Obtaining Video Footage When You’re the Star of the Show (After a Car Accident)

When you’ve been involved in a car accident, your first priority to make sure you and your loved ones are safe. Any injuries that need medical attention should receive it as soon as possible. With so many other concerns, gathering evidence about the crash, including video footage, may fall low on your list of priorities. That is certainly understandable. 

Our modern society is obsessed with cameras and video. YouTube is the second-largest search engine behind Google. There are approximately 720,000 of video uploaded to YouTube every day – that’s 500 hours every minute! Add to that the video added to social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and those numbers skyrocket out of sight. 

Video Footage is Valuable Evidence 

If a picture is worth a thousand words, imagine the value of video footage. Insurance investigators, law enforcement officers and attorneys all hunger for accurate evidence to show the facts after an accident. Eyewitness accounts tend to be spotty, incomplete or just inaccurate – unless that eyewitness was behind a camera. 

Possible sources for video footage can include: 

• Bystanders – people are constantly shooting video with their phones, and catch all sorts of events on camera. This is especially true when law enforcement arrives and begin to do their jobs – one policeman or police woman arrives and the cameras come out! 
• Modern Cars – many newer vehicles have dash cams that operate continuously, and can provide valuable footage of an accident. For example, Tesla cars have at least four, and as many as eight, cameras that capture footage in a 360-degree view around the vehicle. 
• Your Own Car – Even if you have an older car many Floridians have decided to install after market cameras for security and peace of mind.
• Traffic Cameras – Many small and large municipalities use traffic cameras or red-light cameras to record moving violations and other events. This footage can be sensitive evidence for proving who was at fault and exactly that transpired during a car accident. 
• Security Cameras – many commercial premises have security cameras that can record footage in the street in front of their store. 
• Doorbell Cameras – many homes now have installed doorbell cams to record happenings at the door or driveway. Many of these are wide-angle cameras that can also capture footage in the street in front of the house. 

Video footage cannot lie and isn’t open to selective interpretation or arguments. If you can obtain video footage after a car accident, it makes insurance claims, accident investigation and any litigation much easier.

Obtaining Video Footage After an Auto Accident

Of course, obtaining this video footage of your accident is not a matter of grabbing a person’s cell phone or taking the traffic cam down from a pole. Most of this footage is the legal property of someone else, so certain protocols must be followed if you wish to use it.

Determine the Possible Sources

First you must determine what possible sources of video footage are available from the accident. At times, passerby who caught video on a cell phone, dash cam or helmet cam will approach you at the scene of the accident and offer it to you. Obtain their contact information so you can get the footage later. If possible, look around and see what other cameras are visible that could likely have captured footage. You or a loved one may have to return to the scene of the accident after the fact to look around. 

Act Quickly 

Some cameras automatically erase or overwrite footage at certain intervals, so it is imperative that you act quickly to obtain any footage. Bystanders or others with footage can erase it in an effort to not become involved. If you suffered incapacitating injuries during the accident, or will be unable to act yourself for a few days, you may need a representative to pursue any relevant video footage. 

Follow the Required Protocol 

Video footage is the legal property of whomever obtained it, and so if it isn’t yours make sure to ask permission to use it. If you see bystanders with cameras out at the scene, approach them and politely ask if you may use their footage. Be sure to get a name and contact info, and let them know where they can send the footage. 

Depending on location and function, traffic cameras can be the property of the state, county or other local municipality. Many towns also use private companies to maintain traffic or red-light cameras; that means the footage belongs to this third party and you’ll have to track them down and follow their guidelines for using camera footage. 

Obtaining this footage may require some time and legwork, but it can be extremely beneficial to you and your insurance company in the event of a car accident. Contact The Peeples Insurance Agency for more tips for what to do after a car accident.