't worth the potential savings. Being able to discern facial features and clothing from hundreds of yards away is too good of an opportunity to waste when it comes to protecting your side of a legal argument.

How To Protect And Use Dash Cam Evidence

After an accident, be careful with how you use your dash cam. Your biggest responsibility is to keep the recorded evidence safe so that you can use it in court if necessary, or at least until you can get a copy to your attorney.

If you're not seriously hurt and the other part isn't seriously hurt, make sure that the dash cam is still in its proper place and working. Do not tamper with the dash cam or play with settings; the event is already over, and if the camera wasn't working for some reason, there isn't much you can do with it now.

The only exception is if you're familiar with copying information quickly and can do so while waiting for law enforcement. Your main concern here is not deleting the evidence while touching the controls.

One thing you definitely don't want to do is to brag about your dash camera. Emotions can run high during an accident situation, but now is not the time to yell about how you have everything on camera. The person or people in the other car may try to take or destroy the evidence, or other people on their side may arrive on the scene to overtake you and your evidence.

Wait until a police officer arrives before discussing the video evidence, and be sure that your attorney is aware and has a plan to keep you and the evidence safe.

Contact a car accident attorney to discuss best practices for getting the evidence to a law office as soon as possible.