Your Cell Phone Is A Valuable Piece Of Evidence

Your cell phone can hold so much important information after a Florida accident. There may be health data and other details that help establish what happened and how an injury affected you. To move forward with a strong claim, connect with a Miami personal injury lawyer.

Photos Can Document More Than Visible Damage

Digital images are among the most useful types of evidence after a crash. Take photographs of the accident scene as soon as it is reasonably safe to do so.

Useful images include:

• The overall scene from several angles.
• Vehicle positions and property damage.
• Road conditions, lane markings, signs, barriers, or hazards.
• Lighting conditions and anything that may have resulted in obstructed views.
• Visible injuries, including bruising, swelling, cuts, or other changes over time.
• Clothing, shoes, damaged personal property, or other physical evidence.

Avoid relying on a single close-up photograph. Wide shots can provide context that a close-up cannot. It is also wise to preserve the original files rather than relying only on edited, cropped, or filtered versions.

GPS Data Can Help Reconstruct Your Movements

Your phone may also provide information about where you were before and after an accident, too. For example, there may be a timeline that records places visited and routes taken when the feature is enabled. Google says Timeline can save precise device locations and can be exported from the Google Maps app.

There is not necessarily one location app that is better than another when it comes to proving an injury claim. Google Maps Timeline may be useful for documenting routes and destinations, while other location information may exist elsewhere on a device depending on its operating system, settings, and apps.

Health Tracking, Timestamps, and Witness Information

Health and fitness applications are another category of potentially useful information. Depending on the device and settings, health data may include information about activity, heart rate, sleep, medications, or other measurements. This information does not replace medical records or a doctor’s evaluation. That said, it may provide another way to document changes in activity or daily functioning following an accident.

A phone can also help establish when something happened. Original photographs, text messages, call records, emails, calendar entries, and other digital information may help create a chronology. That chronology can become particularly important when accounts of an accident differ.

Witness information could be saved in your digital archive as well. You might have a text exchange about what happened or notes identifying someone who saw the incident. Preserve this information rather than assuming you will remember it later.

Digital evidence can fortify a claim when used correctly, so it is a mistake to delete, edit, replace, or otherwise alter potentially relevant information. If your phone contains evidence related to an accident, a Miami personal injury lawyer can help determine what may be relevant and how digital evidence should be preserved and presented as part of your claim.

Who is guiding you through the financial recovery process? The skilled attorneys at Spencer Morgan Law are available to help. To schedule a confidential consultation, call 305-423-3800.